28 Comments
#CodeRed Feminists Plan Mobilization to Reclaim Wom_n’s Month
20 August 2021 Feminists are tired: Across South Africa black wom_n and children continue to bear the brunt of a neoliberal system that believes R350 is enough ‘relief’ to feed families, that loots funds to create hair salons, that mobilizes toxic masculinities to enact violence at the expense of wom_n, children, foreign nationals and those in vulnerable positions. The time for feminists to rise up and take action is now! On 27th August 2021, #CodeRed feminists are forming feminist chains across South Africa to say enough is enough. We are a collective of feminists demanding an equitable, accountable & feminist society and government. For too long we have been under a patriarchal, misogynist leadership that has prioritized wealth-accumulation of a few, looting of public funds and the implementation of austerity measures. Our demands are clear:
In July, #CodeRed activists disrupted former Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s talk on a virtual public platform. We called for urgent budget choices to advance socioeconomic rights and end gender-based violence (GBV), within a long-term vision for humanity and the earth. While President Cyril Ramaphosa reshuffled his cabinet, replacing Tito Mboweni with Enoch Godongwana as Minister of Finance, #CodeRed feminists are not confident that the government took our calls to action seriously. “Those responsible for food and other unpaid care work in homes and communities are mostly women. Precarious paid work secures poverty wages and women’s contribution to social reproduction is invisible and unvalued in budgets that reflect neoliberal economic priorities, ” said the #CodeRed Collective, who choose to remain anonymous and horizontal in their organizing. As a collective of feminists who urgently convened to respond to the social unrest of July 2021, we demand that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) exercises its discretion under Section 4 of the National Prosecution Policy and refrain from prosecuting destitute people charged with stealing food and other basic necessities. “We were aware that those who were poor would be criminalised while the big looters of our country’s resources would once again get away with acting with impunity without any serious consequences.” The state failed to move swiftly against leading players in the ruling party, state security sector, private security industry and crime syndicates implicated in the targeted violence of strategic access lines including to food, healthcare and social grants. Instead, the army and police focused on securing and reopening these strategic access points, to ensure no area remained a ‘no-go zone’, while the state focused its energy on ‘Operation Show Your Receipt’. Police went door to door in poor communities, violating Constitutional rights to dignity, equality and the rule of law, breaking into homes, demanding receipts for food and confiscating and destroying the food they found. We stand in solidarity with people, movements and organisations who have been systematically excluded by poverty, inequality, unemployment and gender-based violence. Our work is not done. -ENDS- *Protests will take place in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Makhanda, Buffalo City, Welkom, Bloemfontein and more. *Follow updates from the protests on Twitter @CodeRedZA Note to editors/journalists: General enquiries: [email protected] #CodeRed Social Media toolkit
About us: The #CodeRed Feminist movement was born out of the collective action of a group of feminists seeking to urgently respond to the crisis of the social unrest of July 2021, the structural determinants of the mass unrest and looting, and the ensuing violence that followed. The initial objective of the group was to develop a statement as we felt that a feminist voice/analysis was missing during the unrest. The space was deliberately conceived to be without hierarchy to enable plural leadership and ownership to emerge. #CodeRed is the formation that has emerged. What we demand? The time for feminists to rise up and take action is now! For too long we have been under a patriarchal, misogynist leadership that has prioritized wealth-accumulation of a few, looting of public funds and the implementation of austerity measures. Feminists are tired: across South Africa black wom_n and children continue to bear the brunt of a neoliberal system that believes R350 is enough ‘relief’ to feed families, that loots funds to create hair salons, that mobilizes toxic masculinities to enact violence at the expense of wom_n, children, foreign nationals and those in vulnerable positions. We call on feminists and allies to stand with us as we make our claims loud, we demand:
Read our full statement here. The Action: Using powerful imagery and graphics on all social media platforms, we call on feminists to tweet and post on social media to create a wave or chain of messaging that further articulates our struggle and our demands. We also call on feminist to change their social media profile logo’s to #CODRED feminist in support of the movement. Our goal is to use our networks and reach as broadly as possible and call for real change. Sample tweets/Facebook posts ahead of the Protest (from 18 - 26 August):
➡️And an end to fiscal austerity #CareEconomyNow #FeministFuture #AusterityKills #PayTheGrants
#CareEconomyNow #FeministFuture #AusterityKills #PayTheGrants
#CareEconomyNow #FeministFuture #AusterityKills #PayTheGrants
https://coderedfeminists.weebly.com #CareEconomyNow #FeministFuture #AusterityKills #PayTheGrants
#CareEconomyNow #FeministFuture #AusterityKills #PayTheGrants
➡️An end to fiscal austerity ➡️An end to govt & corporate looting ➡️Resourcing & implementation of the National Strategic Plan on GBVF & NHI #CareEconomyNow #AusterityKills #PayTheGrants Tweets on the day of the protest - 27 August 2021
Accounts to tag @CodeRedZA @budgetjusticesa @_CSVR @1000WomenSA @GenderLinks @PresidencyZA @CyrilRamaphosa @maite_nkoana @genderjustice @mosaicwcape @ISLAfrica @TreasuryRSA Link to social media images Dear Signatories to the Code Red Feminist Statement
The #CodeRed Feminist movement was born out of the collective action of a group of feminists seeking to urgently respond to the crisis of the social unrest of July 2021, the structural determinants of the mass unrest and looting, and the ensuing violence that followed. The initial objective of the group was to develop a statement as we felt that a feminist voice/analysis was missing during the unrest. The space was deliberately conceived to be without hierarchy to enable plural leadership and ownership to emerge. #CodeRed is the formation that has emerged. Our demands are: 1. Universal Basic Income Grant - now! 2. An end to fiscal austerity 3. An end to government and corporate looting 4. The resourcing and implementation of the National Strategic Plan on GBVF and the National Health Insurance You can learn more about our collective here: https://coderedfeminists.weebly.com/ On 27 August, we are planning joint action in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Buffalo City and Makhanda. In Joburg and Pretoria, we have been warned by police that we will face imminent arrest if our numbers exceed 100. This means we need new ways of organizing. Can we rely on you to show up and help us reach 100 people each to form a humn chain in Johannesburg and Pretoria? Numbers in Pretoria are especially low. All COVID-related protocols will be observed, and we are able to support with transport. Can you mobilize 10-20 people for this action? We are also sharing this form to gauge support: https://forms.gle/utUq52ByemLZKMS39 Warm regards, Conveners - Johannesburg and Pretoria As a collective of feminists who urgently convened to respond to the social unrest of July 2021, we were aware that those who were poor would be criminalised while the big looters of our country’s resources would once again get away with acting with impunity without any serious consequences. The #CodeRed Feminist Collective
#CodeRed is a collective of feminists demanding an equitable, accountable & feminist society and government In July #CodeRed activists disrupted former Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s talk on a virtual public platform. The #CodeRed feminist framework identifies the need for urgent budget choices to advance socioeconomic rights and end gender-based violence (GBV), within a long-term vision for humanity and the earth. We stand in solidarity with people, movements and organisations who have been systematically excluded by poverty, inequality, unemployment and gender-based violence, who have long been making the demands outlined below. In CodeRed’s protest, the Minister’s budget, which had cut critical health and education spending, was denounced as an austerity budget. Treasury’s cuts, during the Covid-19 pandemic, ignored youth unemployment of almost 75% and the fact that 30% of people go to bed hungry. During Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu’s briefing, #CodeRed reiterated demands for a universal basic income grant for an individual adult of R1,268. The Child Support Grant and Social Relief of Distress Grant both need to meet the Food Poverty Line of R585 per month. #CodeRed’s slogans included: “Can you feed a family on R350 a month?” Cash transfers are urgently needed to address widespread unemployment and stave off destitution, but it is critical to have effective Labour Guarantees that prioritise informal labour and care sectors, such as nursing, community health work and domestic work. A living wage is vital so the National Minimum Wage can meet the average monthly cost of a household food basket of R4,137. Active investment can sustain and strengthen livelihoods. Those responsible for food and other unpaid care work in homes and communities are mostly women. Precarious paid work secures poverty wages and women’s contribution to social reproduction is invisible and unvalued in budgets that reflect neoliberal economic priorities. Apartheid-era ghettoes remain largely untransformed, often with unsafe, expensive transport far from places of work, healthcare and education. Homes are often vulnerable to destruction in extreme weather and are often located at a distance from water and toilets on dusty roads with no lighting. Structural violence always increases vulnerability to patriarchal gender-based violence, including assault, rape and murder. #CodeRed demands that President Cyril Ramaphosa implement his budget commitments to prevent and address gender-based violence as a systemic, structural problem. The socioeconomic and political conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age are key determinants of health. Universal health care and primary health care need to be prioritised. The National Health Insurance (NHI) can move us towards this and needs to be funded. According to Oxfam, global vaccine apartheid made vaccine manufacturers, whose discoveries were largely publicly funded, an estimated $3.9-trillion between March and December 2020. Wealthy countries stockpiled vaccines and poorer countries were asked to pay more than wealthy countries. The resulting delays cost millions of lives across the world. Private-public sector corruption has proven deadly. In this Covid-19 crisis the state has to target those most vulnerable to the worst impact. #CodeRed calls for a feminist political economy that prioritises the life, health and wellbeing of people and planet above corporate profit. Equal and dignified access to basic human rights such as food, water, sanitation, housing, land, health, education and decent employment are fundamental to urgent economic restructuring. Meaningful public participation and transparent budget processes are critical. We support the call for a corporate wealth tax that targets high net-worth individuals and an end to corporate theft through global illicit financial flows (IFF). Global Financial Integrity estimates that IFFs cost South Africa $80-billion a year. As a collective of feminists who urgently convened to respond to the social unrest of July 2021, we were aware that those who were poor would be criminalised while the big looters of our country’s resources would once again get away with acting with impunity without any serious consequences. The state did not move swiftly against leading players in the ruling party, state security sector, private security industry and crime syndicates implicated in the targeted violence of strategic access lines including to food, healthcare and social grants. Instead of the army and police focusing on securing and reopening these strategic access points, to ensure no area remained a ‘no-go zone’, the state seemed to focus its energy on ‘Operation Show Your Receipt’. Police went door to door in poor communities, violating Constitutional rights to dignity, equality and the rule of law, breaking into homes, demanding receipts for food, confiscating and destroying the food they found. #CodeRed demands that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) exercises its discretion under Section 4 of the National Prosecution Policy not to prosecute destitute people charged with stealing food and other basic necessities. Poor communities have often become militarised by armed vigilantes, criminal syndicates, the private security industry and state security members who do not respect the Constitutional rights of people who are poor. In KwaZulu-Natal, more than 30 people were killed, mostly from and in poor and working-class areas. All those found guilty of murders committed in KZN and Gauteng, during this unrest, whether by armed vigilantes, gangsters or police, must face the full power of the law. #CodeRed denounces all forms of prejudice including those based on gender, race, nationality or sexual orientation. Patriarchal leaders from any party, group or institution cannot be allowed to sow misogyny, racism or xenophobia. This happened during former President Jacob Zuma’s 2016 rape trial, where his supporters called for the death of Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo. A few days ago, in KZN, police shot and killed a local woman leader of Abahlali, 33-year-old Zamekile Shangase outside her home. Zamekile is survived by her children who are six and 11 years old. The media did not speak to people who had witnessed her murder, including other members of her organisation. They simply published the story they were given by the police. #CodeRed demands that the criminal justice system ensure the right to equality before the law. All Constitutional institutions, including the judiciary and Chapter 9 institutions, must be protected from threats, intimidation, attacks and fake news. Political leaders must demonstrate commitment and accountability for the protection of Constitutional institutions and accurate dissemination of information. The NPA must be enabled, with adequate funding from the fiscus, to accelerate the prosecution of perpetrators of state corruption. The impunity of the politically connected who have plundered resources meant to meet the human needs of the most vulnerable must end. This op-ed grew out of #CodeRed’s statement which had been collectively formulated by diverse feminists from different movements, backgrounds and generations who came together in the midst of the crisis and grappled with understanding the unrest, its causes and structural violence. Despite many differences, we share a deep commitment to feminist solidarity. Our ancestors fought against the patriarchal, racist violence of slavery, colonisation, indentured labour and capitalist apartheid. On National Women’s Day we recognise their immense, inspired organising work. They united across race to resist apartheid’s divide-and-rule strategies and its planned pass laws on women who were Black. Today, we say to all in leadership positions – move beyond the usual empty rhetoric. Use your power to help create the world of our dreams – of justice, peace and equality. DM/MC This article was first published in the Daily Maverick on 9 August 2021. |
AuthorThe #CodeRed Feminist movement was born out of the collective action of a group of feminists seeking to urgently respond to the crisis of the social unrest of July 2021, the structural determinants of the mass unrest and looting, and the ensuing violence that followed. The initial objective of the group was to develop a statement as we felt that a feminist voice/analysis was missing during the unrest. The space was deliberately conceived to be without hierarchy to enable plural leadership and ownership to emerge. #CodeRed is the formation that has emerged. ArchivesCategories |