Author: Hans Pienaar
Date: January 20, 2007
Source: Cape Argus http://www.capeargus.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3636789

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Africa's turn: Tutu and Winnie at huge forum

Two crucifixions, the planting of 100 000 new trees, marches led by two Nobel Prize winners, and Winnie Mandela's last stand are set to catch the limelight as between 30 000 and 80 000 people gather this weekend in Nairobi for the World Social Forum.

Dozens of South African NGOs and celebrities will travel to the Kenyan capital for five days of discussion, networking, cultural experiences and confusion as the full WSF gathers for the first time in Africa.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, poet and anti-imperialist activist Dennis Brutus, and singer Yvonne Chaka-Chaka will join Kenya's Nobel Peace laureate Wangari Maathai to take part in at least 1 000 scheduled "discussions" - and many unscheduled - on anything from India's caste system to a green school curriculum for South Africa.

Under the slogan, "Another World is Possible", first used by Zapatista rebels in Mexico, the WSF is predominantly pink-blushing-into-red, although a surprising number of respondents to surveys classify themselves as "right-wing".

The WSF, which starts today and lasts until Thursday, has been scheduled to run concurrently with the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, noted for its billionaires and celebrities.

WSF organisers take great pride in stating that the forum only provides a space for vaguely anti-globalist organisations and activists. Part of the moral anguish is over the WSF itself: whether it should change from a disorganised talkshop to a pressure group.

This year the organisers might be forced to come out of hiding to deal with followers and collaborators of Danish artist Jens Galschiot, who wants to "crucify" two sculptures of pregnant teenagers in protest against Christian fundamentalism.

A similar statue is on display outside a cathedral in Copenhagen until January 31.

Galschiot has pre-empted negative reaction by religious WSF attendees against his work by covering the figure's genitals - so that onlookers don't enter into "barren, heated discussions" over the wrong topic.

For the same reason he has printed 30 000 posters to explain the reasoning behind the sculptures, which will be augmented by street theatre by Ugandan performers.

Nevertheless, he is sure to encounter a divided audience. Research by IBASE into last year's three-legged WSF - in Mali, Pakistan and Venezuela - showed that legalising abortion was totally opposed by 44.4% of African respondents, compared with 19.4% of Latin Americans.

Galschiot is protesting against the "powerful alliance" between the Pope and President George W Bush. He accuses them of promoting death from Aids by making sexual abstinence, as opposed to the use of condoms, the key element to qualify for development aid or for acceptance by the Catholic Church.

Galschiot is relying on the support of Tutu, there for a conference on liberation theology with 250 theologians invited by the World Forum on Theology and Liberation, which said, "in the globalised era, the world will either survive together, or be oppressed together. Liberation at this stage is necessarily worldwide, and so is theology".

Many of the discussions and panels will focus on globalisation, or what many prefer to call "imperialism" or "American imperialism".

Others will focus on corporate globalisation, and disquiet over the laissez faire nature of world capitalism, excused by the doctrines of "globalism".

\The latter states that all globalisation is good in principle, whereas WSF followers argue that while they themselves are beneficiaries of globalisation, it's the foundation for a destructive "global market fundamentalism".

Hassen Lorgat, campaigns and communications department manager for the South African NGO Coalition, admitted the WSF was a "jamboree", a fact that had to be grappled with head-on.

"Everyone goes there, organises their meetings and wonders about their own things. You have religious leaders, women's groups, Aids activists, who come with their agenda. All of them want to be heard … (but) we have to find a few points of agreement. That's a challenge."

Nevertheless, he is excited over Africa hosting a full WSF for the first time.

"Given Africa's marginalisation in world politics and economics, the continent remains a net exporter of raw materials. We sell our raw materials at a giveaway price, and buy them (back) from the West after they have been processed, at an exorbitant price."

There are few international platforms where Africa has an effective voice. "We are struggling to get representation in major international fora like the United Nations. If you look at the World Trade Organisation, many of its members are poor and susceptible to bribes. Africa suffers from corruption, both internally and externally. Our trade unions are struggling and weak."

It could boost civil society in Africa, a vital element in change, says Lorgat.

"The south-south co-operation that people talk about should be brought to civil society levels. For example, the India-Brazil-South Africa alliance is government-to-government co-operation. Civil society should be involved in it."

Lorgat says he hopes Africans will learn from the Latin American experience.

The WSF started in 2000 in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and was held there until 2005, when it moved to Mumbai. Latin America has either moved to the left, with leaders such as Hugo Chavez of Venezuela in the vanguard, or has forced anti-globalist policies on non-leftist leaders.

South Africa is set to come under scrutiny this year for its ambivalent role on the world stage.

Last year WSF audiences were shocked when activists slammed South Africa for allegedly having its own version of imperialism, playing the same exploitative game as other "imperialist powers".

Then African activists made impassioned attacks on South Africa, and this year they will be sure to have swollen their ranks. - Independent Foreign Service