Protest in Mpofana, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: narratives and strategies

ABSTRACT

Mpofana protests are characteristic of local protest actions occurring across South Africa. In 2014 Mpofana Municipality was placed under administration by the provincial authority and one of the reasons cited for this were high levels of protest. This paper focuses on Mpofana protests to examine demands for ‘service delivery’ and citizenship as well as political strategy with regards local level leadership. The paper also considers the narratives and strategies around protest in the context of the ‘neoliberal citizen’ and ‘market’ approaches to citizenship. It draws on a qualitative study comprising focus groups conducted across three Mpofana wards. The paper suggests that in Mpofana there are clear struggles for the attainment of social citizenship in the context of a divide between those who have no access to work and wages and those who have access to income and assets. Citizenship attainment struggles are interwoven with failed patronage networks, and processes of piercing the ‘common sense’ appear through protesters questioning local leadership and proposing solutions for change. There is also evidence in Mpofana though of the ‘depoliticised subject’ fostered by the neoliberal doctrine where the language of protest is cast in market terms.

KEYWORDS:

• Protest
• patronage
• mobilisation
• service delivery
• neoliberal citizen
• South Africa

Disclosure statement

This paper draws from fieldwork carried out for a Masters by Research project at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. The findings have therefore been published as a dissertation submitted to the University of KwaZulu-Natal. This article however, is a collaboration between the Masters student Thokozani Magwaza and supervisor Shauna Mottiar and expands interpretations of protest in Mpofana in an attempt to understand underlying motivations and narratives around protest in South Africa in the context of the prevailing high protest rate.

Notes

1. We are most grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Shauna Mottiar

Shauna Mottiar is Associate Professor – Development Studies and Director of the Centre for Civil Society at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa: [email protected]

Thokozani Magwaza

Thokozani Magwaza is a PhD Candidate in Development Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa: [email protected]