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?
Rebecca Khan -
The Department of Science and Technology has, in the last month, proposed legislation for the regulation of intellectual property from publicly funded research that, should it be written into law, will set South Africa at odds with the rest of the word, and have long-reaching, and detrimental effects on research and innovation in South Africa, as well as possible implications for the future of academic freedom in this country, a freedom which is protected in the Constitution.
The...
Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen -
The changed political context defined by the inauguration of President Jacob Zuma is obviously weighing on the minds of workers. Rather than making the reasonable assumption that the new administration will deliver on its promises, public service workers are rattling their sabres to remind current leadership that existing agreements are vital to long run improvements in the performance of the public service.
COSATU unions, especially those in the public service, have conducted extensive...
An excerpt from the documentary Health for Sale, which poses the question: "Are the world's largest drug companies, paradoxically, major obstacles to making a healthier world?" The ten largest pharmaceutical companies form the so-called "big pharma." They control the world's pharmaceutical market. In 2004, global spending on prescription drugs amounted to five hundred billion dollars. In 2002, big pharma's overall profit amounted to 35.9 billion dollars....
An Al Jazeera feature that follows 24 hours on a weekend shift in the trauma unit of Soweto's Baragwanath hospital, one of the biggest trauma units in the world. This clip (part two) shows the night half of the shift. One doctor and a handful of interns with faulty equipment and limited nursing support swim against a tide of patients. To watch part one of "Saving Soweto," please click here.
Prof. Hoosen Coovadia commends the scale of HIV funding by 80-odd international funding organisations that have provided support for the pandemic, but argues that we need a much stronger effort. He laments the fact that funding initiatives force South Africans (and others) to make difficult choices because of the way funding streams are defined.
Members of an HIV support group in Khayelitsha talk about the challenges and successes of living with HIV. Members argue that "the stigma of AIDS" is still a huge problem that must be overcome. Highlighting the tragic circumstances of poverty, members report that some people deliberately drop their CD4 count to become eligible for the state's disability grant, valued at R940 per month (about US$120). See part two of the report here.
