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?
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Last week Japan's nuclear watchdog said a toxic water leak at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant has been classified as a level 3 "serious incident" on an international scale. But, Kevin Kamps of Beyond Nuclear argues that this rating is far too low. He explains what Fukushima really means for the planet.
Presently there are large volumes of radioactive groundwater leaking into the Pacific Ocean from the site, bypassing an underground barrier built to contain it. Meanwhile there...
Wilful blindness is a legal concept, which means, if there is information that you could know and you should know, but you somehow manage not to know; the law deems that you're wilfully blind. You have chosen not to know, says, author, academic and entrepreneur, Margaret Heffernan in this TED Talk.
"You could see wilful blindness in the run up to the Iraq war," she argues.
Wilful blindness is rife in big corporations, Heffernan contends. In large corporations, when employees...
Noting the structural problems inherent in the South African economy and high levels of graduate unemployment, SACSIS’ Fazila Farouk interviews the Vice Chancellor and Principal of WITS University, Prof. Adam Habib about higher education’s role in and contribution to South Africa’s racial and economic transformation.
Habib argues that higher education can fundamentally equalize the playing field if it is not simply the preserve of the rich. However, he contends that the...
American soldier, private Bradley Manning, who was charged with releasing classified information to WikiLeaks, including the now famous Collateral Murder video, was sentenced on 21 August 2013 to 35 years in prison for whistle blowing on war crimes and government corruption. The sentence is seen as a blow to whistle-blowers at a time when authorities all over the world are cracking down on those seeking greater transparency and accountability.
Lawyers for the soldier held a press...
Following Zwelinzima Vavi’s suspension from Cosatu, Patrick Bond, Director of the Centre For Civil Society at the University of KZN argues that Vavi’s predicament is also linked to an ideological conflict in the trade union federation, which could potentially lead to the establishment of a workers' party. On the one side, he argues, “We have a very interesting situation where a more socialist-oriented bloc within the trade union, especially NUMSA, have worked closely with...
“People who I thought were members of a revolutionary camp celebrated what was clearly a military coup,” argues political analyst, Max Blumenthal. “A military coup leads to disappearances and bloodshed and crushes democracy. So why were these people celebrating this? Did they really want a revolution? Or did they just want power for themselves?” According to Blumenthal, one-third of cabinet members in Egypt’s new administration “are former members of the...
