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?
Leonard Gentle is the director of the International Labour and Research Information Group (ILRIG), an NGO that produces educational materials for activists in social movements and trade unions. He has been an anti-apartheid activist for many years and has worked as an organiser for the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers' Union (SACCAWU), the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (NUMSA) and as an educator for the International Federation of Workers' Educational Associations (IFWEA).
Leonard is interested in and has been published on matters concerning national and international political economy. He has B.A (Hons) and B.Sc degrees from the University of Cape Town.
Leonard Gentle -
The victory of the Egyptians and Tunisians in getting rid of Mubarak and Ben Ali has revitalised activists everywhere. More recently, though, the news has been dominated by the brutality of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya.
Whereas Libya continues the wave of uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East, there is a vital difference: Libya presents a picture of people as victims of violence, raising the need for “the international community” to come to the rescue; a tale we’ve...
Leonard Gentle -
Once again we are being hamstrung by being forced to take sides in what the business media is presenting as the debate of the day. Should the Rand be weak or strong?
Minister of Economic Development, Ebrahim Patel’s New Growth Path (NGP) was released in December 2010 and, predictably, elite economists lined up to criticise it mainly on the lines that it asserted a greater role for the state, promised decent jobs and called for a more “competitive value” for the rand.
Of...
Leonard Gentle -
The ongoing saga of the United States of America's (US) accusation against China – that it is deliberately pushing down its currency – and thereby defeating US attempts to get balance in the world economy, trundled on into the G20 meeting in Korea. At the same time, middle range countries such as Brazil, South Korea, Russia and South Africa (SA) have been battling with currencies that are hugely inflated.
Accusations flew fast and furious that countries were using currency...
Leonard Gentle -
The successful rescue of the Chilean workers trapped in the San Jose mine was a story of extraordinary courage and self-organisation on the part of the miners, as well as of exceptional engineering expertise on the part of Codelco and the international coalition of forces that hoisted the miners to safety.
Across the world’s media, we were treated to stories of the mineworkers singing the Chilean national anthem and images of the Chilean president, Sebastian Piñera, hugging the...
Leonard Gentle -
Truly, we live in crazy times. What are we to make of the ongoing spats in the ANC? Are these really about nationalists versus communists? What are we to make of the nationalist, Julius Malema, and his BEE friends fighting for the nationalisation of the mines? All this while Malema also tries to get his nationalist buddy, Fikile Mbalula, to replace the communist, Gwede Mantashe, as Secretary General of the ANC in 2012.
In the meantime, in order to distance themselves from such a heinous...
Leonard Gentle -
The public sector strike has been suspended. But whether the unions accept the state's latest offer or not, this strike may well be (and these things we are almost always fated to see only in retrospect) a watershed in South African politics.
Firstly, amidst all the media opprobrium and invective against the strikers and the stories of intimidation, there is also a picture emerging of the appalling state of the public sector.
Whilst the very wealthy and even many middle class people...
