NGOs Divide in Unity March

By Bert Wilkinson

It is official. The NGO contingent at the World Summit and Global Forum will split up for their unity march today.

One group, organised by the International Steering Committee (ISG) of NGOs, which represents thousands of civil society organisations worldwide, will begin their march at noon. The second group, which involves the Landless People’s Movement and the South African Coalition Alliance will start earlier, at 9:00am.

Both marches begin in Alexandria and end at the Sandton Convention Centre.

A meeting yesterday of the ISG and representatives from other NGOs failed to persuade a coalition of disgruntled activists not to split off from the main protest.

The break occurred over concerns that a unified march would obscure the messages of individual member groups. Additionally the Landless People’s Movement had expressed some disquiet over the involvement of the African National Congress, given, the group said, the ANC’s approach to globalisation, privatisation and a host of other issues.

The ANC plans to march at noon.

The political party called a press conference yesterday to express its surprise at the split. It noted that it shares most, if not all, of the concerns that the breakaway groups have and plan to articulate.

“I appeal to them to join the march. It is an erroneous approach to pullout,” said ANC General Secretary Kgalema Mottanthe. “They have nothing to fear about participating.”

Assembling at the Alexandria Stadium, an hour’s walk from Sandton, the groups are to stage a People’s Summit on Sustainable Development, allowing civil society to meet directly with the big government players including President Thabo Mbeki.

Meanwhile, at a meeting last nigh, the ISG asked its members to keep the faith amidst continuing controversy over farm subsidies, debt relief, development aid and other unresolved issues.

“It is clear to us that the technical negotiations do not have a mandate to go any further and we would have to wait for the ministers to get word from their capital. Still, we hope to have a draft agreement that can be completed by Sunday night,” said ISG spokesman Barbadian Gordon Bispham.