Broadening conceptions of democracy and citizenship: the subaltern histories of rural resistance in Mpondoland and Marikana

The purpose of this article is to broaden perspectives on citizenship and democracy in post-apartheid South Africa. The article focuses on two spaces within South Africa, which have specific significance for both land and labour questions in South Africa and where we have focused our research: Mpondoland in the Eastern Cape and Nkaneng Shack Settlement in Marikana. The links that can be made between the recent Marikana/Lonmin Strikes and the earlier Mpondo Revolts reveal a subaltern sphere of politics informed by older modes of political organisation that challenge dominant institutions like civil society and traditional authorities. The article demonstrates that South Africa's land and agrarian questions must, of necessity, be linked to broader struggles for justice, dignity and humanity that require structural socio-economic and political change, in line with how people practise politics.