SINCE THE end of last year a powerful new development of the struggle in South Africa has taken place. The launching of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) was widely reported in the world press. Alongside this the African National Congress (ANC) issued the call for the creation of street committees and similar mass elected organisations in the townships. In line with this the May Day appeal of Cosatu, calling for a general strike on that day, included a call for the creation of 'street and area committees.
We print here an account of the development of the street committees. And excerpts from the article Dual power and the creation of people's committees' from the April issue of the ANC's magazine Sechaba. This explained the ANC's call for the creation of street committees.
The May Day appeal of UDA UD Cradock. and other cities in the Eastern Cape. It is no coincidence that this is also a region that has long been a stronghold Cradock, in the Eastern Cape. The initiative came from Matthew Goniwe, a Association (Cradora), a key UDF afalca Lingelihle should not be a vision of the future or an abstract ideal. It should be something real, something to give ordinary people the power to bring about Lingelihle into seven zones. About 40 WelC them. Meetings were held in every zone to elect leaders, with each household volle lur a sureel revresenlalive resulted in the collapse of the regime's Lingelihle's street committees survived the June 1985 death-squad killings of Goniwe and other key activists state of emergency in the Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth areas in July 1985, organisers chose not to publicise their existence for several months.
meeting in Port Elizabeth the existence of the street committees was publicly Black townships in the Eastern Cape members from the ranks of the local speakers was A Peter, who had belonged to the ANC — when it was still legal.
spread to other parts of the country, including Mamelodi and Atteridgeville, lical west of Comrades had already been formed by the end of January, with activists aiming to set up blocks. They established a central coordinating organisation called the Alex«MITILLCC.
Oliver Tambo commented on the imareas of our country,' he said, 'having destroyed the puppet organs of govern ment imposed on us by the apartheid regime, we have reached the situation where even the enemy has to deal with the democratic forces as the legitimate establishment COT people's power these areas, however rudimentary am precarious, is of great significance fo the turther advancement of our strug gle' The 3 March Sowetan, a Black-ru that all Black police as well as com munity council members, have been munity council members, have bee driven out of Langa and KwaNobuhl townships, outside Uitenhage 'Because many activists are detaine and subjected to alleged harassmen once they become known to the police, the Sowetan reported, 'communit organisations have decided that stre committees should run - more or le - the affairs of the townships. committee member is detained, anothei is selected to fill the vacuum. Anonymity is observed strictly' These anonymous activists are com monly called the 'comrades,' or in th Eastern Cape by the Xhosa-languag Activists these 'comrades' carry out a wide varie ty of activities. According to Mkhuse Jack, a Port Elizabeth youth and com committees are addressing specific pro blems arising from our situation. The consumer boycott of white businesse was conceived at such a meeting and it lasted for four months. At the moment we are tackling the presence of cops in caucanon probici The rent issues will be discussed soon.' enforce township decisions on Blacks employed in Pretoria's local administration community council's public relations officer stated at a rally in March, and I quit. As you know, when the comrades Gratitude 'People's courts' have been set up in a number of townships to administer popular justice and to fill the vacuum left by the flight of Black police. "Alexandra police station is no longer func. tioning and people say go and see the explained Patric Banda, Pretoria higher appeals court known as the Advice Office. These courts hear crimina cases, matrimonial disputes, and cases involving alleged collaborators with the In Kagiso and Munsieville, accor ding to a report in the Johannesburg Sunday Star, residents have commend virtually eliminating rapes, murders, and similai what they see as their The street committees, where they have become firmly established, have also served to draw into more organised activity the amabuthu (Xhosa for OOSt teenagers and preteenagers who are often in the forefront of clashes with the police. While generally supportive amabuthu had nevertheless previousdirect control of township organisaAbove all, the street committees have provided a means for promoting greater popular participation in the freedom struggle. Activists use them 'conscientise' community ents, the common term for raising them all,' one activist in Alexandra us we can stop all these factories with a strike or cripple the shops with a consumer boycott. That is how the struggle is going to be fought.
has come for us to learn to govern