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SPECIALFEATUREfor employment. They should teach usthings like plumbing or construction sowhen there are people in the communitywho need such services, they can employeach other.’ As one mentions, ‘I think thegovernment should make sure people donot have to go far from the townships toget jobs, as they have no money to lookfor a job.’ Utterly dispirited, they talkabout the process of looking for workas a waste of money, especially if theydon’t find anything at the end of the day.‘I prefer to use the little I have to buysomething that I will eat at home.’Refusing to toil for slave wages, theyare aware that working for practicallynothing is no solution. What is the use ofgoing to work if you’re not going to solveyour problems? As one says, ‘I think it isa waste of my time and energy to workfor peanuts because I waste all the moneyon travelling. People work so they can besomething, so what’s the point of workingjust to eat lunch there and come back?’Completely discouraged, the youthand the unemployed easily turn to drugsor illegal means to help them deal with thedaily discord. As Verna says, ‘They say theyouth is the future but it seems like theyouth has been put on hold – it is givendrugs and alcohol just to keep them busy.’Fighting for our rightto work: organisingthe unemployedin South AfricaBy Amandla! editorial staffCredit: Timothy GabbA protester salutes the cause with a fist in the air. His shirt says “sekwanele” – it’ enough! TheUnemployed People’s Movement protests for dignity, service delivery and security for the areasof the townships which lack electricity.‘There is no third force, politicalparty or communist academicbehind our struggle. It is oppressionat the hands of the African NationalCongress that has driven us intothe rebellion of the poor. We arein rebellion because we are beingforced to live without dignity,safety or hope.’ (UnemployedPeople’s Movement)How do you keep membersinterested in a movement withno resources or immediatesolutions at hand? What canyou offer discouraged members when youare unemployed yourself, and when localpoliticians have consistently turned downyour demands, including the most basicones?Unemployment is structural andrampant, and organising the unemployedis a fulltime job. As Ayanda Kota,chairperson of the UPM in Grahamstown,says, ‘we are living in a radically unjustsociety. We live below the poverty line.We live in shacks with no electricity andrunning water. If RDP houses were builtthey are now crumbling down due topoor workmanship and corruption. Ourdemocracy means the progress of thefew while the majority of people are leftbehind to starve for death. We talk aboutour situation in our dusty and at timesmuddy street corners, in our shacks.’To organise the unemployed meansgoing to informal settlements every day toinform people about their conditions and12 Amandla! Issue No.21 | OCTOBER 2011