An interesting piece, co-authored by Alan Lipman, which appeared in 1997 in the South African Labour Bulletin. Alan Lipman and Howard Harris, 1997, “Socialist hope: dead and gone?” South African Labour Bulletin, volume 21, number 6, pp.69-71. Get the PDF here. Continue reading Alan Lipman and Howard Harris, 1997, “Socialist hope: dead and gone?” (from “South African Labour Bulletin”
Lucien van der Walt, 2025, “On selective struggle history via the IWA and ICU in Peder Gouwenius’s 1981 Power to the People: South Africa in struggle – a pictorial history While on the subject of comic book histories of the South African past, it is worth revisiting Peder Gouwenius’s 1981 Power to the People: South Africa in struggle – a pictorial history, published by Zed … Continue reading As seen by others: Lucien van der Walt, 2025, “On selective struggle history via the IWA and ICU in Gouwenius’s ‘Power to the People: South Africa in struggle – a pictorial history’”
Among the materials circulated amongst anarchists/ syndicalists in 1990s South Africa was the International Bulletin produced by the International Secretary of the Workers Solidarity Alliance (WSA), an anarcho-syndicalist group based in the USA. The WSA (and its International Bulletin) played a very important role in spreading news about anarchist and syndicalist currents in the Soviet Union and its satellites in the 1980s and the post-Soviet … Continue reading Sections on Nigeria, South Africa from the September 1997 “International Bulletin” of the WSA-IWA
In 2021, Jacana Media issued the remarkable All Rise: Resistance, Rebellion, and Revolt in South Africa (1910-1948), which presented lesser known stories of resistance through a focus on the stories of marginalised individuals. The stories were in comic book format, a medium that has been surprisingly rare in South African politics. The text was by (South African-born) Richard Conyngham, with different stories illustrated by different … Continue reading Sections on the IWW, Percy Fisher, from Conyngham et al, 2021, “All Rise: Resistance and Rebellion in South Africa (1910-1948)”
Alan Robert Lipman (1925-2013) was a long-standing South African activist who adopted many anarchist views in his later years. Actively involved in the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA, subsequently the underground South African Communist Party, or SACP) ) and the anti-apartheid movement including the 1955 Congress of the People, he was increasingly critical of the party. He left, was involved in armed struggle and … Continue reading Alan Lipman: extracts on anarchism from his 2009 autobiography
Lionel Forman, a stalwart of the Communist Party of South Africa/ CPSA (and its successor, the underground SA Communist Party/ SACP) was a key figure in the “communist school” of South African labour and left history.[1] From July-September 1958, the newspaper New Age (essentially an SACP project) published his groundbreaking series on the “History of the Liberatory Movement.” The paper then reissued his instalments as … Continue reading As seen by others: Lionel Forman’s analysis of the ISL and the Industrial Workers of Africa
On 28 May 1997, Noam Chomsky gave the 37th TB Davie Memorial Lecture at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. His lecture was “Democracy in a Neo-liberal Order: Doctrines and Reality.” Given South Africa’s transition from apartheid three years earlier, this was very timely. Equally important: Chomsky, a famous American academic, was also the most famous proponent of anarchism and syndicalism in the world. … Continue reading Noam Chomsky, “Democracy in a Neoliberal Order” (TB Davie Memorial Lecture, University of Cape Town)
A good scan of Shawn Hattingh, 2009, The Global Economic Crisis and the Fourth World War, ILRIG, Cape Town, HERE. Continue reading Shawn Hattingh, 2009, “The Global Economic Crisis and the Fourth World War”
The Workers Library and Musem (WLM) was a non-sectarian, volunteer-based, labour support organisation in downtown Johannesburg. Anarchists / syndicalists from Workers Solidarity Federation (WSF), and then, Bikisha Media Collective, played an important role in 1998-2002: see HERE. This advert is from an earlier period, and appeared in the South African Labour Bulletin, volume 14, number 3, August 1989. Continue reading Workers Library and Museum [advert from ‘South African Labour Bulletin’)
A 2012 discussion / debate in the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF) , started with a text from SH on “Changing capitalism, objective forces, restructuring of the popular classes and what this means for promoting anarchism” and followed by a reply from JA. Get the paper by SH as a PDF here Get the reply by JA as a PDF here Continue reading 2012 ZACF debate on “Changing capitalism, objective forces, restructuring of the popular classes and what this means for promoting anarchism”
At least two issues of the A5-sized magazine, Take it Back!, appeared in the early 2000s. This is issue #2. It includes an important eyewitness account by anarchists/ syndicalists of the main march of the 2001 Durban WCAR protests. The front cover and the photos inside also seem to be from the event. The image quality is very bad due to the printing process used. … Continue reading December 2001: “Take it Back!” issue 2
Local anarchists, including from BMC (Gauteng), attended the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), which was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, under UN auspices, from 26 August-4 September 2002. BMC was part of the Anti-Privatisation Forum (APF), and would have marched with the big APF contingent. The march saw probably the largest ever single procession by the “new social movements” that emerged post-apartheid: these … Continue reading Photos of anarchist/ syndicalist banners at the WSSD protests, Johannesburg, 2002
Local anarchists from BMC (Gauteng) and ZAG (Durban) attended the 2001 World Conference against Racism (WCAR) in Durban, South Africa, which was held under UN auspices, from 31 August to 8 September 2001. BMC was part of the Anti-Privatisation Forum (APF) and the Workers Library and Museum at the time, and marched with the big APF contingent. This is how poor ordinary digital photos were … Continue reading Photos of anarchist/ syndicalist banners at Durban WCAR protests, 2001
Anarchists and syndicalists did feature in the left and anti-apartheid press from the 1950s to the 1990s, but usually in problematic or confused ways. This example comes from the Learning Nation, a supplement to the weekly New Nation, in a series on the “History of Communism,” and deals with “The Second International 1889-1915 (Part 1).” (2-8 November, 1990). Here is the PDF. Continue reading As seen by others: Learning Nation, 1990, “The Second International 1889-1915 (Part 1)”
Anarchists and syndicalists did feature in the left and anti-apartheid press from the 1950s to the 1990s, but usually in problematic or confused ways. This example comes from the Learning Nation, a supplement to the weekly New Nation, in a series on the “History of Communism,” and deals with “The First International 1864-1876 – part 2” (26 October to 1 November, 1990). Here is the … Continue reading As seen by others: Learning Nation, 1990, “The First International 1864-1876 (part 2)”
SAASHA 