Economic Justice

SACSIS promotes the principle of just economies. We are opposed to economic development that violates social and economic rights and increases inequalities in the pursuit of economic growth.

Nationalisation in South Africa: Which Way are We Going?

Glenn Ashton - Nationalisation been returned to the agenda, causing disquiet amongst investors and miners and a quickening in the pulse of the left. We cannot allow Malema to dominate this discussion. Besides raising the issue he has imparted little meaningful analysis and has provided neither nuance nor insight. This issue requires careful examination if we are to advance beyond delivering spoils to well-connected cadres, while leaving the people in poverty.  The Freedom Charter did mention the...

Parastatals between a Rock and a Hard Place: From Privatisation to Commercialisation and Back

Picture: SACSIS Leonard Gentle - The revelation that ex-SAA CEO, Khaya Ngqula is being chased by the board of SAA to recover some R31m expenditure has made headlines recently. In the same week that this news broke, a Deloitte’s survey of the top 200 South African company CEOs found that while they were comfortable with the government’s predictable economic policy, “The single biggest standout concern, for all industries, was corruption and its impact on doing business” (Hugh Harrison of Deloitte,...

Economic Inequality Remains Institutionalised

Picture: GCIS Glenn Ashton - Economic pundits are by their nature economic optimists – they talk up the game, they look on the bright side and they dismiss negative perspectives and doom and gloom talk about any economic downsides. This is quite understandable. Their careers are after all utterly reliant upon the continued growth of capital, on increased profitability and on positive economic sentiments. Consequently they sing the praises and extol the health of the dominant economic system. But the question is,...

Reforming South Africa's Fat Cat Parastatals for Better Social Ends

Picture: leftfootforward.org Saliem Fakir - The average pay gap between Eskom’s top management and workers is 93% to 9%, but it’s the workers getting the flack for demanding more. A similar situation prevails in other parastatals. The wage debate is pertinent after the World Cup has made us drink from the fountain of optimism about the potential for mutual solidarity. But there will be little of it if workers and citizens feel, in general, that CEOs and managers of our parastatals earn excessively and have little to show...

South African Soccer: For the Love of the Game or for the Love of Money and Power?

Picture: 2010 Shine - 2010 Good News South Africa Dale T. McKinley - The sun has almost set on the Soccer World Cup and its seeming suspension of our South African 'normalcy'. No doubt, many will try their best to continue to bask in its positively proclaimed 'developmental legacy'; but, as sure as the sun will rise on the morning after, so too will the reality of that ‘normalcy’ bite us like an unhappy dog. Nowhere will this be more apparent than in the world of South African soccer itself. It is an unfortunate fact of our early 21st century...

A Story of David Versus Goliath

Picture: Winfried Bruenken Saliem Fakir - Civil society organisations continue to make a difference against the malpractices of big corporations. Dedicated non-profit and community organisations work against time and the public’s lack of awareness to tackle corporations that spend an inordinate amount of money on public relations. It’s a constant war of public imagery with big corporations spending a lot to look good and clean. Given their vast capacity, those corporations who covet deliberate malevolence against public...