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?
Gillian is an award winning independent filmmaker, writer and social justice activist. She is a founding member of Media for Justice and co-producer at Handheld Films.
Gillian Schutte -
I met Marikana community member, mineworker and activist, Tsepo M, at a coffee shop in Melville. He had some business to attend to in Johannesburg and a colleague set up the meeting for me to discuss the current situation in Marikana.
A man in his late 50’s, Tsepo’s face bears the markings of years of hard work and struggle.
He tells me that he has been attending the Farlam Commission – an intense situation, which is infused with painful moments and trauma. In addition...
Gillian Schutte -
This weekend at the Joburg Gay Pride parade, the One in Nine Campaign disrupted the parade to make a call for one minute of silence on behalf of the many black lesbians and transsexual individuals who have been murdered over the past few years because of their sexual orientation and gender expression. It was an act of defiance and civil disobedience.
The thing about civil disobedience is that it confronts and holds accountable the norms that exist in society today. So when Joburg Pride...
Gillian Schutte -
It was with utter disbelief that we witnessed, on national television, yet another brutal assault from the police force on the Marikana community who were still reeling from the massacre, which took place less than a month earlier when more than 34 miners were mowed down with live ammunition in what can be described as a snuff movie for public consumption.
This second major assault happened on Saturday, September 15, on the eve of the Cosatu Congress, when police moved into the community...
Gillian Schutte -
In the wake of the many global revolutionary rumblings over the past two years I have been pondering the prospect of a mass women’s revolt against the male-owned beauty industry that mostly diminishes women to mere objects and creates untold conflict in our psyches. This industry, along with the mainstream media, is premised on beautyism and has employed a very effective tool of “othering” those who do not fit into the idealised picture of what is pleasing to the...
Gillian Schutte -
“Africa your silence is loud! Speak out against patriarchy, homophobia and transphobia.”
So reads one of the many sloganed T-shirts worn by LGBTI rights protestors at the “Say No to Hate Crimes” picket at the Library Gardens yesterday. Other’s read: “My Sexuality, My Choice”, “Phansi Holomisa!” and “Zuma – your silence is killing our brothers.”
The gardens are decorated with bright pink hard hats and gay...
Gillian Schutte -
In April 2009 women stripped half naked and took to the streets of Ado-Ekiti (Nigeria) to protest the rerun governorship election. Protesting under the title “Peace rally in support of democracy in Nigeria,” the protesters gathered under the auspices of Ekiti Women for Peace and Development.
Led by a former Commissioner for Women Affairs in the state, Chief Ronke Okusanya, more than 300 women, comprising the young and the elderly, took part in the protest over the delay in...
