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Sep 1, 2019-2019

South Africa

Yes Men and Reclaim the City

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ACTIVISTS/ACT.GROUPS/DESCRIPTION OF THE GROUP

Mayor Dan Plato and Mayoral Committee

TARGET

Cape Town government policies

WIDELY HELD BELIEF

Spatial segregation in South Africa should end.

CASE NARRATIVE

Issue and opponent: The Yes Men co-organized with housing activists in South Africa called Reclaim the City to target Mayor Dan Plato and the Mayoral Committee. The co-organizers of the protests explain that both the Mayor and the Mayoral Committee refused to grant security of tenure to thousands of poor black South Africans that found homes in informal settlements and no new affordable public housing has been built as an alternative option. These policies can be traced back to the Apartheid era. An unjust housing policy was being put forth by the Mayor of Cape Town similar to policies observed under apartheid. These policies have economic rather than racial justification backing them.
Dilemma Action: Around 200 people participated in this Dilemma Action. Participants dressed up as zombies with National Party regalia and carried a coffin labeled PW Botha to mockingly support the policies of Mayor Dan Plato and the Mayoral Committee. The zombie costume was inspired by the idea of the rebirth of segregationist housing and urban planning policies during Apartheid. This rally created a dilemma for the Mayor and his mayoral committee. If Mayor Dan Plato had spoken out against the policies, it would seem as if he did not approve of the action. Then on the other hand, if he did not engage with the action at all it would demonstrate to the citizens of Cape Town that spatial segregation is being upheld by local politicians.
Outcome: The Mayor decided to address the protesters on Facebook saying, “I am calling on activist groups, civil society groups, and lobby groups to please not misrepresent information to the media and to the people they claim to serve. You will only erode the trust in your organization if you do this.” The Mayor went on to claim that the organizers were promoting propaganda and misinformation.

PRIMARY STRUGGLE/GOAL

Human rights
Pro-Democracy

DA TACTICS USED

Banners/posters/displayed communications

CASE NARRATIVE WRITER

SUCCESS METRICS

11 / 12

(CONC) Concessions were made

(EREP) Dilemma action got replicated by other movements

(MC) Media Coverage

(MSYMP) Media coverage was sympathetic to the activists

(OR) Opponent response

(PS) Dilemma action built sympathy with the public

(PUN) Punishment favored the activists

(REFR) Dilemma action reframed the narrative of the opponent

(RF) Dilemma action reduced fear and/or apathy among the activists

(SA) Dilemma action appealed to a broad segment of the public

Laugtivism

PART OF A LARGER CAMPAIGN

3 / 3

Activist group continued working together after the action

Encouraged more participants to join the movement

Internally replicated by the same movement

RESOURCES

Project documentation

Dilemma Actions Coding Guidebook

Case study documentation

Dilemma_Actions_Analysis_Dataset

CC BY 4.0 Deed, Attribution 4.0 International

SOURCES

Civic U.S. 2019. “Zombies in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Satirical protest & mobilisation against Apartheid-era policies in Cape Town,” October 18. Retrieved July 23, 2023. (https://www.civicus.org/index.php/media-resources/news/interviews/4124-zombies-in-post-apartheid-south-africa-satirical-protest-mass-mobilisation-against-apartheid-era-policies-in-cape-town).


The Yes Men. 2019. “Nats Never Die,” Retrieved July 23, 2023. (https://theyesmen.org/project/nats-never-die).

Washinyira, Tariro. 2019. “Satire and the City: Zombies and a dead president protest in Cape Town,” Ground Up. Retrieved July 23, 2023. (https://www.groundup.org.za/article/satire-and-city-zombies-and-dead-president-protest-cape-town/).

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