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This Karibu! Campaigns Bulletin highlights the City of Joburg’s and the Directorate of Art, Culture and Heritage’s planned eviction of Khanya College from the Workers Museum West Cottage (WMC) in Newtown. The Khanya Board of Trustees, is engaged in a consultation process about the City’s planned eviction with constituencies, civil society and the public. The Board is committed to defending the WMC as one of the few public spaces for the working class, especially the youth, in the city.
More than 20 years ago, we struggled to make the WMC a heritage site, to honour the migrants who built this city and this country. Then, powerful forces linked to the wealthy, opposed us, wanting to demolish the compound and build a hotel and shopping centre in its place. It took the struggles of civil society to ensure the victory of the WMC as a heritage, a recognition of migrant workers and all workers in South Africa. At the time, Khanya College was designated a stakeholder and co-manager of the WMC. Considerations of ensuring quality public services influenced Khanya’s role, although the college has been an active partners of the City. Today, the working class is once again being expelled from the city, and a struggle is once again necessary. Hence, Khanya College is being called on to be the ‘guardian’ of the programmes and operations of the WMC, while the City retains responsibility for its maintenance and infrastructure.
As a whole, there has been no significant transformation of the city’s colonial and apartheid legacies. While Newtown has been gentrified, it’s unable to sustain coffee shops, restaurants and even a bookshop. The working class and the marginalised access the WMC, the city, and Newtown through Khanya’s activities. For the rest of the City, people are holed up in overcrowded flats, poor public spaces, and the city is poorly maintained, decaying and derelict.
For some time now, we have been witnessing the inability of the City’s leaders and officials to manage, restore and rebuild the city on their own accord. Neoliberal budget cuts have had a devastating impact, together with mismanagement and corruption. The City track record does not inspire confidence on any level. While communities and movements have been weakened after 30 years of neoliberalism; unless they exert pressure on the city through peaceful means; and develop perspectives, ideas and pilots to transform the city; the ruling elites (black and white) will not bring about significant transformation. While the City tends to work for wealthier sections of Joburg, the lack of accountability and responsibility is deep-seated and affects all aspects of the city.
As much as the daily struggle for most people, especially women, in the city (and the country) weighs heavy on us, we have to unite to bring about social transformation of the City of Joburg. Let us unite to defend all public spaces. Defend the WMC!
In solidarity
This article was submitted as part of the July edition of the Karibu! Campaign Bulletin publication and is published bi-monthly. You may republish this article, so long as you credit the author and Karibu! Online (www.Karibu.org.za), and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.
