Making Communities Work? Casual Labour Practices and Local Civil Society Dynamics in Delft, Cape Town

Abstract

Casual labour practices are one of the defining characteristics of developing urban labour markets. Whenever non-governmental organisations (NGOs), businesses or the state apparatus institutionalise the use of casual labour, politics are involved. Based on a case study from Cape Town, South Africa, this article explores this politics of labour at the community level. A main focus is on the implications of casual labour practices for local civil society politics and forms of representation, by examining how different actors engage politically in the labour practices of municipal services and a large-scale housing project. Our analysis reveals how formal requirements for using local labour are interpreted in community terms as territorialised notions of entitlements and rights, leading to a simultaneous shift towards fragmentation and territorialisation of interests where local community groups facilitate employment casualisation ‘from below’. These processes also create new insider–outsider dynamics which threaten to fragment historical forms of class-based solidarity as community actors compete over access to limited resources; they also challenge broader aims of integration in an urban landscape deeply divided by class and race.

Notes

^*The authors wish to thank the JSAS reviewers for their helpful comments on the first draft of this article. We want to express our deepest gratitude to union and community activists in Delft as well as other interviewees who shared their knowledge with us and allowed us to take part in their activities. The observations and arguments remain our sole responsibility.

¹ A. Habib and H. Kotzé, ‘Civil Society, Governance and Development in an Era of Globalisation: The South African Case’, in G. Mhone and O. Edigheji (eds), Governance in the New South Africa: The Challenges of Globalization (Cape Town, UCT Press, 2003), pp. 246–70.

² S. Cornelissen, ‘Internationalisation and Competitiveness in South African Urban Governance: On the Contradictions of Aspirationist Urban Policy-Making’, in P. Kagwanja and K. Kondlo (eds), State of the Nation 2008 (Cape Town, HSRC Press, 2009), pp. 226–50.

³ Habib and Kotzé, ‘Civil Society, Governance and Development in an Era of Globalisation’, discuss a growing schism in South African civil society between a politics of engagement and opposition as NGOs have moved into service delivery and cooperate closely with government and other development actors, while grassroots organisations and movements have been marginalised and work in opposition to government.

⁴ S. Oldfield and K. Stokke, ‘Building Unity in Diversity: Social Movement Activism in the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign’, in R. Ballard, A. Habib and I. Valodia (eds), Voices of Protest. Social Movements in Post-Apartheid South Africa (Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal Press, 2006).

⁵ J. Beall, O. Crankshaw and S. Parnell, Uniting a Divided City: Governance and Social Exclusion in Johannesburg (London, Earthscan, 2002), p. 200.

⁶ P. Alexander, ‘Rebellion of the Poor: South Africa's Service Delivery Protests – a Preliminary Analysis’, Review of African Political Economy, 37, 123 (March 2010), pp. 25–40. See also D. Atkinson, ‘Taking to the Streets: Has Developmental Local Government Failed in South Africa?’, in S. Buhlungu, J. Daniel, R. Southall and J. Lutchman (eds), State of the Nation 2007 (Cape Town, HSRC Press, 2007), pp. 53–77.

⁷ J. Theron, ‘No Room for Complacency: Strategies Towards Informalization in South Africa’ (unpublished paper, Nordic Africa Institute, 2007).

⁸ M. Adato and L. Haddad, ‘Targeting Poverty through Community-Based Public Works Programmes: Experience from South Africa’, Journal of Development Studies, 38, 3 (2002), pp. 1–36.

⁹ M. Millstein, ‘Challenges to Substantive Democracy in Post-Apartheid Cape Town: The Politics of Urban Governance Transformations and Community Organising in Delft’ (PhD Thesis, University of Oslo, 2008); D. Jordhus-Lier, ‘The Practice of Neoliberalism: Responses to Public Sector Restructuring Across the Labour-Community Divide in Cape Town’ (PhD Thesis, University of Manchester, 2008).

¹⁰ I.T. Nzimakwe, ‘Addressing Unemployment and Poverty through Public Works Programmes in South Africa’, International NGO Journal, 3, 12 (2008), pp. 207–12.

¹¹ A. Habib and R. Taylor, ‘South Africa: Anti-apartheid NGOS in Transition’, Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 10, 1 (1999), pp. 73–82. See also J. Cherry, K. Jones and J. Seekings, ‘Democratization and Politics in South African Townships’, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 24, 4 (2002), pp. 889–905.

¹² See for instance S. Parnell, E. Pieterse, M.Swilling and D. Woolridge (eds), Democratising Local Government: The South African Experiment (Cape Town, UCT Press, 2002) and M. van Donk, M. Swilling, E. Pieterse and S. Parnell (eds), Consolidating Developmental Local Government: Lessons from the South African Experience (Cape Town, UCT Press, 2008) for in-depth discussions on local government transformations in post-apartheid South Africa.

¹³ M. Samson, ‘Organizing the Informal Economy: A Case Study of the Municipal Waste Management Industry in South Africa’, International Labour Office Report: Small Enterprise Development Working Paper, 66 (2004), pp. 100–101.

¹⁴ A. Habib and H. Kotzé, ‘Civil Society, Governance and Development in an Era of Globalisation: the South African Case’, in G. Mhone and O. Edigheji (eds), Governance in the New South Africa: The Challenges of Globalisation (Cape Town, UCT Press, 2003), pp. 247–70. See also R. Ballard, A. Habib and I. Valodia (eds), ‘Introduction. From Anti-apartheid to Post-apartheid Social Movements’, in R. Ballard, A. Habib and I. Valodia (eds), Voices of Protest: Social Movements in Post-Apartheid South Africa (Durban, UKZN Press, 2006), pp. 1–22.

¹⁵ City of Cape Town, ‘State of Cape Town Report’ (2006), p. 15.

¹⁶ F. Khan and C. Ambert, ‘Introduction’, in F. Khan and P. Thring (eds), Housing Policy and Practice in Post-Apartheid South Africa (Sandton SA, Heinemann, 2003), pp. xxii–xxxix.

¹⁷ N. Graham, ‘Informal Settlement Upgrading in Cape Town: Challenges, Constraints and Contradictions within Local Government’, in M. Huchzermeyer (ed.), Informal Settlements: A Perpetual Challenge? (Cape Town, UCT Press, 2006), pp. 231–49.

¹⁸ 18 A. Cornwall, ‘Locating Citizen Participation’, IDS Bulletin, 33, 2 (2002), pp. 49–58. See also F. Miraftab and S. Wills, ‘Insurgency and Spaces of Active Citizenship: the Story of Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign in South Africa’, Journal of Planning Education and Research, 25, 2 (2005), pp. 200–217.

¹⁹ Some groups were also exempt from the requirement, such as the aged and disabled.

²⁰ E. Pieterse, ‘Recasting Urban Integration and Fragmentation in Post-Apartheid South Africa’, Development Update, 5, 1 (2004), pp. 81–104; UN-Habitat, ‘Global Campaign on Urban Governance. A Concept Paper’, (Nairobi, UN-Habitat, 2002).

²¹ M. Millstein, S. Oldfield, and K. Stokke, K., ‘uTshani BuyaKhuluma – the Grass Speaks: The Political Space and Capacity of the South African Homeless People's Federation’, Geoforum, 34, 4 (2003), pp. 457–68).

²² Interview with Western Cape Provincial Housing Official, 7 January 2005, in Cape Town. Both authors conducted semi-structured interviews with state and civil society actors in Cape Town and Delft. All interviewees were made anonymous in both research projects. See also http://www.dhs.gov.za/Content/Spotlight/PHP.htm for similar observations by the Department of Housing. This also led to an assessment and redirection of the PHP policies.

²³ Graham, ‘Informal Settlement Upgrading in Cape Town’.

²⁴ R. Southall, ‘Introduction: Can South Africa be a Developmental State?’, in S. Buhlungu, J. Daniel and J. Lutchman (eds), State of the Nation: South Africa 2005–2006 (Cape Town, HSRC Press, 2006), pp. xvii–xlv.

²⁵ A. McLennan, ‘Unmasking Delivery: Revealing the Politics’, Progress in Development Studies, 7 (2007), pp. 5–20.

²⁶ Center on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), ‘N2 Gateway Project: Housing Rights Violations as “Development” in South Africa’ (Geneva, COHRE, 2009), p. 41.

²⁷ Delivery, ‘Interview: Talking to Lindiwe Sisulu’ (Delivery: magazine for Local Government, May–July 2005), pp. 44–47.

²⁸ COHRE, ‘N2 Gateway Project’.

²⁹ See also C. Cross, ‘Local Governance and Social Conflict: Implications for Piloting South Africa's New Housing Plan in Cape Town's Informal Settlements’, in M. Huchzermeyer (ed.), Informal Settlements: A Perpetual Challenge? (Cape Town, UCT Press, 2006), pp. 250–73.

³⁰ Interview with community activist in Delft, 28 February 2005.

³² The housing struggles in 2000–2002 emerged as the City started evicting people over non-payment of bonds, electricity and water. This led to mobilisation across Delft. Evictions were not a main issue at the time of fieldwork in 2005–2006. But in 2008, a community group invaded N2 Gateway houses and was later evicted by the City. The invasion and evictions were controversial within Delft and in the city, and became a high profile issue both nationally and internationally.

³³ M. Millstein, ‘Challenges to Community Organizing in a Context of Spatial Fragmentation: Some Experiences From Delft’, Critical Dialogue: Public Participation in Review, 4, 8 (2008), pp. 34–40.

³⁴ http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/MediaReleases/Pages/Subcouncilboundariestoberedrawnafter2011LocalGovernmentElections.aspx and (http://maps.elections.org.za/lgeresults/ retrieved on 31 August 2011.

³⁵ These are now called ward forums (2011).

³⁶ C. Bénit-Gbaffou, ‘Are Practices of Local Participation Sidelining the Institutional Participatory Channels? Reflections from Johannesburg’, Transformation, 66/67 (2008), pp. 1–33.

³⁷ These issues were the subject for a special issue of Transformation, 66/67 (2008); see for instance L. Piper and R. Deacon, ‘Party Politics, Élite Accountability and Public Participation: Ward Committee Politics in the Msunduzi Municipality’, and Bénit-Gbaffou, ‘Are Practices of Local Participation Sidelining the Institutional Participatory Channels?’. See also J. Hicks and I. Buccus, ‘Crafting New Democratic Spaces: Participatory Policy-Making in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Transformation, 65 (2008), pp. 94–119.

³⁹ Interview with municipal manager in Cape Town, 14 May 2007.

⁴⁰ Public Works, ‘Expanded Public Works Programme Five-Year Report, 2004/05–2008/2009’ (Pretoria, Department of Public Works, 2009), p. 137.

⁴¹ The exact number of houses was not formally confirmed at the time. Later, a temporary allocation area was built, which was the starting point for tensions that still characterise Delft.

⁴² Interview with Delft ward councillor, 14 September 2005.

⁴³ Observation from meeting, 15 September 2005.

⁴⁴ Graham, ‘Informal Settlement Upgrading in Cape Town’, p. 237.

⁴⁵ J. Allen and N. Henry, ‘Ulrich Beck's Risk Society at Work: Labour and Employment in the Contract Service Industries’, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 22 (1997), pp. 180–96. S. Reimer, ‘Working in a Risk Society’, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 23 (1998), pp. 116–27. J. Wills, ‘The Geography of Union Organising in Low-paid Service Industries in the UK: Lessons from the T&G's Campaign to Unionise the Dorchester Hotel’, Antipode, 37, 1 (2005), pp. 139–59.

⁴⁶ ILRIG, Survey of Municipal Workers in the CMA. Presented to the UniCity Commision 30 May (Cape Town, ILRIG, 2000), pp. 1–38.

⁴⁷ Cornwall, ‘Locating Citizen Participation’.

⁴⁸ Bénit-Gbaffou, ‘Are Practices of Local Participation Sidelining the Institutional Participatory Channels?’.

⁴⁹ Interview with City of Cape Town senior manager, 15 June 2007.

⁵⁰ D.C. Lier and K.Stokke,’Maximum Working Class Unity? Challenges to Local Social Movement Unionism in Cape Town’, Antipode, 38, 4 (2006), pp. 802–24.