Johannesburg, Anarchist arrested in Motsoledi

southern africa | community struggles | news report Wednesday September 28, 2005 19:41 by via A-Infos

An anarchist member of the Sowetan Motsoledi Concerned Residents Association (MCRA) was arrested 2 weeks ago following an open discussion with a local ward councillor.

Johannesburg, Anarchist arrested in Motsoledi

The member confronted the councillor about lack of amenities and was accused by other members of the MCRA of being an instigator. He was then arrested on charges of threatening a councillor. The Association then went on to tell the community that anarchism was now illegal in South Africa and that anarchists in the community should be treated as dangerous subversives. The member was released the following day and all charges were dropped.

Ironically, the same member was one of the founders of the MCRA: in 2002 an anarchist group calling themselves the Black Action Group, frustrated by empty promises of housing and services made by the ANC in 1994, opened a library & free space and started a sustainable food garden as a means of coping with poverty and educating the community. The project hit setbacks from the start as members of the ANC accused the group of subverting the community and challenging the authority of the post-apartheid government. Anarchists and activists were threatened and the garden was abandoned. Members continued to organise by running the library and working together with Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Federation to establish a community forum.

The MCRA was founded early in 2005 and hit similar setbacks, but by August it was well established and had a core committee of about 30 activists (about 4 of whom were anarchists or non-authoritarians) from the community, with a view to bringing about real solutions to the township’s problems. However, some members of the MCRA still insisted that local government, and in particular the ANC, had a place in Motsoledi, while the anarchist members argued that experience has shown that voting changes nothing and it was up to the community to help itself. Following the arrest, all anarchist members have left the MCRA and are now rebuilding the food garden and expanding the library with a view to educating the community on self-sustainability.