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?
Richard Pithouse -
Carl Niehaus was the perfect spokesperson for Jacob Zuma. He had an inside understanding of the world of reckless extravagance under the patronage of dubious businessmen. He must have known, perhaps lying awake wondering who to phone to get the rent for his extraordinarily ugly house, precisely what has happened to elite politics in the ANC.
The idea of politics carries both a debased and an elevated sense. In its debased sense it is the self-serving and often ruthless competition for power...
Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen -
Minister Trevor Manuel referred to debates on the size of deficits as an illusionary delusion, asking South Africans to focus on the effectiveness and quality of spending. Underlying this perspective is an important assumption that tough choices in economic policy have placed us in a better position.
Today, we have more money, and are able to responsibly increase the deficit, because of these choices, argues Minister Manuel. Assessing the record of government in this manner is however, an...
The opening morning session of the World Economic Forum traditionally focuses on the "Global Economy." This year the forum is taking place in Davos from 29 January to 1 February 2009. The session is convened by Michael Elliot, the editor of Time International. On the opening panel this year were Trevor Manuel, Finance Minister of South Africa; Justin Yifu Lin, Senior Vice President and Senior Economist at the World Bank; Ferit F. Sahenk, Chairman, Dogus Group, Turkey; Heizo...
Michelle Pressend -
ESKOM’s plan to take a US$5 billion World Bank loan is a cause for major concern. It raises a number of pertinent questions about South Africa’s energy policy arena and the energy choices being made on behalf of ordinary South Africans.
In the first place, why is South Africa taking a World Bank loan? Doesn’t our state have a role in addressing the current energy crisis or 'bail out' of ESKOM?
Considering the World Bank’s record of reigning in state power, what...
Richard Pithouse -
Governments around the world tend to force poor people off well located and therefore valuable urban land and into peripheral ghettoes. From New Orleans to Bombay and Johannesburg the story is the same.
One motivation for this is to transfer valuable land from the poor to the rich to create a subsidy for elite development at the direct expense of the poor. A useful secondary consequence of this for many governments is that people living outside of state control can be forced to...
Stephen Greenberg -
Rural development was identified as one of the top five priorities for the next five years at the African National Congress’s (ANC’s) Conference in Polokwane in December 2007. This will be translated into the ANC’s 2009 election manifesto to be launched in January. But will this lead to practical changes in the ANC’s approach to rural areas since 1994?
The historical roots of the ANC lie in the urban areas. The organisation first represented an aspirant urban...
