Mazibuko Jara (born 1973), born in

Mdantsane Mdantsane is a South African urban township situated 15 km away from East London and 37 km away from Qonce in the Eastern Cape. It is the second largest township in Eastern Cape and 17th largest in the Top 20 largest townships in So ...

in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

, one of the province of South Africa. An activist in the democratic

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

tradition, he was active in the South African Students Congress (SASCO) and the left-wing Young Christian Students. He was a member of the

South African Communist Party The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded on 12 February 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), and tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by t ...

(SACP) until 2005, serving as its spokesperson, including editing the party paper Umsebenzi, and strategist. He was ousted from the party after he wrote a paper in 2005 rejecting the SACP's overt support for

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a for ...

, entitled ''What Colour Is Our Flag? Red or JZ? : A Critique of the SACP Approach on the JZ (Jacob Zuma) Matter'', one of a number of critical figures purged in the 2000s. In 2006, Jara co-founded Amandla (magazine) where he has been arguing for a "democratic left" and

Eco-Socialism Eco-socialism (also known as green socialism, socialist ecology, ecological materialism, or revolutionary ecology) is an ideology merging aspects of socialism with that of green politics, ecology and alter-globalization or anti-globalization. E ...

, criticizing authoritarian and socially conservative tendencies in South African society at large, including in major political parties. He has campaigned for rural democracy against tribal chiefly rule. Jara is a popular educator, researcher and trainer focusing on political economy, cooperatives, food sovereignty, land reform and participatory democracy. He has worked in a range of left coalitions and NGOs, including a leading role in the Democratic Left Front and the subsequent United Front (South Africa), and the Treatment Action Campaign and was board chair of

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It began as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief ...

South Africa from its founding until November 2020. Jara was also the co-founder of Ntinga Ntaba ka Ndoda, a community-based rural movement in the Eastern Cape. In 2015 Ntinga Ntaba ka Ndoda received th
Paul K. Feyerabend Award-- a World of Solidarity is Possible

Notes and references

1973 births Living people South African activists People from Mdantsane {{SouthAfrica-activist-stub

See also

Notes and references