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?
SACSIS is the brainchild of Fazila Farouk. She qualified with a M.Sc. in development planning from the University of Natal in 1996 and has worked in civil society ever since. Fazila has also completed a Ph.D-level course in social theory at Wits University's School of Public and Development Management, which she passed with distinction.
Fazila's experience includes research, policy advocacy and new media. She has written extensively about civil society and development in South Africa.
Fazila Farouk -
The global financial crisis has exploded onto the scene, bringing with it job losses, home losses and family murder-suicides. This crisis may be financial, but its costs are human.
The culprit, ‘capitalism’ has been named and shamed and the casino they call Wall Street, exposed. Under the disapproving gaze of the world’s ordinary people, elites appear confounded.
How did they get it so wrong? Why didn’t they see the writing on the wall? What were the predictions of...
Fazila Farouk -
With the Israeli military offensive on Gaza approaching a fortnight of blood soaked bombardment, signs are beginning to emerge that a ceasefire is imminent. Its been said that it will take a few days to hammer out a peace settlement. Until a settlement is reached, Israel continues its attack on Gaza.
Believing that she holds the moral high ground in this conflict, Israel has made many claims professing her innocence and honourable intentions.
The well-rehearsed mantra repeated by...
Fazila Farouk -
Although important work is carried out in this field, we certainly don't hear enough about holding corporations accountable for the profits they pocketed during South Africa's apartheid years.
The focus of South Africa's negotiated democracy has been finding unity in forgiveness. This is important for a country looking forward and trying to construct a civilised society, but it comes with a cost.
This cost is a lack of acknowledgement for the ongoing suffering of South Africans whose human...
Fazila Farouk -
Every once in a while, a miracle cuts through unyielding adversity to deliver a moment of hope. Barack Obama’s ascension to America's highest office is one such momentous miracle in our world’s history.
Who would have thought that America was ready to elect a black president?
The Reverend Jesse Jackson, for one, certainly seemed overwhelmed as he stood among the Chicago victory crowd, tears streaming down his face. Like many of us who have willed Obama’s victory for so...
Fazila Farouk -
The media are having an absolute field day with the Jacob Zuma case and their reporting is set to get even more frenzied with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) having appealed Judge Nicholson’s ruling.
It’s going to be nothing less than the carnival we’ve already witnessed, complete with tasteless caricatures. Brace yourselves for another round of less than subtle references to the shower-headed Zuma’s rape case. With Zapiro firmly entrenching the...
Fazila Farouk -
In June this year, the United Nations (UN) extended, Special Representative on Human Rights and Business, John Ruggie’s mandate to continue finding solutions to bridge the gap between business and human rights.
Ruggie’s work is largely aimed at addressing the perils of globalisation given the increasing mobility of big companies marching across the planet in search of the best labour deals in the most pliable working environments
The corruptive power of the mighty...
