This and the previous post on Southern Africa are interesting. Thanks. Finally, here in Jo'burg, there appears to be some movement from the NGO sector -- 3 000 organisations in a national coalition -- combined with earlier pronouncements by a few left trade unionists and small political parties, to attack the repayment of the $20 billion apartheid foreign debt. This isn't enough of a critical mass yet to put it on any kind of public agenda, but it is nevertheless promising that the progressive petty bourgeoisie are waking up to the balance of payments constraint which remains the main excuse for our usurious interest rates (the highest in SA history still). Was in a little provincial town last week, near the Zimbabwe border, where the local NGOs invited my institute to give a rap on the World Bank. Extremely encouraging, that even without any Bank lending to date and an obscure Bank role in policy formulation, local activists have a sense of the upcoming mugging and are getting organised to confront it. A few weeks ago I posted some material on the "Campaign Against Neoliberalism in South Africa" (when Camdessus paid a visit); the campaign is now seeking funding ($20k for a small secretariat) so if anyone has any ideas we'd be grateful to hear from you privately. Ciao, comrades!
