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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Egypt's revolution received another blow this weekend as the country's ruling military council, The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) severely restricted the authority of the newly elected president by issuing a constitutional declaration that tightens its grip over the country's institutions. Under the new decree, the president is stripped of his power as commander in chief and the generals maintain complete control over the military. The generals also retain all legislative powers,...
In Greece, the country's much anticipated election is now over.
The New Democracy Party, the pro-bailout party, has won 29.7% of the vote, with the anti-bailout party, SYRIZA trailing closely behind with 27% of the vote. In all likelihood there will be a partnering of the two pro-bailout parties to form a coalition government, viz., New Democracy and PASOK that came in third with a low 12.3%.
The new government will have to implement 77 austerity measures, including laying off 150,000...
Glenn Ashton -
South Africa looms large in the affairs of the Kingdoms of Swaziland and Lesotho, the local geo-political giant. Economically, each receives disproportionate amounts of their annual GDP directly from South Africa. Each is profoundly reliant on their powerful neighbour for the supply of food, fuel, goods and services and linking infrastructure to the world.
Given the vision of an African Union and increasing rapprochement between the members of the Southern African Development Community...
A recent study revealed that 85% of Egyptian women and 98% of foreign women experience sexual harassment in Egypt.
Sexual harassment is also being used as a deterrent to prevent female activists from joining street protests and sit-ins. Women are frequently targeted by the military and police during raids at sit-ins. Soldiers and police officers have been caught on tape beating, stripping and harassing women protestors.
After several violent attacks against women in the heart of...
Samuel Grove -
Sami Ramadani is a senior lecturer in sociology at London Metropolitan University and has been an active participant in campaigns against Saddam's regime and anti-imperialist struggles for many years. In an in-depth interview, he spoke to Samuel Grove about the dynamics of the conflict in Syria, arguing that democratic resistance to Assad's brutal regime has been eclipsed by reactionary forces, backed by Western and Gulf states, with potentially momentous implications for the Middle...
Jane Duncan -
It was June 16, 1992. A number of us had been to hand out pamphlets at a rally to commemorate the events of the day in 1976, as we generally did on that day. I returned home in the afternoon, and decided to phone my mother to discuss a favour I needed to ask of her. I phoned her at 3.30pm, when I knew she would be home.
She did not answer the phone. I tried several times after that, and still she didn’t answer. A small voice in my head told me that something was wrong, as her...
