Side-by-side comparison (version 2)

a. Park, Alex. May 15, 2009. “A Tale of Two Townships: Political Opportunity and Violent and
Non-Violent Local Control in South Africa” posted on Digital Commons, DeWitt Wallace
Library, Macalester College

and

b. Kirshner, Joshua & Phokela, Comfort. February 26, 2010. “Khutsong and xenophobic
violence: Exploring the case of the dog that didn’t bark” published in Xenophobia and Civil
Society. New York, NY: Atlantic Philanthropies, Inc.

1. a. In scenes reminiscent of the Apartheid era, armored cars and police helicopters
patrolled the streets and skies (Blair 2006) (p. 13).

b. In scenes reminiscent of the apartheid era, armoured cars and police helicopters
patrolled the streets (p. 8).

2. a. By protecting a group of people at the exact same time when the government had proven
it could not, the campaign in Khutsong made the government look ineffective and
powerless in a way that may have been even more effective than causing it instability.
After two and a half years of firebombing, the campaign of protection may have been a
new approach for outraged citizens in Khutsong: highlighting government
ineffectiveness while showcasing the organizational capacity of local groups for positive
action through non-violent coordination (p. 24).

b. With the outbreak of the xenophobic attacks of May 2008, following on the heels of
Khutsong's anti-demarcation struggle, Khutsong residents once again called attention to
government's ineffectiveness by protecting foreigners in a way that the state appeared to
be incapable. After three years of violent civil uprising, the MDF campaign highlighted
its organisational capacity through non-violent coordination and anti xenophobic action
during a period of government crisis and breakdown (p. 12).

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 3. a. There is additionally evidence of an explicit will on part of the MDF to not only protect
immigrants, but to connect that project to its original political mission. In May 2008,
The MDF joined the Coalition Against Xenophobia, an association of groups that
drafted several public statements during the period either criticizing the government or
expressing committed support for immigrants ... On May 25, the MDF also signed a
“Pledge of Solidarity Against Xenophobia,” again drafted by the Coalition, committing
it to do everything possible to “stop this violence” (p. 24).

b. To underline this stance, in May 2008 the Merafong Demarcation Forum joined the
Coalition Against Xenophobia, an association of groups that issued several public
statements criticising the government and expressing committed support for immigrants.
On 25 May 2008, the MDF signed a Pledge of Solidarity Against Xenophobia,‟ drafted
by the Coalition, committing it to do everything possible to “stop the violence" (p. 15).

4. a. But as violence spread, protection may have been offered in exchange for the promise of
future support (p. 24).

b. As the violence spread, however, protection of immigrants might have been offered in
exchange for the promise to support the campaign by attending rallies and marching in
the streets (p. 15).

5. a. Since NUM membership is open to all mineworkers and because of its fraternal, openly
socialist, fervently anti-racist and anti-xenophobic rhetoric, it is logical that the
organization would have been instrumental in forming collective bonds between
immigrants and non-immigrants ... (p. 21)

b. NUM membership is open to all mineworkers regardless of nationality, and the union
structure has a fraternal, socialist, fervently anti-racist and anti-xenophobic ethos. The
organisation has fostered collective bonds between immigrants and non-immigrants
(p.16).

6. a. South Africa has some of the most technically challenging gold mines in the world ...
This means that pay scales in South African mines are dependent on a miner’s skills,
with the more experienced miners earning more money than less the experienced, less
skilled newcomers. Therefore, a flood of immigrants from Zimbabwe into Khutsong
would have not threatened the earnings of miners … (p. 21)

b. The pay scales in South Africa's mines, some of the world's most technically
challenging, are strongly linked to skill levels. The arrival of unskilled workers from
Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and other neighbouring countries did not directly challenge
the earnings of skilled miners, many of whom were South African citizens (p. 16).1

1 Only occurrence of a cited reference to Park in Kirshner & Phokela

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7. a. That message would have meshed with the results of the campaign of protection in
May, which, in a way, proved that Khutsong residents, COSATU and, most notably, the
MDF were simply better at protecting people than the government was … in a deliberate
contrast to the violence in Alexandra and other townships, as renegade political and
community leaders worked with native residents to resist the state by protecting
immigrants in ways that the state had failed to (p. 25-26).

b. Perhaps more importantly, this paper has argued that after a prolonged and pitched
battle with governmental authorities on the disputed provincial boundaries, when the
xenophobic attacks spread through several townships in May 2008, Khutsong residents
were able to shine a harsh spotlight on governmental failure by demonstrating their
ability to protect local foreign residents in a way that the state was unable to do. Anti-
xenophobia actions in Khutsong were not only morally just, but also an effective way to
express outrage with the local and national government (p. 21).

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