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Rebellion of the poor: South Africa's service delivery protests -- a preliminary analysis

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  • Peter Alexander

Abstract

Since 2004, South Africa has experienced a movement of local protests amounting to a rebellion of the poor. This has been widespread and intense, reaching insurrectionary proportions in some cases. On the surface, the protests have been about service delivery and against uncaring, self-serving, and corrupt leaders of municipalities. A key feature has been mass participation by a new generation of fighters, especially unemployed youth but also school students. Many issues that underpinned the ascendency of Jacob Zuma also fuel the present action, including a sense of injustice arising from the realities of persistent inequality. While the inter-connections between the local protests, and between the local protests and militant action involving other elements of civil society, are limited, it is suggested that this is likely to change. The analysis presented here draws on rapid-response research conducted by the author and his colleagues in five of the so-called ‘hot spots’.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Alexander, 2010. "Rebellion of the poor: South Africa's service delivery protests -- a preliminary analysis," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(123), pages 25-40, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:revape:v:37:y:2010:i:123:p:25-40
    DOI: 10.1080/03056241003637870
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    Cited by:

    1. Porten, John & Rhee, Inbok & Gibson, Clark, 2022. "Ethnicity is not public service destiny: The political logic of service distribution in South Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    2. Muyeba, Singumbe, 2019. "Institutional capital, urban poverty and household wealth in Cape Town," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 16(C).
    3. Nick Bernards, 2018. "The Truncated Commercialization of Microinsurance and the Limits of Neoliberalism," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 49(6), pages 1447-1470, November.
    4. Rapatsa Mashele, 2017. "Student Activists or Student Anarchists? South Africa’s Contemporary Student Protests Reviewed," European Review of Applied Sociology, Sciendo, vol. 10(15), pages 13-20, December.
    5. Michael Neocosmos, 2016. "The Sociology of Crisis and the Crisis of Sociology: Academic Marxism and the Absence of a Thought of Politics in South Africa," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 47(1), pages 188-202, January.
    6. Jon Phillips & Saska Petrova, 2021. "The materiality of precarity: Gender, race and energy infrastructure in urban South Africa," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(5), pages 1031-1050, August.
    7. Tobias Lechtenfeld & Asmus Zoch, 2014. "Income Convergence in South Africa: Fact or Measurement Error?," Courant Research Centre: Poverty, Equity and Growth - Discussion Papers 157, Courant Research Centre PEG.
    8. Sarah Day & Mohamed Seedat & Josephine Cornell & Shahnaaz Suffla, 2019. "A multimodal reading of public protests," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 37(6), pages 1005-1023, September.
    9. Bradlow, Benjamin H., 2024. "Urban social movements and local state capacity," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    10. Antje Daniel, 2023. "Housing as a Battlefield Between Self‐Organization and Resistance: The Case of Reclaim the City," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(2), pages 326-335.
    11. Sophie Oldfield, 2015. "Between activism and the academy: The urban as political terrain," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 52(11), pages 2072-2086, August.
    12. Alexander De Juan & Eva Wegner, 2019. "Social Inequality, State-centered Grievances, and Protest: Evidence from South Africa," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 63(1), pages 31-58, January.
    13. Kuckertz, Andreas & Brändle, Leif & Gaudig, Anja & Hinderer, Sebastian & Morales Reyes, Carlos Arturo & Prochotta, Alicia & Steinbrink, Kathrin M. & Berger, Elisabeth S.C., 2020. "Startups in times of crisis – A rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 13(C).
    14. Bowman, Brett & Stevens, Garth & Eagle, Gillian & Langa, Malose & Kramer, Sherianne & Kiguwa, Peace & Nduna, Mzikazi, 2015. "The second wave of violence scholarship: South African synergies with a global research agenda," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 243-248.
    15. Molefi Solomon Mohautse, 2014. "The Economic and Political Ramifications of Inequality in Post-Apartheid South Africa," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 6(9), pages 690-699.
    16. Roger Southall, 2019. "Polarization in South Africa: Toward Democratic Deepening or Democratic Decay?," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 681(1), pages 194-208, January.
    17. Leila M Harris, 2020. "Assessing states: Water service delivery and evolving state–society relations in Accra, Ghana and Cape Town, South Africa," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 38(2), pages 290-311, March.
    18. Edward Webster & Katherine Joynt & Thabang Sefalafala, 2016. "Informalization and decent work: Labour’s challenge," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 16(2), pages 203-218, April.
    19. Ronelle Burger & Megan Louw & Brigitte Barbara Isabel de Oliveira Pegado & Servaas van der Berg, 2015. "Understanding consumption patterns of the established and emerging South African black middle class," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 41-56, January.
    20. Pellicer, Miquel & Piraino, Patrizio & Wegner, Eva, 2019. "Perceptions of inevitability and demand for redistribution: Evidence from a survey experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 274-288.
    21. Luiz, John M. & Barnard, Helena, 2022. "Home country (in)stability and the locational portfolio construction of emerging market multinational enterprises," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 17-32.

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