Defend Liv Shange!

On 23 June, the Sunday Independent reported that Home Affairs and state intelligence services have begun an investigation of the immigration status of Liv Shange—a leading member of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM)—as well as her role in the wildcat strikes in the mines. This is a blatant attempt to silence and repress a leftist activist who has prominently supported the mineworkers. The victimisation of Shange is part of the continued state vendetta against the mineworkers. It comes right before the contract negotiations in the gold industry which are expected to result in more strikes, as the government is considering deploying the army to the platinum belt (again), and as more and more mining bosses are threatening and carrying out mass sackings in retaliation against strikes. Defending Shange is in the interest of the left and workers movement as a whole, which is facing increased repression from the bourgeois Tripartite Alliance government.

In early June, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe gave the signal for the state witchhunt. In a clear reference to Shange (who is from Sweden) and the DSM, Mantashe lashed out at “people who are from far away… Sweden, Irish [sic]. They are a force behind the anarchy that is happening in the platinum industry.” Shange, who has been married to a South African citizen since 2004 and has a family here, is currently visiting Sweden, and Home Affairs is threatening to prevent her from returning. As a smokescreen for the government’s blatant political persecution, they are claiming that Shange was in the country illegally, when in fact she was issued a spousal visa and followed all of Home Affairs’ bureaucratic procedures to get a replacement when her passport was stolen in 2010. We demand that she be allowed to return to South Africa and given full citizenship rights. Government hands off Liv Shange and the DSM!