The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
Visit the archives.
Saliem Fakir -
The draft twenty-year plan for electricity generation, also called the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2010, was released a few weeks ago for public comment. The IRP process is all but a fait accompli. But what goes into the plan will determine the future of South Africa’s energy mix for the next two decades.
The energy choices available to us are between coal, nuclear, gas, hydro and other renewables.
With a projected GDP growth rate of 4.6% over the next 20 years, South Africa will...
Dale T. McKinley -
So, the Republicans and their Tea Party buddies have resoundingly won the just concluded mid-term elections in the US, taking majoritarian control of the House of Representatives as well as state governorships and almost doing the same in the Senate. The victors are busy screaming from the rooftops about securing the ‘mandate of the people for radical change’, while the incumbent President and his defeated Democrats murmur their mea culpas and wonder what went wrong. Is this the...
"Don't Shoot" is a short film that takes an idiosyncratic look at Afrikaans newsreader, Riaan Cruywagen, who's been reading the news since 1976, and even holds the world record for being the longest serving Afrikaans newsreader in the world.
It's an offbeat take of a worldview that takes us on a journey from the heyday of apartheid to the dawn of democracy -- and must be viewed as much for its historic value as for its tragic-comic assessment.
Walden Bello -
The unexpected death a few days ago of Nestor Kirchner deprived not only Argentina of a remarkable, albeit controversial leader. It also took away an exemplary figure in the Global South when it came to dealing with international financial institutions.
Kirchner defied the creditors. More importantly, he got away with it.
The Collapse
The full significance of Kirchner’s moves must be seen in the context of the economy he inherited on his election as Argentine president in 2003....
For the past 20 years, renowned filmmaker, author and activist Michael Moore has been one of the most politically active, provocative and successful documentary filmmakers in the business.
Moore visited the Democracy Now studio last night for their special live Election Night broadcast to discuss the midterm election results, the Tea Party movement, and the future of the Democratic and Republican parties.
Jane Duncan -
In an editorial in March this year, the Sunday Times newspaper warned against “a culture of political assassination,” becoming entrenched in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa, after the paper published allegations of the existence of a hit list of officials blocking access to tenders linked to the 2010 World Cup.
By that time, seven officials had died in mysterious circumstances, including the Mbombela Municipality's Speaker, Jimmy Mohlala.
The World Cup tender...
