Protest in Mpofana, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: narratives and strategies

Abstract

ABSTRACT Mpofana protests are characteristic of local protest actions occurring across South Africa. In 2014 Mpofana Municipality was placed under administration by the provincial authority and one of the reasons cited for this were high levels of protest. This paper focuses on Mpofana protests to examine demands for ‘service delivery’ and citizenship as well as political strategy with regards local level leadership. The paper also considers the narratives and strategies around protest in the context of the ‘neoliberal citizen’ and ‘market’ approaches to citizenship. It draws on a qualitative study comprising focus groups conducted across three Mpofana wards. The paper suggests that in Mpofana there are clear struggles for the attainment of social citizenship in the context of a divide between those who have no access to work and wages and those who have access to income and assets. Citizenship attainment struggles are interwoven with failed patronage networks, and processes of piercing the ‘common sense’ appear through protesters questioning local leadership and proposing solutions for change. There is also evidence in Mpofana though of the ‘depoliticised subject’ fostered by the neoliberal doctrine where the language of protest is cast in market terms.