{{Short description|South African socialist & anti-apartheid activist (born 1960)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Use South African English|date=October 2012}} '''Trevor Ngwane''' is a [[South African people|South African]] [[Socialism|socialist]],<ref>{{cite web | url=https://socialistworker.co.uk/features/trevor-ngwane-leading-south-african-activist-speaks-out/ | title=Trevor Ngwane: Leading South African activist speaks out | publisher=Socialist Worker | date=17 November 2001 | accessdate=9 April 2012 }}</ref> [[Internal resistance to South African apartheid|anti-apartheid]] activist, and author. He previously worked as a sociology lecturer at [[Wits University]] where he helped found the Wits Workers' School, to teach literacy to the campus cleaners and gardeners.
==Personal life== Ngwane was born in [[Durban]] in 1960 to two medical nurses. For some time, he and his brother were sent to a Catholic boarding school near Durban, although they were expelled for participating in a spontaneous school strike after the [[Soweto uprising]] in 1976.<ref name="NewLeft">{{Cite journal |date=July–August 2022 |title=Sparks in the Township |url=https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii22/articles/trevor-ngwane-sparks-in-the-township |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408230740/https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii22/articles/trevor-ngwane-sparks-in-the-township |archive-date=2023-04-08 |access-date=2023-07-07 |journal=New Left Review|issue=22 |pages=37–56 |last1=Ngwane |first1=Trevor }}</ref>
In 1979, Ngwane enrolled at the [[University of Fort Hare]], where he studied sociology. He was expelled in 1982 for participating in student strikes, and rather than choosing to reapply at the university, moved to [[Soweto]]. Here, he continued his sociology degree through the [[University of South Africa]], and later began a master's degree at the [[University of the Witwatersrand]] (Wits). It was while working as a tutor and junior lecturer at Wits that Ngwane says he became a [[Marxism|Marxist]].<ref name="NewLeft" />
==Career== ===Political career=== Ngwane was the National Education Officer for the [[Transport & General Workers Union (South Africa)|Transport & General Workers Union]] of the [[Congress of South African Trade Unions]] from 1991 to 1993.<ref name="NewLeft" /> In 1995 he was elected Ward Councillor for Pimville Zone 5 and 7, [[Soweto]], on an [[African National Congress]] ticket. In 1999 he was expelled by the ANC for opposing the [[City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality]]'s privatization of municipal services. In 2001, he helped found the [[Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee]] and then the [[Anti-Privatisation Forum]] in 2002, which both campaign against the privatisation of public services. He is a member of the [[Socialist Group (South Africa)|Socialist Group]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/trevorngwane | title=Trevor Ngwane's Bio Info | publisher=Z Space | year=2011 | accessdate=9 April 2012 | url-status=dead | archive-date=12 October 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012072128/http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/trevorngwane }}</ref>
===Academic career=== In 2011, Ngwane obtained a Master of Arts (MA) degree in developmental studies at the [[University of KwaZulu-Natal]] in [[Durban]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ngwane |first=Trevor |title=My front page |url=https://www.trevorngwane.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220820165929/https://www.trevorngwane.com/ |archive-date=2022-08-20 |website=Trevor Ngwane's personal website}}</ref> In 2016, he obtained a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) from the [[University of Johannesburg]], for which he wrote a thesis titled '''Amakomiti' as 'Democracy on the Margins': Popular Committees in South Africa's Informal Settlements''.<ref name="PhD">{{Cite thesis |last=Ngwane |first=Trevor |title='Amakomiti' as 'Democracy on the Margins': Popular Committees in South Africa's Informal Settlements |date=December 2017 |degree=DLitt et Phil |publisher=[[University of Johannesburg]] |url=https://ujcontent.uj.ac.za/esploro/outputs/doctoral/Amakomiti-as-democracy-on-the-margins/9911796107691 |doi=10.13140/RG.2.2.32712.83208}}</ref> This was later adapted into the book ''Amakomiti: Grassroots Democracy in South African Shack Settlements'', which was published by Jacana Media in 2021.<ref name="Amakomiti">{{Cite book |last=Ngwane |first=Trevor |title=Amakomiti: Grassroots Democracy in South African Shack Settlements |publisher=Jacana Media |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-4314-3146-5 |location=Johannesburg}}</ref>
As its name suggests, ''Amakomiti'' explores the role of "amakomiti" (committees) in informal settlements in South Africa. Ngwane describes these amakomiti as a form of "democracy on the margins", and discusses how they function as such, as well as how they interact with more formal political structures. The book is based on research conducted in 46 shack settlements. Four of these are also used to present in-depth case studies of amakomiti.<ref name="Amakomiti" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Murray |first=Adrian |date=2021-10-05 |title=Amakomiti by Trevor Ngwane |url=https://thesociologicalreview.org/reviews/amakomiti-by-trevor-ngwane/ |access-date=2023-07-07 |journal=The Sociological Review |doi=10.51428/tsr.wcso6221 |s2cid=240517452 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Webster |first1=Edward |last2=Tambulu |first2=Bukiwe |date=2021-08-30 |title=South African shack dwellers show how grassroots democracy is done |url=https://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/opinion/2021/2021-08/south-african-shack-dwellers-show-how-grassroots-democracy-is-done.html |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=Wits University}}</ref>
He currently teaches at the [[University of Johannesburg]].<ref name="Amakomiti"/>
== Selected articles == * [https://aidc.org.za/the-urban-crisis-is-a-crisis-of-capitalist-democracy/ The Urban Crisis Is A Crisis of Capitalist Democracy (and the Struggle to Remove Its Chains)], ''Amandla Magazine'', 17 June 2019. * [http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/428.php South Africa in 2010: A History That Must Happen], ''Socialist Project'', 11 November 2010. * [http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2009/ngwane201109.html Socialists, the Environment and Ecosocialism], ''MRZine'', 20 November 2009. * [http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/article.php?articlenumber=10931 Letter from South Africa], ''Socialist Review'', September, 2009.
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * [http://www.zcommunications.org/blog/trevorngwane Trevor Ngwane's blog]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ngwane, Trevor}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:South African anti-apartheid activists]] [[Category:South African Trotskyists]] [[Category:South African trade unionists]] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]