Business Times Africa Magazine 2017 /vol 9/ No2 BT2Edition2017_web | Page 36

SOUTH AFRICA
South African protesters echo
a global cry: democracy isn’t
making people’s lives better
By Carin Runciman
CARIN RUNCIMAN
Senior Reseacher, Centre for Social
Change, University of Johannesburg
R
ecent violent protests in South
Africa have refocused attention
on the growing number of
demonstrations over government
failure to provide basic services, such
as water and electricity. The country
is known as the “protest capital of the
world”.
Research by the Centre for Social
Change, University of Johannesburg
seems to bear this out. Based on
estimates from South African Police
Service data, we found that between
1997 and 2013 there were an average
of 900 community protests a year. In
recent years the number has climbed to
as high as 2,000 protests a year.
The situation in South Africa is not
unique. Protests have been increasing
globally, particularly since the 2008
global economic crisis.
In a new book, my colleagues from
the Centre for Social Change and I
attempt to understand South Africa as
part of the global protest wave.
On the face of it, protests in South
Africa look quite different. They tend
to be fragmented and happen mostly
in black townships and informal
settlements. The occupation of central
34 Business Times Africa | 2017