 Hello and welcome to around the world in 8 minutes with People's Dispatch, a show where we bring you stories of struggles and stories of solidarity from across the world. In our first story, we go to South Africa with the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa or DUMSA and the National Union of Mine Workers or NUM. We'll soon embark on a national strike against the privatization of ESCOM. ESCOM is South Africa's state owned energy producer. The decision was made after a picket jointly held by the two unions at the company's megawatt park in Johannesburg on 15th January. In a memorandum of demand submitted to the management, the unions demanded an immediate stop to the unbundling of ESCOM. Unbundling refers to the process of companies selling off certain lines of the business. As per this plan, electricity generation, transmission and distribution undertaken by the state owned enterprise will be split into three separate units over a period of time. Most unions in the country have strongly opposed this move, which is being perceived as a precursor to privatization. Reeling under a financial stress largely imposed by the state's unwillingness to invest in this company, ESCOM has undertaken historically unprecedented levels of load shedding over the last year, which has taken a severe toll on the country's overall economy. At the root of the ESCOM crisis is the drain of its revenue into the coffers of privately owned independent power producers and into the coffers of private companies which have ratcheted up the coal prices after taking up the ownership of coal mines which were previously held by ESCOM. ESCOM has been witnessing a series of protests in recent years, spearheaded by NOMSA and NUM, against these proposed measures, which has severely hit the company's revenue and also the livelihood of ESCOM workers. In order to back up their demands, the unions are mobilizing for a series of actions. Fakamele Majola, spokesperson for NOMSA said that the picket yesterday was just one of a series of marches and demonstrations. Moving on to our next story in Thailand on January 12th, thousands joined the run against dictatorship event organized in various parts of the country to demand the restoration of democracy and an end to the rule of the former military general Prayot Chanochha. General Prayot was the architect of the 2014 coup, which overthrew the caretaker government of Yeng Lak Shinabhadra. After the very delayed general elections in 2019, Prayot was nominated as the prime minister by the National Assembly, in which all the Senate members were appointed by the former military junta. On Sunday, the biggest run against the dictatorship event was held in Bangkok, which drew around 13,000 participants. Bangkok's Rui Phi Park reverberated the Prayot get-out and long-lived democracy slogans. The event began with a famous anti-dictatorship rap song composed by rap against dictatorship. The song was once heavily attacked by the military junta as being against the country. Similar events were also held in other parts of Thailand. Organizers of the run against the dictatorship have sharply criticized the Prayot regime for not restoring full democratic rights in the country, even though the military-led National Council for Peace and Order or NCPO, which had ruled the country since the coup in 2014, was abolished after the 2019 elections. Critics know that the NCPO and its anti-people policies continue to function under the internal security operations command chaired by the prime minister. The ISCO is an arm of the Thai military notorious for its brutal suppression of communists and activists during the 1960s and 1980s. The innovative political-athletic event was not spared from the usual threats and intimidation from state security agencies. Thai authorities also attempted to block the run against the dictatorship events in at least three provinces according to Prachatai. The Bangkok event was even forced to relocate from the Thammasat University. Thammasat University is an important site of resistance against military dictatorships and right-wing politics. In October 1976, thousands of students from various universities gathered at Thammasat to protest against the return of former military dictator Thanum Kitakachorn to Thailand from Singapore. On October 6th, Thai forces along with right-wing paramilitary forces attacked students in Thammasat University and massacred more than 100. Many bodies were publicly mutilated. More than 3,000 students were arrested. Kitakachorn, whose regime was marked by brutal anti-communist repression, was overthrown in the mass uprising in October of 1973, where students played a central role. For our last story, we take a look at the mass assassination of social leaders in Colombia. In January this year, various social leaders, human rights defenders as well as one former combatant of the revolutionary armed forces of Colombia, were assassinated by paramilitary groups and hitmen. The last two weeks have seen a worrying surge in assassination of social leaders, human rights defenders and ex-combatants. We take a look at the names of social leaders who were assassinated. The worrying uptake in selective assassinations of peasant leaders, indigenous leaders, human rights defenders and others has shaken Colombian society. According to these numbers, the genocide of social leaders in the country is nowhere near stopping and may even get worse this year. The movement the patriotic march sent a letter to President Iván Duque requesting an urgent meeting with him due to the increase in attacks and assassinations faced by members of the organization. This stated in the letter that in two days, four members of the movement were assassinated as of January 10th. The letter pointed out that 42 members of the organization have been assassinated since Duque took office, without the Colombian state in their opinion taking the necessary measures to stop this grave situation and sanction those responsible. The violence against social leaders even caught the attention of the Security Council of the United Nations. On January 15, the Security Council released a declaration alerting about the grave situation of the security and demanded that the Colombian government take effective actions to stop these crimes. In these complicated and difficult circumstances, social movements, indigenous, afro-descendant and peasant organizations, trade unions and human rights organizations are preparing for a national strike on January 21st. The strike will commemorate two months since the beginning of the wave of mobilizations, strikes, Casarolazos and other protest actions against the government of far right Iván Duque and its warmongering neoliberal policies. One of the principal demands of the strike is that the government act to stop the genocide of social leaders, human rights defenders and ex-combatants in the country, which organizations estimate is more than 800 since 2016. The social movement platformed the People's Congress, released a statement expressing solidarity with the patriotic march and condemning the increased violence against social leaders. They also called it the people of Colombia to take to the streets to protest as part of the mobilizations that will begin on January 21st. And this is all we have for this episode of Around the World in 8 Minutes. For more such stories and videos, visit our website, peoplesdespite.org. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Thank you for watching.