Progressive politics and crises of urban reproduction in South Africa: The cases of rent and transport

Abstract

Useful, although not necessary, points of departure for this paper are some comments that emerged in two recent contributions to progressive political debate at the University of Natal. These two contributions are Erwin's address to the University Forum on "Trade Unions and Politics" and Freund et al's contribution to the South African Labour Bulletin and the Critical Perspectives on Southern Africa Seminar on the "November Stayaway". In both of these presentations there appeared to be an enhanced interest, on the part of intellectuals of the progressive labour movement, in what I shall term as South Africa's urban reproductive crises. We have become accustomed to hearing from both liberal-reformists and radical-liberals about such crises in South Africa. These latter groups, of course, have addressed the issues in a different manner to Erwin and Freund et al because of their differing political priorities, but they have persistently addressed them all the same. The fact that we are now increasingly hearing from trade union-linked intellectuals on living place issues, however, is a fact that I take as a significant departure in the course of South Africa's urban and regional politics.