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?
David Bruce -
On Friday the 12th of October Zenzile Nyenye and Siyakhele Kwazile were arrested. They have been charged for the murder of Daluvuyo Bongo, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) branch secretary in North West. Bongo was shot dead at Marikana on the 5th of October. On Wednesday Nyenye and Kwazile were denied bail by magistrate Carnel Bezuidenhout in the Rustenburg magistrate’s court.
This article is not written with the intention of arguing that Nyenye and Kwazile are innocent of the...
Saliem Fakir -
In many respects “Marikana” represents our own ‘Arab Spring’.
After the massacre the wave of wildcat strikes in other sectors outside of the platinum industry, had they gotten much wider popular support, could have fundamentally shaken government as well as the complacent and disinterested business community.
This is not the first time that miners have turned against an oppressive system of rent. It’s happened many times before in our country -- the most...
A panel of South Africans speak at the Frontline Club in London about the meaning of the Marikana massacre. The panel discussion took place on October 17.
Journalist Terry Bell, former ANC MP Andrew Feinstein, writer and scholar Jonny Steinberg, and BBC presenter Audrey Brown offer their views in this panel discussion. They are joined by Natznet Tesfay, head of Africa Forecasting at Exclusive Analysis. The panel was chaired by Richard Dowden, director of the Royal African Society. ...
Richard Pithouse -
The National Union of Mineworkers has informed us that workers organising their own strikes are being covertly 'manipulated' and their strikes and protests 'orchestrated' by 'dark forces' and other 'elements' that amount, of course, to another manifestation of the infamous 'third force'. 'Backward' and even 'sinister' beliefs in magic consequent to the rural origin of many of the workers are, we've been told by an array of elite actors, including the Communist Party, central to this...
David Bruce -
During apartheid some of the most notorious instances of police brutality were the killings of demonstrators involved in peaceful protests. It therefore made sense that one of the issues that received concerted attention during the police reform process of the 1990s was public order policing.
An important initial step in this regard was the introduction of new legislation. The Regulation of Gatherings Act, in fact, came into force in January 1994 prior to the formal transition to...
Jane Duncan -
The Commission of Enquiry headed by retired judge Ian Farlam, into the deaths in August of approximately 44 people at Marikana, and the injury and arrest of scores more, has not got off to a good start.
In the first few days of its existence, the Commission appeared to have scant regard for those most affected by these events, proceeding in spite of the fact that family members of the deceased were not present. The fact that Farlam subsequently saw sense and postponed the Commission is to...
