To: ALL Media
Attention: News Editors
For immediate release
21 June 2016

Media advisory || Rebellion of the Poor: seminars on community protests || 30 June and 1 July 2016

We would like to invite journalists to attend an extraordinary  two-day seminar on 30 June and 1 July during which the escalating number of community protests will be analysed and discussed. This will be of particular interest in view of the outbreak of violence in the Tshwane metropolitan area and the  upcoming municipal elections.

The seminar  is based on a  research project, ‘The Rebellion of the Poor’, conducted by Professor Peter Alexander and his team at the South African Research Chair in Social Change, University of Johannesburg and is hosted by the Department of Science and Technology in collaboration with the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), the South African Research Chair Initiative (SARChI) of the National Research Foundation (NRF), and the University of Johannesburg (UJ).

The research was conducted in every province and resulted in the construction of the largest database of media reports on protests, including SAPS data on nearly 160 000 crowd incidents that occurred between 1997 and 2013, about 70 000 of which were protests.

Over the two days journalists will get an overview of findings of the Rebellion of the Poor project; they will hear a wide variety of views, including experiences in Egypt, the Ukraine, Turkey; and closer to home, Mr  Andries Nel, deputy minister, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs will provide the government’s view point; and you will hear from the SAPS on the recent burning of schools in Vuwani, Limpopo.

Please find attached the circular of 30 June that includes the programme for the first day, as well as the programme of the seminar taking place on 1 July.