Roadside refusals: resisting infrastructural violence in the south of Johannesburg

In this paper, we offer an analysis of what we are calling “roadside refusals” – coordinated and quotidian resistance efforts that take place alongside highways and are directed against the racial capitalist state’s infrastructurally violent impositions and abandonments. In particular, we look at roadside refusal in Nana’s Farm, a marginalized community situated beside the N12 highway in the south of Johannesburg. Drawing from interviews, community meeting reflections, and a documentary film, we examine how residents from Nana’s Farm disrupt the flows of capital on the N12 to grab the attention of state officials who deny the community reliable water connections, sanitation, electricity, and tarred roads. We also consider the role that the N12 plays in reproductive struggles, prefigurative infrastructural practices, and efforts to repurpose infrastructure within Nana’s Farm. From this analysis, we argue that roadside refusal comprises spectacular and quotidian components, each of which bolsters the other. We conclude by reflecting on what roadside refusals in Nana’s Farm might teach us about struggles against infrastructural violence in and beyond South Africa.