ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the theoretical framework to understand the relationship between patronage and protests in South Africa. It discusses the shared grievances of residents and how the local elections in 2011 created the terrain for intra- African National Congress (ANC) rivalry. The chapter fleshes out how and why the protests in Zandspruit can be understood as a battle for patronage 'from below'. It analyses how intra-ANC rivalry linked to rival candidates and followers created the mobilising structures, through informal networks and brokers, for collective action. The chapter unpacks the 'dual nature' of protests, as described by Karl Von Holdt, where protests function as a means of collective claim making for public goods and services, and as a political strategy by a local ANC faction and elite to gain access and control over state resources and service delivery. It provides an analysis 'from below' which considers the agency of the recipients of patronage.
