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?
Tips for watching videos: If you see a message saying that a video clip is no longer available, refresh your browser and the video should become available. If you're having trouble viewing a clip that's already streaming, let the clip play once. It will play fine the second time round.
Nigeria is expected to release revised economic figures in December to show that the country has overtaken South Africa as Africa's largest economy. The Nigerian economy is growing faster than the South African economy. In 2012 Nigeria’s economy grew by 6.6% while South Africa's grew only between 2-3%. Leonce Ndikumana, a Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst argues that despite its growth, the Nigerian economy has been growing in the...
Civil society is considered to be an important stakeholder in any country that seeks to deepen its democracy. Defined as operating outside of the state and of the market, it is often referred to as the third sector.
Civil society organisations (CSOs) are varied in their character and in their purpose. But there is a common thread that holds them together, which is that they exist in public life to promote public good. In fact, the strength of a country’s civil society is often used...
Mary Robinson, former Irish president and U.N. high commissioner for human rights now heads the Mary Robinson Foundation, where her efforts include campaigning for the divestment from fossil fuels. "We can no longer invest in companies that are part of the problem of the climate shocks we’re suffering from," Robinson says. "To me it’s a little bit like the energy behind the anti-apartheid movement when I was a student. We were involved because we saw the injustice...
Glenn Greenwald says that his team knew early on when working on the Edward Snowden/NSA exposé that the story was going to be as much about the role of journalism as it was going to be about the role of surveillance. Greenwald made his remarks via an exclusive video message from Brazil to the Frontline Club in London that was celebrating its 10th anniversary with a special awards ceremony. "We knew that there would be a great debate that would take place over the proper...
The American Congress is set have a congressional briefing in March next year on a proposed "Robin Hood Tax", which is essentially a tax of less than one-half of 1% on Wall Street transactions -- the goal being to generate revenue from Wall Street speculation rather than cut spending on social programs. Jessica Desvarieux of the Real News Network discusses the impact of the prospective tax with former employee of Goldman Sachs, Wally Turbeville.
According to Turbeville, the tax...
The British left weekly New Statesman has taken a chance on an up-and-coming rogue editor, but the actor-comedian and newly welcomed progressive-minded firebrand Russell Brand seems so far to be a brilliant and elegant choice.
Tapped to guest-edit the magazine's 'Revolution' issue this week, Brand is making waves both for his feature-length essay on the topic but also with a televised interview that aired Wednesday night on the BBC with veteran Newsnight anchor Jeremy Paxman. In the...
