The non-governmental organization Co-operative and Policy Alternative Centre (Copac)has made a proposal to assist local township women with co-operatives during its workshop at Rhodes University last week.
The Johannesburg-based organizationassists poor township and rural communities in establishing co-operatives. It also educates these communities on the importance of co-operatives as a model of self-reliance and also as a means to improve their socio-economic conditions.
The non-governmental organization Co-operative and Policy Alternative Centre (Copac)has made a proposal to assist local township women with co-operatives during its workshop at Rhodes University last week.
The Johannesburg-based organizationassists poor township and rural communities in establishing co-operatives. It also educates these communities on the importance of co-operatives as a model of self-reliance and also as a means to improve their socio-economic conditions.
The director of the organization is Vishwa Satgar, a former Gauteng provincial secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and now a professor at Wits University. Other members of the organization include Sally Williams, who is also a lecturer at Wits and Mazibuko Jara, a researcher at University of Cape Town.
“Our role is to build a solidarity economy, register your co-operative under the Co-operative Act of 2005, develop a business plan and equip people with relevant management skills to run these projects sustainably,” said Satgar. A solidarity economy is one in which all community businesses or co-operatives are interdependent in terms of the goods and service they render – they no longer depend on suppliers from outside.
The meeting was held at Rhodes University with the members of the local Unemployed Peoples Movement (UPM). Most of the audiences were elderly women from different places in the township, such as Phaphamani and Vukani, who expressed their wish to run community projects such as crèches or soup kitchens. But they indicated that they did not have the relevant skills.
Satgar presided over the meeting and put forward the proposal to establish the co-operatives as a free service to the community. He said that Copac has been conducting research in the field of co-operatives and also assisted other communities and retrenched workers throughout the country with such projects.
“Over the past 10 years we have developed about 200 co-operatives around the country but most of them are in Gauteng province,” said Satgar.
He mentioned the success of co-operatives of retrenched workers launched at Fort Hare University and other parts of the country. “We are developing tools in a form of research and capacity building for the people so that they can set up these projects and manage them on their own in order to uplift their living conditions,” he added.
Satgar said that government had spent about R1 billion over the past 10 years, but it yielded no dividends as corrupt politicians pocketed the funds. But he said its intention is to train co-operatives independent from government and politicians.
Satgar also described their model as “anti-capitalist”. People must break their dependence on factories that produce food, saying the community could produce food that can be sold to local shop outlets.
Copac presented two proposals to the members of UPM; to convert it into a Solidarity Education Co-operative and to pilot one project at Phaphamani. This project will be monitored by the facilitator who will visit Grahamstown six times a year to ensure that it thrives.
It finally put forth eight steps to be taken to pursue co-operatives in Makana:
- To establish a Solidarity Education Committee (basically co-operatives).
- To set up study groups (UPM was given five research booklets on successful co-operatives in SA) and to study them to decide what kind of co-operative they want to pursue).
- UPM must nominate two delegates to represent them at the Solidarity Economic Conference at Wits University from 26 to 28 October so that they can learn from local as well as international experiences.
- To identify opportunities for Solidarity Economy–UPM to decide on what kind of co-operative they want to run.
- Conduct a Solidarity Workshop (UPM members will be fully trained on the concept).
- Conversion of UPM from being a mere social movement (oppositional) to transformative one that will strive for a Solidarity Economy.
- To pilot the project of co-operative at Phaphamani, this will subsequently be established throughout Makana.
- To conduct research (Copec will use its research capacity to strengthen the co-operative and continuously educate its members).
Copec gave UPM members five pamphlets about business and financial management and political economy. More co-operatives are to be launched early next year in different areas of Grahamstown after it has been piloted at Phaphamani.
Ayanda Kota, a UPM leader said: “We welcome the suggestion so long as we continue to retain our identity as the movement that fights the community struggles for the poor and working class. This will is not contrary to what we have been doing over the past few years.”
The comments of other UPM members:
“We are happy about this proposed project and we are confident that they will assist the community to feed itself,” said Liziwe Gqotolo, a UPM Executive Committee member.
Mavis Yame from Phaphamani said: “God has answered our prayers. We are looking forward to get these co-operatives off the ground to assist community as well as our families.”
Florence Semangweni said that she believes that such projects could address their poverty only if they work very hard as a community.
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