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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The shadow of the Marikana massacre hangs over Cosatu as its 11th Elective Congress takes place a month after the police brutally killed more than 34 miners who worked at Lonmin mine. Ighsaan Schroeder, Director of the Casual Workers Advice Office talks about the meaning of Marikana for Cosatu and trade unions in general. This interview was recorded on September, 17, the opening day of Cosatu's 2012 congress.
Schroeder argues that Marikana signals the death rattle for Cosatu. He is not...
Western countries throw out nearly half of their food, not because it’s inedible - but because it doesn't look appealing. At the same time, there is a huge buffer between people and hunger in rich countries. America, for example, has twice as much food on its shop shelves and in its restaurants than is actually needed to feed Americans. This situation creates an imbalance in access to food by creating a squeeze on global food supplies. Unfortunately for people in the Global South, it...
Washington has condemned the killing of its ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other officials - who died when an armed mob attacked the US consulate in Benghazi. The bloodshed followed protests over an American film, which has been described as an insult to Islam. RT talks to Lindsay German from the British Stop the War Coalition. She contends that the the making of the film was a provocative act, but that the protests could not have taken off in this manner if there was not...
Barack Obama has failed to deliver on his promise of “change” during his first term as president of the US, but many disgruntled Americans would still re-elect him for a second term because he is the “lesser evil”. However, Glen Ford of Black Agenda Report contends that Obama is the “more effective evil” because his Democratic base lets him get away with things that the Republicans are unable to get away with.
On the issue of foreign policy, he contends,...
Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! interviews South Africa’s ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool, who attended the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. Rasool discusses the Obama presidency, the militarization of Africa, Islamophobia, the Marikana massacre and his 2006 meeting with then-Senator Obama in South Africa.
With respect to Marikana he says, "I believe, at the end of the day, the kind of compromises we made in 1994 are coming back to haunt us. I...
The Lonmin miners' strike has entered its 4th week with no end in sight. As links between the mining companies and the ANC are exposed, there is growing frustration about poverty and inequality in South Africa, and anger at the growing class divide. Al Jazeera's Inside Story asks, "Is there a new kind of apartheid in South Africa?"
Shulie Ghosh speaks to Anthea Jeffrey of the South African Institute of Race Relations, Adam Habib from the University of Johannesburg and Tony Dykes...
