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?
SACSIS seeks to examine global issues, particularly as they relate to South Africa.
John Feffer -
They were both responsible for thousands of civilian deaths in causes they believed were righteous. They both occupied top spots on the World's Most Wanted list. They were both the subject of raids that were years in the making and required extensive intelligence work.
But in all other respects — and particularly in the messages they sent to the international community — the operations against Ratko Mladic and Osama bin Laden couldn't have been more different. It wasn't a...
Leonard Gentle -
The arrest of Dominic Strauss-Kahn (DSK) on allegations of attempted rape certainly has got tongues wagging. In the Guardian newspaper, French journalist Angelique Chrisafis alleged that DSK “always had a problem with women.” Also writing in the Guardian, Dean Baker, co-director of the Washington DC-based Centre for Economic and Policy Research, notes how ironic it is that the immigrant hotel worker who made the allegations may simply have been dismissed under the “flexible...
Noam Chomsky -
After the assassination of bin Laden I received such a deluge of requests for comment that I was unable to respond individually, and on May 4 and later I sent an unedited form response instead, not intending for it to be posted, and expecting to write it up more fully and carefully later on. But it was posted, then circulated.
That was followed but a deluge of reactions from all over the world. It is far from a scientific sample of course, but nevertheless, the tendencies may be of some...
Diana Johnstone -
French Leftists Should See Silver Lining
In a flood of carefully designed public opinion polls, editorials, and books bordering on idolatry, the French communications industry had already settled next year’s presidential election. The loser would be Nicolas Sarkozy, sagging in the polls. The winner would be Dominique Strauss-Kahn, ever on the rise. True, the French Socialist Party had not yet chosen its candidate, and Strauss-Kahn had not yet announced his candidacy, but the party...
Imraan Buccus -
Struggling for Justice and Freedom
Had we not defeated apartheid, this year would have marked 63 years of oppression in South Africa. But, with incredible mobilisation and international solidarity, the evil system of racial capitalism was defeated and in 1994 we had our first democratic election. The euphoria of liberation was indeed overwhelming. This week, we celebrate democracy in South Africa with a third local government election.
But, as we celebrate democracy in South Africa, Israel,...
Carmel deAmicis -
Crowd Surfing Without Tears
From a couple blocks away we could hear the screaming. It was a loud bellow rumbling through the spaces between skyscrapers, the unmistakable sound of a jubilant crowd at a sports stadium. Except this wasn’t a sports stadium – it was Ground Zero, minutes after Obama addressed the nation to tell us Bin Laden was dead. The people trickling towards the site began sprinting as they got closer, running straight into a teeming mass of young people. A wall of...
