Key Struggles That Shaped the Winter School
Khanya College, the Winter Schools and the social movements have been shaped dynamically by local and international struggles; and the history and fortunes of the social movements. This is as it should be, given our integration with communities and movements. During this period communities and Khanya created initiatives to support movement building.
The first school focused on Towards Development and Social Change in 1999, and participants were largely from the trade unions, some community and a few from government. Khanya was one of the first to do this as a certificate course for activists.
The WSSD in 2002 was a watershed for movement building. The movements and communities were joined by the international activists in a march to Sandton to oppose neoliberalism. This march was also influenced by the growing movement internationally against the impact of neoliberalism on living standards, decreasing democratic spaces and the hegemony of elites internationally. The demonstrations at the WTO in Seattle were influential on local struggles and a turning point ushered in the growth of the social movements till about 2008 when the decline become significant and the closure or high turnover of community organisations and movements.