6. Data description
6.4.3 Expectations and dependency
As data collected suggests, some members seem to have extra pressure to act, as a result of expectations from and dependency on other members and shack dwellers.
Some of the members interviewed and as observed of other members on fieldwork – mainly from Zulu and Xhosa ethnic background – talked about “going to the leader”
when they needed support. The support required might relate to dealing with evictions; arguments and fights among residents of an informal settlement; threats from local chiefs, police, and government officials; and corruption. These members saw these as issues that demanded the intervention of their local leader, often meaning, AbM intervention and support.
However, while these members described how important it is to have the support of AbM’s leadership, demands and expectations can be overwhelming to particular
257 A member elaborated this point: “People need me, so I must call. It touches me. If a person sending a please call, means that person is hopping I will call, as a leader. If I don’t call, it means I’m no longer concerned with the struggle. Because I’m always concerned with the struggle. Each and every member is a pillar of my struggle. Their struggle is my struggle” (AbM member 30, 2010). Another member stated it this way: “all the time I receive calls and it is too much, that’s why we call it a struggle, because everything is a struggle, like to make calls or to have to wake up at one o’clock in the morning to answer the calls, but we all accept our work. It is something we are not upset about, it is something that we always worry about, but that is why is we call it the struggle” (AbM member 21, 2010).
members, often leaders. Leaders stated that the demands frequently go beyond AbM remit.
Receivers of these demands stated that other members or residents of informal
settlements, trusted them to support the community in any way they can. It is unclear, from the data collected, why these members endure this role, even when it comes at a high cost to them. Some interviewees pointed to their sense of solidarity and
commitment to the “suffering” of their people. In a few cases, the status of leader, or the way a leader presents him/herself reinforced the dependency of community residents and some AbM members:
“some see me as a very intelligent person while before people would see me as a person with negative ideas, but now they see me as a leader. Some even see me as an international leader, because I’ve been to America and other places” (AbM member 30, 2010).
I was able to observed some community and personal issues becoming the responsibility of particular leaders. Issues such as death of a community resident, domestic violence, health (e.g. calling an ambulance, finding a doctor), and disputes between neighbours, were among some of the problems dealt with by these leaders.
Although issues such as these could be considered as expected demands of
marginalised communities from a leader, the expectations and assumptions about the responsibilities and resources that a leader possess, seemed unrealistic. As one leader explained:
“once you are elected for a committee, not only Abahlali, at the local level; once you become a committee member then you are in an advantage situation, in people’s mind you are paid to be there, therefore, bringing every kind of stress on you is appropriate.” He goes on to say that “poor people really need help, and if you are in a [community] committee, they think you get paid for that. That is for
everyone. So, it is not just trust. It’s your role, that’s the normal thinking” (AbM member 12, 2010).
In a few circumstance, some of these leaders described having contributed to pay for food or contacted supporters to aid members or residents in need. On a few occasions,
I witnessed some leaders giving their own money to pay for the transportation of members to an AbM meeting.
Some AbM members felt obliged to use their personal airtime to aid members and residents.258 Data collected during fieldwork shows that the receivers of these demands (and expectations) – leaders or not – have experienced a major increase in their airtime expenditure, with a large part of that dedicated to AbM related
activities.259 Part of this cost increase came as a result of some members’ role as a hub between communities and AbM, however, a considerable amount of the cost was created by community, and residents’ demands.260
One member from Kennedy described how overwhelmed she felt with the demands on her phone, until the point she started ignoring most PCM messages. According to her, people would send PCM for any reason, even for things they could manage by themselves. Now, because she “told them off”, most AbM members no longer send PCM messages or use missed calls, unless there is a good reason for it. When asked if maybe, people needed moral support to deal with issues, she explained that in the movement they encourage communities to do things for themselves (AbM member 15, 2010).
258 For instance, one member explained the effect of the pressure these demands had on her mobile phone: “Because of the work I was doing for Abahlali, I need the phone very badly.” Although unemployed and struggling to support herself and her family, she still felt obliged to find ways to buy airtime in order to avail herself to the community: “If I have to make a call to the lawyer; if the
community has a problem; if I have to find out something from Abahlali office, for the whole community, I will call them” (AbM member 1, 2010). Another member recalled that since she joined the movement, she noticed she needs her phone always with her. She said that it is a big problem if someone tried to reach her and she is not available. According to her, friends can live without her, but not AbM (AbM member 15, 2010). Only four other members with high positions in the movement interviewed described that at times they choose to ignore demands which they consider them unimportant.
259 A member from Pemary Ridge informal settlement explained that when it comes to crises in the community, such as problems with shack lords or something more serious, people would go to him, and he would use his phone to help them by calling lawyers and other AbM members (AbM member 7, 2010).
260 A member from Motala Heights informal settlement described that his position requires him to use his personal mobile phone more often. According to this member, other AbM members would often send him a ‘please call me’ message, because members would ‘assume’ that, since he is a leader, he must have resources; and he felt obliged to call back. Sometimes this member received calls from people in isolated areas, requiring help and protection of the movement (AbM member 4, 2010).
However, this approach has not been always successful, and this problem is
particularly acute for a leader in a high position in AbM.261 According to one member, a title of leader – such as the title of President of AbM – means that one has to provide, and people are unaware of the pressure placed upon this person (AbM member 12, 2010).
However, it is not only shack dwellers and residents who showed dependency on some leaders (with or without titles, see further analysis in Chapter 7). Some of the leaders, who had responsibilities and received demands from their communities, have
demonstrated a certain level of expectation and dependency on other leaders who were more involved at AbM’s organisational level – this often involved members elected for executive positions. Although not obvious from interviews, observation of AbM executive meetings, for instance, showed that leaders involved at the
organisational level demonstrated a stronger sense of agency by often volunteering themselves to take responsibility for some activities, while other leaders and members kept quiet.262
Leaders who showed dependency on others, did so in particular circumstances, such as leading activities or tasks at the organisational level – e.g. filing a request for a march;
dealing with government officials; or simply to be responsible for finding
transportation for a march. In these situations, these leaders would not take the
261 One member explained that most members of the movement presume that he, as the President, either has a salary, or has enough money to support himself. The expectations and demands of community members placed an additional heavy financial (and psychological) burden on him with his phone bill frequently reaching ZAR 3.000/month (AbM member 12, 2010). Approximately GBP £229, as converted on 24 Nov 2011.
262 One member, present at one of these meetings, described that some people were responsible for two tasks, and there were some people who did not have any task, and did not take the initiative. She explained that she volunteered for one task, before they pushed her to other things. She described that:
“In life, there are people who makes things happen, and there are people who waits to see if things are happening; and there are people who doesn’t even bother whether its daylight or it’s dark or what. All these people are within the movement, but to make things happen it only took for those people to make things happen. You may find that, out of the 100, you may see that the people who are part of the category of who make things happen are only 5. So it obviously it puts pressure on them. That is something that no one can change it, it’s nature of life” (AbM member 15, 2010).