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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An activist from Egypt who spent days on Tahrir square has traveled to Dakar to attend the World Social Forum (WSF). Here she talks about how the revolution was started in Egypt, who the main organizers and supporters of the protest are, as well as emphasizing the secular nature and diversity of people involved in the call for President Mubarak to step. Find part two of her interview here.
The WSF, the counterpoint to the World Economic Forum, is currently underway in Dakar, Senegal....
Jane Duncan -
South Africa is gearing up for its third local government election. In an attempt to break with the authoritarianism of his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, President Jacob Zuma has promised a new approach to these elections, where more responsive candidates are selected that genuinely represent the will of the people.
To this end, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has committed itself to greater community involvement in the selection of candidates. Branch members select candidates who are...
The deepwater horizon spill has been recast as a good news story about a disaster averted. But oceanographers studying the spill say that below these healthy looking waves, the Gulf's problems are far from over.
The oil from BP's spill in the Gulf didn't just magically disappear. Naomi Klein and Big Noise Films' Jacquie Soohen headed to the Gulf aboard the research vessel Weatherbird II, they found plenty of evidence of the damage still being done.
Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen -
Has the campaign for a Basic Income Grant (BIG) been successful?
This question requires reflection, as in any democracy, assessing advocacy objectives can never be as simple as ticking boxes. The answer to the question is mostly answered in the negative, simply because South Africa does not have a universal income grant. The despondency of activists still supporting the campaign leads to a reaffirmation that South Africa will remain unequal and that feasible redistributive mechanisms are...
In recent weeks, popular uprisings in the Arab world have led to the ouster of Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the imminent end of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s regime, a new Jordanian government, and a pledge by Yemen’s longtime dictator to leave office at the end of his term.
Amy Goodman of Democracy Now speaks to MIT Professor Noam Chomsky about what this means for the future of the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy in the region. When asked about...
Glenn Ashton -
The borders of Sudan, Africa’s biggest country, are about to change, provided all the players in this grand game stay the distance. This could be the most significant redrawing of the colonial boundaries of Africa since the colonial transition that saw the departure of the European colonial powers, abandoning their "places in the sun."
The partition of Africa into its present illogical and arbitrary boundaries took place just over a century ago, during what is now known as...
