MAVERICK CITIZEN OP-ED
Our goal was to learn how such remote, rural communities have managed to organise and fight the tremendous might and power of the state and a well-resourced mining company for more than 14 years.
Tess Peacock is the Director of the Equality Collective. Zak Essa is a recent graduate in Economics from UCT and currently works at the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Bulungula Incubator.
The Equality Collective is a relatively new organisation committed to rural advocacy on issues that will alleviate poverty and advance greater equity. We are based in the Xhora Mouth Administrative Area in deep rural Eastern Cape, which epitomises the most acute challenges facing South Africa. Communities have limited access to basic services and quality education and healthcare services. On top of poor service delivery, the local and regional governments are some of the most dysfunctional in the country.