Report on Red & Black Forum on the Economic Crisis

southern africa | anarchist movement | news report Tuesday September 15, 2009 23:57 by Jon - ZACF zacf at zabalaza dot net

On Saturday 12th September the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF) facilitated a Red and Black Forum - or popular education workshop - at a hall in the Sebokeng Municipal Hostel in Sebokeng township, about 50 kilometers south of Johannesburg.

The theme of the workshop was on the global economic crisis, covering a range of topics from a basic introduction to capitalism and neoliberalism and the causes of the crisis to an introduction to anarchist principles; from ideas for turning the day-to-day struggle for survival into a revolutionary mass movement to a basic outline of how a libertarian communist economy might function.

The RBF was attended by about a dozen activists from the Anti-Privatisation Forum-affiliated Working Class Crisis Committee (WCCC), three activists from the Landless Peoples' Movement (LPM) and even a dissident Young Communist League (YCL) member. Attendees comprised mostly unemployed activists of all ages and an even gender balance. Unfortunately there was confusion regarding the catering and at least one woman ended up going home to prepare lunch.

There was a high level of participation in the discussions, which were translated into isiZulu, and attendees agreed that the residents of Sebokeng were suffering from a lack of information and agreed that they would benefit from further workshops. ZACF members and allied libertarian socialists from our Soweto-based study circle established good contacts, particularly with a youth group associated with the WCCC, and endeavored to maintain contact in order to organise future workshops and documentary screenings, and possibly establish a second study circle, this time based in Sebokeng.