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By : Baraka Mwau & ThandekaTshabalala (on Behalf of CORC) Phase 1: Forum 4 As we advance towards the close of Phase one of the Learning Space series, once again the SA SDI Alliance converged for a session to brainstorm its work. This is the platform where the SA SDI Alliance engages in critical reflections of its work; within and with other stakeholders. This time around (October the 18^th) the debate was located at the epicentre of the alliance work-building an authentic social movement. The forum kicked off with the moderator asking the audience to reflect on how the SA SDI Alliance should reinforce its struggle in building voices for the urban poor. This was just to revisit on the fundamentals that propel activities of strong social movements. Daunting as the challenge may sound, the urgency is inescapable. To aid in building a lens through which the SA SDI alliance can reflect on its efforts on building transformative social movements, Fr. Jorge Anzerona was in attendance. His wealth of experience in working with social movements and organised urban poor communities in several Asian cities provided vital and relevant lessons, for consideration in the SA context.  To start with, Fr. Jorge categorically stated that social movements are different; their course and organisation determines their life cycle.

“Some are powerful enough to achieve and sustain the change they struggle for, some meet their goal and ‘die’ thereafter, while others just rise and fall”- Fr. Jorge

Based on that statement, the first reflection was to consider relevance of the struggle that the SA SDI Alliance advances. It is evident that the struggle: against urban poverty and urban inequalities is still relevant in contemporary South African cities. Fr. Jorge presented the activities organised communities and that of the Assembly of the Poor, a social movement in Thailand that was formed from common struggles by the urban poor-urban poverty and agitation to create a collective voice. The movement multiplied in months (10,000 in 2 months after its initiation in 1996). Meanwhile, NGOs came in support, to aid the movement in coordinating activities, including facilitating enumerations and providing technical support to communities’ upgrading projects. This was purposively to advance a collective voice, recognition of the urban poor and to mobilise for a common course. Although the movement is currently not as powerful, it has managed to make urban poor communities ‘visible’, and influenced change in cities. Such include:

• Leveraging community and government resources for development projects
• Organising communities with specific struggles e.g. squatter communities, under bridge communities, railway line reserve communities, women-centred projects etc.

Throughout his presentation, he emphasised that community driven projects catalyse the building of strong social movements. After all, the purpose of this kind of movements is to improve the lives of the urban poor, thus without the tangible improvements to living conditions, authenticity of such movements remains questionable. This led to his affirmation that community projects drive social movements. Such remark was echoed by reactions from various participants.

“Through the Projects Grows the Self-confidence of the People”-Fr. Jorge

However, relating this to the South African context, it emerged that the various perspectives of conceptualising a ‘community project’ was an area of contestation or determined the nature of emergent social movements. This squarely refers to how support NGOs and social movements interpret as the benefits of such projects.  In his remark Nkokheli, an ISN coordinator posed a critical point of reflection, by questioning whether it is the NGOs or the urban poor in the cities who need projects.  This was echoed by several contributors who seemed to concede that the harsh reality that indeed there are cases where NGOs ‘run’ turban poor settlements, seeking to implement projects. Against that predicament, Fr. Jorge indicated that depending on how projects by the urban poor are conceived, such projects contribute can or may not contribute towards building a strong social movement. In most cases, projects borne out of self-initiatives by communities have higher chances of sustaining activities of ‘real’ social movement as opposed to NGOs taking the lead. At this point the fundamental question was: how have the projects undertaken by the SA SDI Alliance advanced the struggles of the social movements? For example such community centred approaches in Thailand have resulted to the establishment of community institutions e.g. Community Development Funds (CDF) where communities pool together resources, leverage state and other external funds. The Community Upgrading Fund Facility (CUFF) is equivalent of this within the SA SDI Alliance. According to Fr. Jorge, such funds should be managed and appropriated by community institutions. They inspire confidence in communities as well as doubling as a tool for bargaining with the state. Otherwise, without such pooled resources and capacity to manage them, social movements end-up being over reliant on NGOs or the state.

“Together: they discuss, look for solutions, negotiate with the government and implement”-Fr. Jorge

Important as it sounds, the reality of achieving such in welfare dominated state like South Africa was another point of debate in the forum.  In that regard, reflections on the nature of social movements needed in such a state dominated the forum at this point. Although not conclusive, it seemed that the audience resonated with calls for a paradigm shift in South Africa, where social movements and support NGOs need to agitate for pooling local resources as leverage to engage the state. The catchphrase: “The Government Will Deliver” perhaps may never guarantee the desired change, but through meaningful engagement between the state and the organised urban poor, such efforts can be realised. The role of the professionals in supporting activities of social movements and urban poor communities was another key ingredient determining the success of social movements for the urban poor. The Asian context clearly indicated that practitioners in NGOs have a key role to play in building the voice of the urban poor. Fr. Jorge was categorical that practitioners should focus on transferring skills to communities (planning, architecture, engineering, accounting and finance etc). Their role is to train communities, while at the same time learning from communities. Basically this stresses mutual learning (exchange of knowledge) as the driver of this work, in addition to the importance of nurturing precise mandates among the actors. Other than the role of practitioners and the support NGO, the nature of leadership in social movements emerged as another determinant factor. Based on his experience in coordinating ISN activities, Nkokheli observed that organising and mobilisation communities is not a problem as such, but dealing with the various factions of leaderships that exist in many informal settlements is the daunting challenge. The observation was that in such cases, if unchecked, the interests of individual leaders tend to override collective interests of the urban poor communities. The counter measure was observed to be tasking communities-through development projects to shift focus from mere politics to debates on issues affecting communities. Nevertheless, such tasking necessitates stewardship and strong community leadership and sound facilitation by the support NGOs. Also, the nature in which mobilisation tools are applied is crucial in sustaining the activities of the SA SDI Alliance. Such tools include savings schemes, enumerations and mapping. It was observed that organising communities into savings schemes without a purpose does not necessarily guarantee sustained efforts to build a social movement. Although saving collectives creates a platform to discuss and build social cohesion, the urgency of improving living conditions has to be an integral activity of these saving schemes. Enumerations and mapping has to inform projects, community leadership has to be accountable to communities (and not to support NGOs), and so on. Simply put, ‘purpose’-for realizing meaningful change, emerged as an underpinning principle for organising the urban poor. Towards concluding the day’s forum, it was agreeable that the common struggles of the SA SDI Alliance are far from being confronted, at the desired level. Indeed urban poverty and urban inequalities in South African cases still remain the major hindrance towards urban inclusivity and a ‘just city’. However, the need for strong social movements, driven by a broader collective vision of social change was emphasised. The anchor of this being grounded on unleashing the potential within communities- from receptors to actors: to undertake own development, while marshalling local resources to leverage government resources. Notably, more coordination among the stakeholders (including government) is needed. It is undeniable that the desired change will not be achieved overnight, considering the fact that the status quo is a product of systems perpetuated for decades, if not centuries.  But at the same time, the change is urgent; hence potential avenues for negotiating this change are equally urgent to optimise. So:

“Where are we, in building the social movements?

Are we building the right social movements?”

Father Jorge Anzorena,  is an Argentinian by birth and entered the Jesuit (Society of Jesus) order in his early thirties when he was ordained as a priest. He completed a PhD in Architecture from the University of Tokyo and has received numerous accolades such as the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding in 1994. Prior to his retirement around several years ago, Fr. Jorge taught at Sofia University in Tokyo six months of every year. The remaining six months he literally traveled around the world visiting low-income housing activities and building coalitions and networks of the urban poor.

When receiving the Ramon Magsaysay award, it was said of Father Jorge,

Given Anzorena’s nonstop networking over the years, it was probably inevitable that his many friends would also become friends with each other. Among the consequences of this networking, in 1988, was the creation of the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR). Founded in Thailand by several of Anzorena’s longtime associates in the world of housing, its goals reflect the interests and commitments he shares with them. In the words of its founding declaration, these are: “to articulate and promote the conception of people’s laws and rights to housing; to put an end to evictions and displacements of people; and to define and achieve the housing rights of all.”

The coalition now links nearly a thousand like-minded organizations and individuals throughout Asia. Anzorena’s newsletter and annual pilgrimages constitute essential ties that bind the members together. Characteristically, however, Anzorena says the credit for ACHR should not be accorded to him. “They are just friends of mine,” he says. And it is true that the coalition has developed a life of its own. But Anzorena’s philosophy guides its efforts. Among ACHR’s fundamental principles, for example, indeed its operating credo, is that the contribution of the people themselves is essential both to identifying the true needs of the poor as well as to developing strategies to meet those needs. This is Anzorena to the core.

Father Jorge visits the South African alliance associated with SDI once a year. This is really a time of reflection and recasting ideas and visions of ways and means of building networks of the urban and rural poor.

On the 15th October 2013, Father Jorge Anzorena made a visit to the community of Langrug and the waste pickers network during his visit he spoke about social business, he highlighted that he saw the waste pickers network as a businesses that is dedicated to solving social issues. The Network strives to make a profit and its payment model has adapted to peoples needs by paying the pickers cash upon delivery , the network is seen to be working  informally because it realises that  poor people need money urgently and putting their money in the bank will delay access to it. The pickers strives to make profit and by using business principles and strategies, it creates a sustainable business model to eradicate the social issues. Social issues are those that relate to poverty, health, education and human rights.

By  Kwanele Sibanda (on behalf  of CORC)

For more than twenty years, the Federation of the Urban Poor (FEDUP) has pioneered a collaborative solution that can transform our cities: empowering poor people to help themselves. FEDUP has empowered hundreds of communities to start saving schemes, develop their own knowledge and capacities, build houses, and acquire land. FEDUP has been the driving force behind the internationally recognised global alliance of 38 country-level federations, Shack / Slum Dwellers International (SDI). In the South African context, Vukuzenzele Mbokodo Saving Scheme is one amongst hundreds of FEDUP’s organized groups that have a story to tell about the successful methodologies designed by the poor themselves to tackle their challenges.

History of vukuzenzele Mbokodo Saving Scheme

The saving scheme members started as backyarders in the 1980s in a location called Duduza. Unpleasant living conditions defined by exorbitant rentals and strict rules from landlords forced them to seek land of their own, hence they invaded Dunusa (Nearby piece of land owned by the municipality). They allocated sites for each other using white stones. The name Dunusa means bend-over and it was given to them by Municipality officials who found them bending over, busy pegging their sites. Shacks were put up and an informal settlement was established. As one challenge was addressed, another emerged, said ‘Thandi Nthlapho’ one of the invaders. “We no longer had to pay rent to anyone, but we now found ourselves in a water locked area”, she explained. In 1990, the municipality of Ekurhuleni allocated serviced stands for the Dunusa residents in Blue-Gum. In 1996, a saving scheme was established after a group of women were mobilized by a group of Federation members led by Richman Mbobo from Siphamandla community (Kopanang Saving Scheme). ‘The mobilization came at a time when we had lost all hope of ever getting houses’, she continued. With assistance from Utshani Fund, the group managed to build its first 56 houses between 1998 and 2000 under the 1025 project. The project formed part of the 10million pledge that had been given by the then Minister of Housing; Joe Slovo.

Federation Land Component
The former support organization ‘People’s Dialogue’ was established to focus on landlessness and homelessness. The leaders that came together to establish the federation came from informal settlements that mainly had land tenure challenges and often faced eviction threats. With a vision of building houses, it was apparent that land had to be acquired first. The land unit had to be setup as one of the major components after savings. After the country’s liberation, the first government departments to support the initiatives of the federation were: The department of Housing and The Department of Land Affairs. The Land Affairs support was in line with purchase of land in areas such as Joe Slovo in the Eastern Cape and Derrick Hannekom in Cape Town. The federation continued to strengthen savings for land as well as negotiations. The federation has also been negotiating with land owners and purchasing land from its own savings with support from Utshani Fund. The federation also has an M.O.U on land with the Methodist Church of Southern Africa.

Duduza pledge project
In 2006, an M.O.U was signed between the National Department of Housing, the Federation and SDI. Gauteng pledged R50 million and out of that amount amongst other activities three housing projects were identified by the federation namely: Duduza, Doornkop and Orange Farm. The subsidy allocation for the federation members was 150, 250 and 180 respectively.

Federation Members testimonies 
Gogo Betty Nkonyana was born on the 15th of May in 1930. Besides the federation’s key principles of prioritizing the elderly in development, it was Gogo Betty’s commitment to attend meetings and save regularly that made her to be amongst the first ten to get a house out of a total of 150 beneficiaries. As part of her contribution towards the development of her house she used part of her savings to buy burglar bars, lentils, window seals and the electrification of the house.

Gogo Christina Motloung
Gogo Christina Motloung is 95 years old. In the 80s she was employed as a maid at a farm in Piet Van Wyk (Nigel). When she heard about site allocation, she decided to move to Duduza where she got a stand and started to seek new employment. She built herself a shack and immediately started saving some money to build herself a house. She slowly started building her house when it was at window level she lost her job and could not complete it. As Vukuzenzele Mbokodo saving scheme members were mobilizing more community members, she liked the idea and immediately joined. “Ngiyayithanda leFederation yethu ” (I love our federation) said Gogo Christina as she was being interviewed. Whenever she had an emergency, she would withdraw money from her savings under the saving scheme and in other instances; she took loans from the savings scheme. When the Duduza pledge project started, she was amongst the first ten beneficiaries to get a house.