Chicago-Alexandra Sister Community Project Meeting with Mayor Daley

Contents: Attending • Background • The Alex Accord • Violence in Alexandra • The Sister Community Relationship • June 15th Walkathon • What the Mayor can do • Proposed measures for City of Chicago to Support Alexandra Township, South Africa • The report says those attending are Mzwanele Mayekiso, Alexandra Civic Organization; Mary Ntingane, Alexandra Civic Organization; Michael Freedberg, Chicago-Alexandra Sister Community Project; Michael Elliott, Illinois Labor Network Against Apartheid; Rolly Hudson, Mozambique Support Network; and Delicia Bey. The report says the purpose of the meeting is to identify ways to strengthen the ties between Chicago and Alexandra, South Africa. The report says Mzwanele Mayekiso and Mary Ntingane are visiting Chicago from Alexandra for six weeks; the visit will culminate with annual Walkathon on June 15th which this year will raise funds for Alexandra. The report says Alexandra is a township of 350,000 people crowded into a 1-1/2 square mile area on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa. The report says it is one of the poorest communities in South Africa: housing consists mostly of shacks; there is no transportation system; sanitation and plumbing systems barely exist; over 50% of its people are officially unemployed. The report says the people of Alexandra have been at the forefront of the struggle against apartheid; through the Alexandra Civic Organization, they have resisted government efforts to impose its own leadership in the township. The report says in March, after years of harassment, detention, and imprisonment, ACO leaders won a historic victory: the government agreed to dissolve the "official" town council and work with the ACO to establish a democratically-elected, non-racial local government. The report says this accord is likely to be a model for other urban townships in South Africa. The report says almost immediately after the signing of the Alex accord, so-called "factional" violence broke out in Alexandra; since March almost 200 people have died in local fighting; in fact there is clear evidence that the South Africa government is abetting much of this violence, and has acted slowly and belatedly to end it; it is critical that the government halt its apparent support for one side, and do more to end the violence. The report says in April 1990, the City council established a sister-community relationship with Alexandra; six other cities, including Atlanta, St Paul, Seattle, Milwaukee, Louisville and Berkeley have established similar relationships; the Chicago Committee in Solidarity with South Africa (CCISSA), Synapses and the 8th Day Center for Social Justice are primary sponsors of the Project. The report says for the past two years, the anti-apartheid community in Chicago has raised more than $10,000 each year at the annual Soweto Day Walkathon, commemorating the June 16, 1976 Soweto uprising; proceeds are sent to Southern Africa. The report says we would like to see Mayor Daley build on the Walkathon's expression of support in cementing the ties between Alexandra and Chicago. The report says specifically, we propose the following seven measures: 1. Rigorous enforcement of Chicago anti-apartheid ordinances 2. Send letter to President De Klerk 3. Designate Mayoral liaison with Chicago-Alexandra Sister-Community Project 4. Declare Chicago-Alexandra Day during the Jazz Festival 5. Explore in-kind vehicle donations to Alexandra 6. Upgrade connections between Chicago Sister City Program and Alexandra 7. Help in key technical areas. The report discusses the Bush administration, F.W. de Klerk, Congressional sanctions, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the League of Cities, housing, health, transportation, health, and education.