For many living in South Africa, 2017 has been a constant battle to survive the ‘dry season’. This dry season has been constituted by the onslaught of rising food and transport prices, lack of adequate service delivery, worsening working conditions, increased retrenchments and the pervasive scourge of gender based violence. Against this grim reality, the elites (political and otherwise) of this country are engaged in a war for political power over South Africa’s economy, veiled as current ‘white monopoly capital vs. state capture’ debates. In these polarising times, times which threaten to get worse before they get better, it is necessary for the Black working class to organise itself, and to draw from the vast history of working class struggles for a better life. As always, spring provides an opportunity to reflect on these past and more recent struggles, and continue with renewed energy towards a feminist, socialist society.
Yours in solidarity,
Searatoa Van Driel
