'Asinamali' - 'We Have No Money' - became our cry against the unjust urbanisation policies of the apartheid government. We argued that we would not pay for substandard housing and basic services, and that we would not support the racist urban planning of the apartheid government. We demanded to know why we should live in 'matchbox houses' in dusty and far-removed townships while white people lived in huge mansions in beautiful, green suburbs close to the city centre. Education was seen as an important aspect of a quality life, and so we also demanded changes in this sphere.

Today, townships of the Vaal & Soweto- Kanana, Boiketlong, Dunusa, Sonderwater, Protea South, Kliptown, Freedom Park, Chiawelo, White City etc - again cry, 'Asinamali'. These are not the only communities that have risen up in what are being called 'service delivery riots' today.

While the apartheid government no longer exists, the policies of privatisation that it initiated, within an overall framework of racialised planning and development, continue today. The ANC government's adoption of a neoliberal macro-economic framework has meant that policies of privatisation and cost-recovery in the delivery of basic services have escalated, becoming the driving forces behind changes in this area, preventing redress of apartheid's entrenched inequalities.

In many cases, communities have been forced to accept standards of living far worse than those imposed under apartheid. As the ANC government has chosen to accept the rules of neoliberalism, the site-and-service schemes that we fought against in the '80s have become its preferred choice for delivery to the poor. It is not surprising, then, that the townships of the Vaal (and all over the country) are rising up once again to demand the quality of life that we were fighting for in the Asinamali campaign of the '80s. As we fight today, it is important that we remember these past struggles, in an attempt to learn from them and to make them speak again for us today.

September 3rd, 1984, grew, largely, out of the boycott and critiques that had developed against the tricameral parliament, introduced in 1983. Black communities boycotted the Black Local Authorities established under this system of governance, and, in 1983, very few residents elected Councillors who would then act as the 'representatives' of different Black communities, recognised by the apartheid government. There were many questions asked by communities about these Councillors, who came to be known as 'puppets' of the apartheid government. By this we meant that they were accountable to the apartheid government, and not to the people whom they were said to be representing.

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In the period before  September 3rd, the newly made puppets increased rentals. People argued that they were doing this to pay themselves bigger salaries and for the individual enrichment of their families. It did not help that municipal property - community halls, bars, lodges, etc. - was being privatised and sold to these puppets, who were also beginning to enjoy luxury lifestyles - driving fancy cars, building better houses, and so on. This, while their communities continued to suffer the substandard conditions of life imposed by apartheid. In response, communities began to say 'No' to the proposed rate increases. In Sharpeville, residents decided that they would demand to pay just R30 a month. Over time, the majority of us stopped paying.

 

As we refused to recognise the power of these puppets, we formed our own community structures. In the Vaal, the Vaal Civic Association was established, through the work and support of church groups, trade unions, different political groupings, and ordinary residents. It was through this space that the Asinamali campaign was planned, with the people of the Vaal leading it. This association was not led by a single political party or leader, but gave shape to the needs and voices of the people of the Vaal. On the night before the 3rd of September, the walls of the Vaal, from bus stops to shopping centres to stadium walls, were covered with graffiti carrying the slogans 'Asinamali', 'Councillors Must Resign', 'Don't Pay Rent', and 'Stayaway - September 3'. On the 3rd of September there was a general stayaway. Many workers were dismissed
for their participation in it.

Nevertheless, the actions continued. As the boycotts grew, Councillors, assisted by the Vaal Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Urban Foundation, approached companies that had employed residents of the Vaal to deduct rental payments from their employees' salaries. This led to the formation of the Vaal Trade Union Co-ordinating Committee (VTUCOC), a body made up of the Vaal Civic Association, COSAS, the Vaal Education Parents' Committee, the Vaal Ministers' Solidarity Committee, and local structures of FOSATU and CUSA-AZACTU. It was structures like these that made the rent boycotts of the '80s - structures that were able to bring ordinary people together to voice our concerns and develop common strategies to fight for a better life for all of us. It was in these spaces that we developed our own alternative forms of power, and our own ideas about the development that we needed in order to live quality lives. For many years after 1984, September 3 would be remembered as the walls of the Vaal would be sprayed, year after year, with the words, 'Remember September 3', as communities would recommit themselves to the spirit of refusal of that day in 1984.

 

Today, the demands being made in communities in the Vaal and across the country sound very much like our demands of the '80s. Unaccountable Councillors and substandard development and delivery for the poor continue to be our complaints. But the unity that was built in the '80s is no longer. There is a new unity that is being forged amongst those of us who continue to suffer under apartheid conditions today. As we shape and fashion new alliances and weapons for
our struggle today, let us remember that our cries of 'Asinamali' today are echoes of the 3rd of September 1984.