I can certainly see the logic behind saving the hand that feeds you, after all one never knows when they might be in need of a giving hand. Besides, biting is neither cool nor is it friendly! But, what of the case where that same hand promises to feed you and does not? what does one do then?
The analogy is admittedly quite crude, perhaps even far fetched but after attending the Joe Slovo Press media briefing on 24 September 2009, I left with a sense that the people of Joe Slovo were the yearning belly while the government was of course…THE hand. I listened attentively and with great pride as the community task team leader, Mr. Mzwanele Zulu presented the communities needs and expectations of government. Mr. Zulu indicated that the members of his community had struggled against relocation since 2006 but that of late there had been promising consultation between the government and the community. Driven by this hope (and perhaps to ward off the temptation of biting the hand), the community had gathered demographic information which would aid government in addressing the needs of the community. 36 community members volunteered to undertake the profiling exercise with the help of CORC.
On the afternoon that the Joe Slovo was to present their findings to the MEC of Housing and his colleagues, we were told that he would not be in attendance. However, in the spirit of fair play and ‘no hand biting’, the community made it very clear that despite their long battle, they were still very interested in reaching a solution to their housing and relocation problem through co-operative and consultative means. ‘We are fighting against the government itself, if anything we are fighting to bring them to the party’ was the message that was echoed throughout the meeting. Loosely translated, no matter how hungry we get, we will not bite your hand to fill our painful and restless bellies. At a time when the government is the enemy for poor service delivery everywhere else in South Africa, it was a refreshing stance for the Joe Slovo community leadership to take.
Despite the absence of the Housing MEC, the meeting was attended by officials from the Provincial Housing department who showed great excitement for the community profiling report and entering into deliberations with the community of Joe Slovo.
The events of this meeting therefore challenged the idea that the poor are ‘impatient’ and ‘always waiting for the government to take the lead’ in their development. The Joe Slovo not only took their development into their own hands – they too extended their hand to feed the under-resourced, over burdened belly of the government.
I congratulate the community of Joe Slovo Task Team, the Joe Slovo community and CORC on producing a fantastic resource in the Joe Slovo Household Enumeration report. I am hopeful that with this in hand and the commitment of the Provincial representatives that attended the meeting we will hear of and see even greater co-operation in working towards meeting the needs of the Joe Slovo community and realising the South African government’s housing provision commitment to its people.