Violent masculinities and service delivery protests in post-apartheid South Africa: A case study of two communities in Mpumalanga

Abstract

abstract For the past few years, violent service delivery protests have been spreading across South Africa over access to basic services, such as water, electricity, housing and job opportunities. This Article draws on two case studies in which in-depth group and individual interviews were conducted with key male informants about their involvement in violent service delivery protests. It provides a gendered analysis of these events by focusing on Connell's (1995) notion of hegemonic masculinity, which refers to dominant cultural stereotypes in which men are expected to aspire to power, status, and wealth, and how these expectations are implicated in service delivery protests. In the interviews, the participants complained bitterly about the black elite men who drive flashy expensive cars, have money and as a result, are able to attract multiple girlfriends, while they are not able to do the same due to their poor economic status. Thus violence was used by the working-class men to deal with their sense of disempowerment and emasculation. This violence was also directed at women in politics within local councils. In conclusion, the Article argues that the current socio-economic pressures seem to be influencing young men to become involved in violent service delivery protests as a way of imagining and reimaging new forms of masculinities in post-apartheid South Africa.