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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There is some reason to believe that the level of political freedom enjoyed by more affluent South Africans isn’t enjoyed by people in poorer communities, argues David Bruce, an independent consultant conducting research on behalf of the Community Agency for Social Enquiry on political intimidation in the run up to South Africa’s 2014 general elections.
There are many poor communities “where the established system is one where a dominant party governs in that area and...
“If you leave it to the Japanese government, we're never going to get transparency,” contends Arnie Gundersen a nuclear specialist. “Japanese researchers are afraid to tell the truth. We've got doctors calling us saying we know our patients have radiation illness and the hospital isn't allowing us to tell the patients that. We've got researchers talking about defects in animals, and they're not allowed to publish their data,” says Gundersen, in response to recent...
Jane Duncan -
The Print and Digital Media Transformation Task Team has just released its much-anticipated report into transformation in the major press groups. The report is an important step forward for the press, as it forces the industry to deal with issues it has not taken seriously up to this point. It is a blunt assessment and an indictment of the extent of racial and gender transformation in their ownership and management structures, which remain far too white and male.
The Task Team is clear...
Saliem Fakir -
You would think we would’ve learnt a lesson or two from total dependence on coal. Ninety percent of South Africa’s electricity comes from coal in addition to 40% of our liquid fuels. Despite our coal abundance, the move towards its greater use for our energy system comes up against several constraints. These include environmental concerns, the carbon tax, the question of poor quality coal, the economics of coal mining and the logistics surrounding the extraction and distribution...
Jane Duncan -
The South African media are awash with stories about the recent terrorist attack on the Westgate mall in Kenya, allegedly undertaken by Al Shabaab. The State Security Agency (SSA) and the beleaguered Crime Intelligence Division of the police stand accused of having missed vital intelligence on Samantha Lewthwaite (the ‘white widow’) and others allegedly linked to Al Shabaab.
There is an important debate to be had about the sources of this intelligence and their interests....
