The Right of a Jo'burger

In two weeks in Johannesburg, our group began to tackle the monstrous topic of “the right to the city.” We have explored questions of: what are the rights of the public? Who deserves these rights? And whose responsibility is it to provide these rights? Big questions with indeterminate answers: welcome to Sociology.

To me, the right to the city is the privilege of citizens to benefit from the resources of a city. With citizenship and societal contribution, comes the understanding that one will be granted national resources: security, education, shelter, occupation, municipal services, etc. Basic human rights are expected, so when they aren’t delivered, hostility ensues.

I feel that thus far we have been focusing more on the post-apartheid state’s ability or inability to meet the rightful needs of all citizens. Within this context, we have explored environmental, shelter, spatial, economic, social and political rights. The debate surrounding these rights brings us back to a huge topic plaguing South Africa today: globalization and xenophobia.

Every nation-state grapples with who deserves the rights to the city, and do some deserve them more than others. Is contributing to the economy enough? Or must an individual or company be a political citizen in order to reap benefits from the state? The point I’m getting at here is international entities engorging (supposedly) on the rights of local jo'burgers. With an unemployment rate of about 30%, it is no wonder that xenophobia against migrant workers flourishes in Johannesburg. When capitalism perforated the borders of South Africa, Johannesburg shot up in the rankings of world class cities. But at what expense?

Need for wealth in the form of profit led to what Marx deemed the commoditization, and thus exploitation, of labor. Migrants from surrounding countries flocked to South Africa to avoid the economic and political turmoil of their respective countries. Willing to work for less money, immigrants began to overtake working class jobs, such as mining, causing a push back from local citizens who feel more deserving of the economic rights of the state. We see this in the US, particularly towards South American immigrants. It’s easy to blame the individual workers intending only to provide better opportunities for themselves and their families.

Less blame is put on the real culprits: multinational companies. Push for globalization prompted many international companies to flock to Johannesburg. Companies like McDonald’s and Nike are based on an economic model of labor exploitation. Despite bringing in more wealth to the country, not a lot of that wealth actually stays inside the borders. Local economies received less priority than the growth of Jo'burg as a competitive urban environment. The results? High unemployment rates, increased income gap, degradation of government service programs and heated debated on immigration policy.

I am not suggesting that South Africa expel all foreign companies – not the most economically intelligent solution. I want to expand our conversation past individual rights to the macro-level. What countries/entities have a right to Johannesburg and South Africa? What criteria determines this? Who determines the criteria? How do these conversations translate onto the interpersonal level? The majority of land is concentrated into the hands of a few whites, but much more political debates focus on foreigners taking away South Africa wealth when local, powerful people are having more of an impact on resource distribution.

When we visited Alexandra, a township just outside the city center, we stumbled across a few builders expanding the residence of a neighbor. “I can’t wait any longer,” one homeowner said, “I was promised RDO awhile ago, and I can’t wait any longer.” RDP refers to Restoration and Development Program building houses for the majority of Johannesburg residents living informally or in densely populated slums. The program has been met with a lot of criticism particularly in the slow impact the program has made. RDP housing highlights the lack of equal resource distribution in Johannesburg and a lot of South Africa. Political forces have curated some conversations to promote the development of xenophobia rather than anarchy. Who has the right to the city? More like, who is hogging all the rights and why won’t they share?

By: Hannah Sattler