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Daily Report from the WSSD, Day Three

August 28, 2002

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Rally by the Anti Privatization Forum at the Alexandra Stadium

Charges Against the W$$D: 64 Million Rand for Rich Standton Roads -
What About Us?

Questioning the exclusion of the poor and the marginalized from the WSSD, the Anti Privatization Forum (APF) organized a rally in the Alexandra stadium today. The stadium played a key role in anti-Apartheid struggle where Steve Biko organized local people during football games. Today it was the center for organizing for freedom of the poor. Thousands of people, including children, women and men came to the rally from townships around Alexandra. Wearing colorful red T Shirts,they chanted, "Amandla" (power) and sang songs of freedom. The protestors entered the stadium singing, cheering, holding colorful banners. All demanding justice, right to food, housing, and challenging illegal evictions, and privatization of water and electricity.

But this was not just about poverty and oppression in South Africa. Leaders from the landless movement in Zimbabwe, SOLD (Survivors of the Lesotho Dam), activists from Canada fighting privatization of water, prisons and our commons, and activists from the U.S. fighting for the protection of rainforests, joined the APF to declare their joint struggle against corporate driven globalization. Many wore T Shirts with words from the Bolivian struggle against water privatization, "El Agua Es Nuestra, Carajo!" (It is our water, F_ _ _ it!).

Speaking at the rally, John Appolis, chair of the APF, said, "To this day we must fight the image of John Wayne, the image of Rambo, the image of Tarzan, the image of legends. But let our words echo: our world is not for sale. Africa is not for sale." Cheering crowds danced, sang, while children played and cheered.

Recognizing that the political leaders continue to destroy people and the planet, the rally called for mass struggles by the survivors of their policies. The rally was almost a warm up to the march planned by the Social Movements Indaba (SMI) for August 31. Over the last few days the media has followed the debate and struggle over the right of the social movements to march and express their views about the W$$D. For the SMI the right to march is a right that has been won by millions of South Africans and their allies in all parts of the world, over many years of struggle and sacrifice. The SMI has made it clear that it intends to exercise this right this coming August 31. As part of this commitment the SMI has met with the police in order to get permission to march. Several meetings have been held with the police, and in all these meetings the police have denied the social movements the right to march. Their reasons being:

1. They do not want to embarrass the nation
2. The march is not in national interest
3. The police must protect national pride.

Today with the intervention of the National Intelligence Agency, an agreement was brokered between the SMI and police. On August 31 SMI will march from the township of Alexandra to show the world that their children live and play in sewers, there are no jobs for the poor, that the houses in the township were painted few days before the summit for 7 rand a day ($1=10 Rand) The march will make it obvious that the poor have the right to speak to their people and the working class. It will not be deterred or intimidated by police and ministers.

While the rich meet in fancy Standton center, the social movements are no slowing down the pace. As the "common man" who spoke at the rally said, "it is as yet, not the end of the race."

Crisis Talks Foil "Sleep-in" Threat by NGOs

Hundreds of angry NGO members who threatened to occupy the Sandton Convention Center by staging a "sleep-in" there last night because of seriously restricted access to the center, called off their planned action after the U.N. and the South African foreign affairs dept. gave in to their demands.

A group of seven representatives, elected from a spectrum of international NGOs to represent different caucuses, met summit secretary-general Nitin Desai and foreign affairs director-general, Abdul Minty to express their outrage at finding that only 1,000 out of almost 6,000 accredited Ngos were allowed into the convention center on a first-come-first-served basis. Anuradha Mittal, Food First's Co Director, represented the "action caucus" in this meeting along with representatives from the women's caucus, youth caucus, ecumenical caucus, and others.

After a second meeting with Minty and Desai, the sleep-in was called off after the demands were met. These demands included the abolition of secondary passes, opening of gates earlier to reduce congestion which resulted in lining for over 2 hours, improved transport and the provision of large screens to follow debates.

Both the United Nations and the host country had known for months the number of delegates and that the building could not accommodate them. However, restrictions on NGO access were imposed only last weekend. No such restrictions were imposed on government delegations. The U.S. delegation has a flock of over 500 members. And many of these government delegations include corporate executives.

Anuradha Mittal
Johannesburg