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?
Glenn Ashton -
There is widespread outrage at the exposure of collusion by South Africa’s largest construction companies, including the so-called “big six,” by our competition authorities. What is really interesting is that anyone is surprised about these revelations. After all, is this not how business is done?
The primary prerogative of any corporation is to return a profit on investment; everything is subordinate to that objective. We can have as many King III’s, as many...
World-renowned educationalist Sir Ken Robinson delivers the long-awaited follow-up to his now legendary "Changing Education Paradigms" talk. He addresses the fundamental economic, cultural, social and personal purposes of education, and argues that education should be personalised to every student's talent, passion, and learning styles -- and that creativity should be embedded in the culture of every single school.
Teaching is an art form says Robinson, and it occurs at the point...
Richard Pithouse -
Last week Inigo Gilmore’s documentary, South Africa’s Dirty Cops, was screened on British television. It deals with the torture and murder that have become common at the hands of the South African police and includes an examination of the two most high profile cases of political violence on the part of our police in recent years – the murder of Andries Tatane in Ficksburg in April 2011 and the Marikana Massacre in August last year.
The scale of the Marikana Massacre, in...
Eric Draitser -
Zimbabwe’s upcoming elections, scheduled to take place on July 31st, will go a long way to determining the future of the country. On the one hand, the entrenched power of President Mugabe and ZANU-PF enters the elections with a track record that both elicits praise and inspires criticism. On the other hand, there is Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) which enters the election once again with the high-minded rhetoric of...
Amy Goodman -
As the world celebrates Nelson Mandela’s 95th birthday, it is timely to reflect on his life, spent fighting for equality for people of color who long suffered under South Africa’s apartheid regime. Mandela was arrested in 1962, a year before Martin Luther King Jr. would give his “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C. After 27 years in prison, Mandela was released in 1990. Four years later, he would become the first democratically elected president of South Africa....
A new communications campaign launched by the "Right to Know Campaign" (R2K) is putting on its list of demands, free basic cellphone airtime and short message services (SMS or text services).
Fazila Farouk of SACSIS spoke Dr. Dale McKinley, a representative of the R2K campaign, about this new campaign and the rationale underpinning it. He told her that South Africans are being exploited. South Africa has the sixth highest cellphone charge rates in the world. Cellphone companies...
