Johannesburg, March 19, 2005 About a 1000 people marched through the streets of Johannesburg today to protest against war in all its forms. Organized by the Gauteng Anti-War Coalition, the demonstration was part of a global day of action on the second anniversary of the invasion of Iraq with simultaneous demonstrations around the world. The marchers protested the continued occupation of Iraq and Palestine and the farce of US-engineered democracy in Iraq. They also pointed to the immediate responsibility of South Africans, given the estimated deployment of 10.000 South African mercenaries in Iraq.

Demonstrators and speakers also made clear that war is not only military. Declaring neoliberalism a “war on humanity”, the marchers pointed out the link between military invasions around the world, and the devastating effects of neoliberal restructuring in South Africa’s townships and informal settlements. Similarly, members of African refugee organizations spoke about the effects of imperialism in their countries and the harsh treatment by the South African state.

“War” the protestors argued “is everywhere: a global war against humanity in which our bodies, the air we breathe, the water that we drink, what we are taught, the stories we tell and are told … become commodities bought and sold in an open market. Whether in the Iraqi killing fields or a prepaid drought in Phiri, Soweto, the logic is the same: the rule of money and the market over all of life – the logic of neoliberalism.”

Celebrating and claiming back life outside the confines of commodification, the demonstration was followed by a festival of poetry and music at the Worker’s Library in New Town.

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