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Zabalaza: A Voice for Organised Anarchism in South Africa

category southern africa | anarchist movement | opinion / analysis author Sunday November 06, 2011 13:19author by Jonathan Payn - ZACFauthor email zacf at zabalaza dot netauthor address Postnet Suite 47, Private Bag X1,Fordsburg, South Africa, 2033 Report this post to the editors

The Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front, or ZACF – Zabalaza meaning ‘struggle’ in isiZulu and isiXhosa – is a specific anarchist political organisation based in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is a unitary organisation – or federation of individuals, as opposed to a federation of collectives – whereby membership is on an individual basis, by invitation only. This is because we have seen – through our own experience, as well as that of global anarchism historically – that we can accomplish more as an organisation, and be more effective, when our members share a certain level of theoretical and strategic unity, and collective responsibility.
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Zabalaza: A Voice for Organised Anarchism in South Africa

The Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front, or ZACF – Zabalaza meaning ‘struggle’ in isiZulu and isiXhosa – is a specific anarchist political organisation based in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is a unitary organisation – or federation of individuals, as opposed to a federation of collectives – whereby membership is on an individual basis, by invitation only. This is because we have seen – through our own experience, as well as that of global anarchism historically – that we can accomplish more as an organisation, and be more effective, when our members share a certain level of theoretical and strategic unity, and collective responsibility.

The ZACF identifies with the anarchist communist, Platformist or Especifista traditions within anarchism and, as such, we subscribe to the idea of active minority. What this means is that, unlike our anarcho-syndicalist comrades for example, we do not seek to build mass anarchist movements, nor to turn existing social movements into anarchist movements, but to participate in existing movements – and assist in creating new ones where necessary – with the objective of spreading the influence of anarchist principles and practices, even when these mass organisations remain ideologically heterogeneous. In fact, it is our belief that – as the mass fighting organisations of the working class – we should not seek to homogenise mass movements and organisations ideologically, as the strength of these movements lies in their ability to unite and mobilise the largest possible number of workers, regardless of their religious, ideological or political affiliations. Rather, we hold that it is the role of the anarchist political organisation to fight for the leadership of anarchist ideas within mass movements, and for the implementation of anarchist principles therein (even if not recognised as such by the majority of members of the mass organisation), such as: direct democracy, mutual aid, horizontalism, class combativeness, direct action and class independence (independence of working class organisations/ movements from political parties and electoral politics).

Founded on May Day 2003 – at a time when political space was closing down in the trade unions, with them coming increasingly under the control of the African National Congress (ANC) government through the tripartite alliance, and it being increasingly difficult to criticise the ANC-led Alliance or raise alternatives within the trade union movement – a decision was taken by the ZACF to orient itself towards the emerging popular social movements that had been mushrooming around South Africa since the turn of the decade in response to the failure of the ANC government to fulfill its election promises.

Since then the ZACF has worked with social movements such as the Anti-Privatisation Forum (APF) and Landless People’s Movement (LPM) in Gauteng, as well as doing solidarity work for social movements based outside of Gauteng that have come under state repression, such as Abahlali baseMjondolo in KwaZulu Natal and the Anti-Eviction Campaign (AEC) in the Western Cape. Within these social movements, a large part of our work is around popular political education and trying to raise and advance anarchist principles therein; advocating direct action, combatting reformist and authoritarian tendencies etc. and arguing for these social movements to remain independent from political parties and not to waste their time putting up or supporting independent candidates in elections. In fact, although we have contributed in the past to positions of class independence and anti-electoralism prevailing, the question of the role of the state and of using elections to get into local or national government as a strategy for social transformation is something we have to battle on an almost daily basis within these movements, due to the persistent influence of a number of Trotskyist and authoritarian socialist groups. In some cases, such as that of the LPM, the battle has been lost and the structure of what was once a combative working class organisation has been decimated by ongoing attempts by an opportunist leadership to drag this movement into elections and to support political parties in order to advance their own careers. Here we are working with activists from this former movement to investigate the possibilities of building another structure to replace it. This time one that functions along libertarian principles, in order to guard against what happened to the LPM happening again.

Because there is not really any already existing libertarian movement or tradition in South Africa (or at least not since about the 1920s), there are very few people who consciously identify as anarchists – or even know what that means – despite the fact that it is not uncommon for working class militants to have certain libertarian leanings and inclinations. Moreover, of those that do identify as anarchists, even fewer are from the black working class – which, we believe, absolutely has to be the driving force for any project of radical social transformation in the region – due to lack of access to information, the pervasive influence of bourgeois nationalism and loyalty to the ANC and liberation movement etc. This, of course, makes it very difficult for us to recruit members and grow as an organisation, since we require that someone be a convinced anarchist communist, and be in general agreement with our position papers before they join the organisation (as opposed to admitting people to the organisation and only then trying to convince them of our positions and make anarchists out of them). As such, our focus is on spreading anarchist ideas and practices among, particularly, the black working class and, where possible, drawing working class militants closer to, and, it is hoped, into the organisation. This desire to draw new people into our organisation should not be seen as a contradiction of our previous statement that we do not wish to create anarchist social movements, but influence non-ideological mass movements with anarchist principles and practice. Subscribing to the concept of organisational dualism as we do, it is our goal to draw militants with a theoretical or practical affinity for anarchism into our orbit, working together and helping to clarify their understanding of anarchism and to spread the influence of anarchist principles and practices into the mass organisations from which they come. Some of these comrades might end up being members or supporters of the ZACF, others not. What is important is that the ZACF provides a pole of attraction for militants with a theoretical or practical affinity for anarchism, and that we work together, according to the varying levels of our agreement, to make anarchism the leading idea within the mass fighting organisations of the popular classes.

Although, as previously stated, our focus has generally been on social movements recent developments have begun to open up some space for us to work within or alongside the trade unions. For example, through the relationship developed with them through our work in the APF, the General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (GIWUSA) – an independent general union which works alongside social movements such as the APF – invited us to assist them in training a number of their shop-stewards in order for them to be able to produce and launch a worker-run trade union newspaper. We have also presented workshops on anarchism to shop-stewards from the South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU), a COSATU (Congress of South African Trade Unions) affiliate, and were involved on the Solidarity Committee established for the Metal, Electrical and Allied Workers Union of South Africa (MEWUSA) workers who occupied the Mine-LIne factory on the West Rand of Johannesburg with the intention of turning it into a worker-run cooperative.

In addition to the above we have comrades involved in two university-based study circles on anarchism, which aim to draw students (be they activists or those with an intellectual interest in anarchism) closer to anarchism and the ZACF and, hopefully, into supporting the class struggle outside of the university as well. Other campus-based activities include supporting the struggles of workers outsourced to private service-provision companies (security, cleaning etc.) and running a week-long anarchist stall at the university’s annual Orientation Week.

Other things worth noting are perhaps the rather important role we played in the Coalition Against Xenophobia (CAX) – established in 2008 after the xenophobic pogroms that shook this country, leaving over 60 people dead – which fizzled out after activities culminated in a 24 hour picket outside the infamous Lindela repatriation centre; co-organising a Reclaim June 16th demonstration in Soweto, where we marched along the route used by students in the 1976 Soweto Students Uprising; as well as our ongoing participation in the newly-established Democratic Left Front (DLF) – a national umbrella grouping of social movements, trade unions, civic and church organisations and left political groups – particularly around activities building up to mobilisations around COP17, set to take place in Durban in December.

In closing we can cay that – as probably the world’s most unequal society, with the greatest disparity between the rich and the poor – South Africa is a social time-bomb, waiting to explode. This is evidenced in the thousands of so-called service delivery protests and community revolts that have characterised this country for over a decade; in the increasing levels of police brutality and state repression and the escalation workers strikes, notably in the public sector.

People are nearing the end of their patience. There are community revolts and so-called service delivery protests, very often spontaneous or organised independently of local political groupings, on an almost daily basis. Although it is unlikely to actually happen for some time to come, workers are increasingly calling for the trade union confederation, COSATU, to break with the ANC-led tripartite alliance, which includes the South African Communist Party – suggesting that a growing number of workers are becoming increasingly disillusioned and impatient with the ANC and its seeming inability to fulfill even some of the most basic of its election promises 17 years into the new dispensation. What is needed is for anarchist revolutionaries to provide a libertarian socialist vision of an alternative to the National Democratic Revolution, to help raise levels of class consciousness and militancy and to channel the potentially explosive frustration and anger of the exploited and oppressed classes into a movement conscious of the need to organise and struggle, independently and from below, to overthrow capitalism and the state and replace it with socialism and freedom. This is the task we have set ourselves.

Amandla awethu!
(“Power to the people” in isiZulu)

Verwandter Link: http://www.zabalaza.net
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Fri 29 Mar, 16:11

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Mandla Khoza (“MK”), 1974-2019: ZACF anarchist-communist, militant in South Africa and Swaziland (Eswatini) image“The soldier has fallen”: Mandla Khoza, ZACF anarchist-communist and Swaziland activist, 22 May 1974... 07:30 Thu 22 Aug by ZACF 1 comments

Comrade Mandla Khoza (or "MK," as his friends and comrades knew him) passed away on Friday 26 July in his home town of Siphofaneni, Swaziland (Eswatini). He had long suffered from sugar diabetes. He leaves behind four children. One of the pioneering members of the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Federation (ZACF) founded in South Africa on May Day 2003, MK was committed to a social revolution that would place power and wealth in the hands of the working class, the peasants and the poor. As he would often say: “It doesn’t matter if you change who sits on the throne: you have to get rid of the throne itself.” This obituary commemorates his life as a militant. [Français]

zacflogo.gif imageZACF Reply to the Misrepresentation of the ZACF by American Journalists and on the Schmidt Affair 10:46 Fri 19 Feb by Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front 39 comments

19th February 2016 The following is the official statement of the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF) of South Africa on the controversy that erupted around Michael Schmidt, a South African activist, several months ago. It follows a careful collective discussion process and research and comes several weeks after the last installment in a series of articles claiming to be an expose of Schmidt. As we are also committed to a number of ongoing workshops, activities and publications, our time was limited. It has two main aims: to outline our position on the claims made for, and against, Schmidt, and to respond to a number of false statements that have been made about the ZACF in the course of the developing Schmidt affair. The statement opens with an executive summary, followed by a much more extensive discussion. The statement was collectively crafted and issued by the ZACF: www.zabalaza.net Questions and requests for comment should be addressed to zacf@riseup.net with a clearly-identifiable subject line (Please note that we will not be responding to questions, queries or claims from people using pseudonyms or otherwise concealing their identities. Organisational affiliation, if any, should please be stated). * Please note that a much earlier draft seems to have leaked online, labelled “Consolidated ZACF statement v18.docx” at 84kb, dated 22 December 2015. Our documents go through a process of collective writing and criticism and fact-checking, so THIS version (the one you are reading now) is the correct one, with significant changes from earlier versions. All previous drafts are made null-and-void by this final version and have no standing whatsoever, and we will not enter into discussion of such drafts.

orbituaryofousilawrencezitha.gif imageOrbituary of Ousi Lawrence Zitha 17:03 Mon 01 Sep by Nobyhle Dube 0 comments

Comrade Lawrence was born on 7 July 1969 in Kliptown before moving to Ceza in KwaZulu-Natal. He attended Ceza Primary and Nghunghunyone Secondary, matriculating in 1986 with exemption (excellent at that time).

headerzab.gif imageAnnouncing the new Zabalaza website 17:37 Sun 10 Apr by Zabalaza.Net tech crew 0 comments

We, at the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF), are pleased to announce that the new Zabalaza website, Home of Southern African Anarchism, is now online.

speaker.jpg imageSouth African anarchist speaks in Ireland 23:32 Thu 29 Oct by Cathal 0 comments

October 26th the Cork branch of the Worker’s Solidarity Movement hosted a talk by South African anarchist and ZABALAZA Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF) member, Jonathan. The ZACF is an organisation of anarchist individuals from South Africa who identify with the communist tradition within Anarchism. The front is organised around the principles of theoretical and tactical unity, collective responsibility and federalism. Their activities include study and theoretical development, anarchist agitation and propaganda, and participation within the class struggle.

Authors' presentation imageReport on the Johannesburg launch of Black Flame 20:58 Tue 13 Oct by Jon 0 comments

Around 120 people, from seasoned anarchist militants and trade unionists to students and professors came together at Wits University in Johannesburg on Wednesday 7 October 2009 for the launch of “Black Flame: The revolutionary class politics of anarchism and syndicalism”, the first of a two volume series on anarchist history and theory by Lucien van der Walt and Michael Schmidt. The room was filled up so fast and so quickly that latecomers had to find space on the stairs - one of the biggest launches at the university in years. [Nederlands]

textReport on Red & Black Forum on the Economic Crisis 23:57 Tue 15 Sep by Jon 0 comments

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.

textNew Zabalaza Postal Address 19:10 Wed 04 Jul by Jonathan 0 comments

Due to the franchise closing down, the ZACF has a new postal address.

zab_logo.gif imageAfrican anarchism website redesigned 20:43 Fri 24 Nov by Michael Schmidt 6 comments

We are pleased to announce the redesign of the ever-popular Zabalaza website, the world's premier portal for news, analysis, history and theory on class-struggle issues on the African continent.

textZACF - southern Africa, Congress 2005 00:41 Wed 30 Nov by Michael (International Secretary) 1 comments

The ZACF's second full Congress, which is the decision-making body of the Federation, consisting of all members, will be held in Johannesburg over the weekend of December 16 & 17

more >>

textWhy May Day? An African Working Class Perspective May 02 by Leroy Maisiri 0 comments

In South Africa, the black working class majority is gripped by the rough hands of its ruling class, made up of a cold combination of black state elites and white capitalist elites, who choke the very life out of her. blazing but blinded. In days like these it is important to remember our heroes, our champions of past years, to remember the stories of Ma Josie Mpama, who wanted nothing more, than to see the working class mature, to explode like landmines under the feet of the oppressive system that has spent centuries trampling over us. The other day, while deep in thought, I felt the room grow more still, filled with clarity. The voices of Lucy Parsons, Josie Mpama and other heroes pierced my very being. Their voices reminded me of the dream, the obtainable goal. To remember that we, the working class billions, can be more than what we are now, that we can awake, from our half-life, that we can be more than the shares and stocks that the system has nailed to our backs.

imageReclaiming Our Global Past: Why South Africa is Not "New Terrain" for Anarchism/Syndicalism, and How... Apr 18 by Warren McGregor 0 comments

A Presentation at the St. Imier International Anarchist Conference by Warren McGregor (ZACF), August 2012.

imageNo Justice, No Peace: A Year of Struggle Dec 11 by Tokologo African Anarchist Collective 0 comments

Welcome to the first double issue of Tokologo, combining issues 5 and 6. This marks our third year of publishing by the Tokologo African Anarchist Collective and its study circles. 2015 has been a turbulent year. On the one side, the horrors of attacks on immigrants and foreigners continue. In April, attacks broke out, mainly in KwaZulu-Natal, spurred directly by Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini's inflammatory statements. One of the big failures of the 1994 transition was that much of the old Bantustan/ homeland apparatus remained in place, with the continuing power of chiefs and kings. Again, in October, this time spurred by rumours and the taxi associations, there were riots in the Eastern Cape.

imageWhere to, South Africa? Aug 17 by Tina Sizovuka 0 comments

Editorial from issue number 14 of the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front's journal, Zabalaza: A Journal of Southern African Revolutionary Anarchism.

textThe Black Bloc: A Disposable Tactic Jun 29 by Zabalaza 0 comments

Usually masked - to prevent identification and as protection against the teargas used by the repressive forces - and dressed distinctively in the traditional anarchist colour of black, the so-called "black bloc" has provided anarchism with its greatest public profile since the mass protest movements of the late 1960s. But this is a class war and we need to be flexible in our tactics and change swiftly where needed in order to keep the enemy off balance. For now, it is time to drop the black bloc tactic, go unmasked in daylight, and blend in with the workers. Since they are prepared for the black bloc, we need new approaches that will catch them off-guard.

more >>

imageZACF Reply to the Misrepresentation of the ZACF by American Journalists and on the Schmidt Affair Feb 19 ZACF 39 comments

19th February 2016 The following is the official statement of the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF) of South Africa on the controversy that erupted around Michael Schmidt, a South African activist, several months ago. It follows a careful collective discussion process and research and comes several weeks after the last installment in a series of articles claiming to be an expose of Schmidt. As we are also committed to a number of ongoing workshops, activities and publications, our time was limited. It has two main aims: to outline our position on the claims made for, and against, Schmidt, and to respond to a number of false statements that have been made about the ZACF in the course of the developing Schmidt affair. The statement opens with an executive summary, followed by a much more extensive discussion. The statement was collectively crafted and issued by the ZACF: www.zabalaza.net Questions and requests for comment should be addressed to zacf@riseup.net with a clearly-identifiable subject line (Please note that we will not be responding to questions, queries or claims from people using pseudonyms or otherwise concealing their identities. Organisational affiliation, if any, should please be stated). * Please note that a much earlier draft seems to have leaked online, labelled “Consolidated ZACF statement v18.docx” at 84kb, dated 22 December 2015. Our documents go through a process of collective writing and criticism and fact-checking, so THIS version (the one you are reading now) is the correct one, with significant changes from earlier versions. All previous drafts are made null-and-void by this final version and have no standing whatsoever, and we will not enter into discussion of such drafts.

imageOrbituary of Ousi Lawrence Zitha Sep 01 Tokologo African Anarchist Collective 0 comments

Comrade Lawrence was born on 7 July 1969 in Kliptown before moving to Ceza in KwaZulu-Natal. He attended Ceza Primary and Nghunghunyone Secondary, matriculating in 1986 with exemption (excellent at that time).

imageAnnouncing the new Zabalaza website Apr 10 ZACF 0 comments

We, at the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF), are pleased to announce that the new Zabalaza website, Home of Southern African Anarchism, is now online.

textNew Zabalaza Postal Address Jul 04 Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Federation 0 comments

Due to the franchise closing down, the ZACF has a new postal address.

imageAfrican anarchism website redesigned Nov 24 ex-ZACF (South Africa & Swaziland) 6 comments

We are pleased to announce the redesign of the ever-popular Zabalaza website, the world's premier portal for news, analysis, history and theory on class-struggle issues on the African continent.

more >>
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