[RIGHT Mawubuye Meeting 2023

The process of facilitating the building of a vibrant voice of the rural and urban impoverished and underdeveloped by TCOE was as a result of thought through processes and thorough contextual analysis and learning from other practises and from own experiences.

Core to this strategy was enabling the affected poor to realise their plight, champion and lead their struggles.

This approach also involves building from below, different sectors that includes, Farmworkers and Dwellers, women organisations, small scale farmers, small scale fishers, and the unemployed workers that culminated into a national formation called Inyanda National Land Movement in 2013 and Rural Women’s Assembly.

[LEFT] Coast to Coast 

These sectors being confronted by complex contextual challenges and therefore to facilitate this process demands multi-pronged interventions and organisation that is rooted to struggles of the grassroots.  It requires certain calibre of activists that have a certain level of commitment to the cause of our revolution and understanding.  It also requires the ability to analyse the root cause of the deepening crisis of socio-political and economic environment.

Therefore, it was not by accident that TCOE has to develop cadreship and leadership building programmes, building the conscience of these sectors with a special focus to women and youth, but without underestimating the challenges in mobilizing and organising youth because its fluidity and difficult to sustain them in the movement.

[ABOVE] Study school under the trees

Among other strategies employed to realise this objective were, organising popular education platforms, leadership and political schools, awareness raising programmes, speak-out sessions and establishment of study circles. A layer of leadership established that led the struggles and most visible at local level. Essentially the conscience building process was critical but it was equally important to build a movement that will act to the contextual challenges faced with and able to link the local and national with global economic and political issues.  To investigate and research issues affecting the target group for substance and evidence to back up our struggles was also core to this journey.

[ABOVE] Women farm in rows

The dilemma and the reality we were faced with was organising communities that were rooted into crisis of poverty and totally excluded in participating actively in the economy of the country. A community that has been grossly affected by history of land dispossession, legislative framework and policies that endorses oppression and exploitation. The failure of the Land and Agrarian Reform Programme to respond and address the land and agrarian question. The nature and the extent of the change faced by Inyanda and RWA demanded building alliances and partnerships for solidarity in action and mass action.

It also became critical that TCOE to integrate, support issues of food security and sovereignty and development of sustainable alternatives of food production and land use. Thus, the ideas of embarking on agroecology i.e. producing food ecologically, establishment of organic seedlings nurseries and seed-banks. This was also a strategy to combat the use of genetically modified seeds and providing environmentally agricultural method as opposed to dominant industrial agriculture that contributes to the crises of climate change and global warming as well has negative impact to environment. The recent instances of disasters/floods in Port St Johns and sea overflows in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape are the concrete examples of this phenomenon and the latter seeks to confirm the importance of the struggles for climate justice and development of appropriate alternatives.

[LEFT] Farmers during harvesting peppers- packaging before going to market 

The list is long of the issues faced the working class and the rural poor, the collapsing local government municipalities and its failure to deliver essential services and the ruling party and ensure democracy and equality. The democracy campaign and education used as a vehicle to respond to this crisis. Building, organising and mobilizing alternative movements and forums to be alternative voices and contest the space to promote and instil democracy within this institution. To deal with the legacy of apartheid regime and the capital system, the need to engage with struggles for policy transformation became an integral part of our approach and strategy.  Policies that were consolidating and an extension of oppression and exploitation of the working class.

It is essential to mention that there were moments of Uhuru, moments and victories that we need to celebrate and learn from them. TCOE mobilised thousands of men, women and youth and organised a National Land Conference parallel process with its alliances to discuss the Land and Agrarian Transformation issues and develop policy positions and shape the agenda to resolve the land and agrarian question in this country. For strategic reasons a delegation was sent to influence the debates of the Global Land Conference to influence and engage with the conference discussions. TCOE contributed a lot in the establishment of the Landless peoples Movement launched during the National Land Conference in Johannesburg.

As part of putting Land and Agrarian question top on the agenda organised a Tribunal to expose the inequalities that exist in this country with institution of high learning, different types of movements, civil society organisations and legal fraternity. The strategic government departments were invited and engaged on the subject matter to account and to say exactly what are their positions and response to these challenges.

In the latest discussions we were reviewing the work of building Inyanda, recognised that the current moment is different from anti -apartheid period and therefore our conception and prosecution of building a mass movement must be different. We have not achieved the anticipated growth and impact, only the basics. Within Inyanda, there are some affiliates which resembles signs of success and others not. In our recruitment and mobilisation strategy, we did not disaggregate membership of backyard gardens from livestock and large farmers.

Recognising challenges of building movements in the context of mass poverty and inequality accompanying by a challenging political environment (a rallying call), we change our approach in which we recognise a need to provide benefits. And, thus, agro-ecology becomes central in our organising strategy. Included in this will be visibility in public policy and advocacy on key issues such as access to land and water. Various sectors such as livestock, farm workers, etc. will continue to meet as sectors to reflect on their issues and these consolidated in a national platform in which solidarity actions are coordinated and sharing of lessons and perspectives takes place. The internal restructuring process will result in capable staff that will lead and drive the building of Inyanda National Land Movement.

The International Photo Exhibition commenced to expose the deepened poverty and Inequalities in South Africa was organised by TCOE. This included delegation of staff TCOE and movements’ delegates to go to various countries that include West and East Germany and present the case of South Africa using the photos that depict poverty as evidence. It is true that this process has not just strengthened relations between TCOE and the other parts of the world but raised its profile and footprint.

[ABOVE] National Strat Plan – 2023

The struggles against Austerity Budget, budget cuts on essential services cannot be undermined, working with a strategic partner like AIDC, Left Socialists Organisations, Individuals and the Labour Movements, at all levels (locally, provincially and nationally) These struggles had contributed massively in building leadership that can lead and give strategic direction. Lastly the least is long but the struggles for access to marine resources and fight against the extraction of commons and seismic blasts that resulted in court cases are also a measure stick of our successes and victories of with other formations with likeminded vision and mission.