In our last padkos edition (“in, against, beyond corona”), we said “it’s important to see what is revealed to be wrong and toxic – in ourselves, in our relations with others, and in our relation with the rest of non-human nature. But it’s also terribly important to listen for and to seek out what is revealed that is good and life-affirming. Both are vital”. In today’s padkos, we share Nomfundo Xolo’s account of collective food production at the shack settlement of eKhenana recently published by New Frame.

The people of eKhenana were central to our recent research report on brutal waves of attacks and evictions targeting settlements in the city of Durban/eThekwini (see padkos no: 99: STOP Corona Evictions!”). Little has been more toxic during this period than the inhumanity and violence of this campaign of violence waged against poor people. And yet, not only do the people remain, and not only do they defend and rebuild, they are also engaged in a programme of collective thought and of food production. Xolo’s article for New Frame captures important elements of this remarkable, and ultimately inspiring, mix of courage, tenacity, thought and and action for life and autonomy against death. You’ll read about a collective community-based food production initiative that has unfolded alongside self-run political classes – and relentless defense and re-building of the settlement itself against official state harassment and violence.

Read the full serving here.

One portion of this padkos serving is from us at CLP, and is part of our ongoing thinking in and through the midst of the corona crisis. There’s been quite a delay getting this piece out, and it still feels like a work-in-progress that might be updated and extended later too. It is framed by the question: What does living through the corona crisis in South Africa reveal to us?

We reckon that “it’s important to see what is revealed to be wrong and toxic- in ourselves, in our relations with others, and in our relation with the rest of non-human nature. But it’s also terribly important to listen for and to seek out what is revealed that is good and life-affirming. Both are vital.

Another padkos portion we’re dishing up for you is a recent editorial from New Frame. We’ve included it here specifically because there’s a kind of parallel with an underlying theme of our own “In, Against, Beyond” piece.. read the full serving here.