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?
A bill that bars the courts from halting the production or sale of genetically modified foods even if they are found to pose health risks was approved by US president, Barack Obama. The bill, which quickly got labeled the "Monsanto Protection Act", has outraged American food activists.
Despite industry claims about the sophistication of the science behind genetically modified organisms (GMOs), activists argue that GMOs are produced via a crude technology. There is general...
Alexander O'Riordan -
Last week South African NGO, The Institute for Democracy in Africa (Idasa) announced its closure for lack of funds. Many have asked how this could happen when donor funding to South Africa is at a ten year high?
Participating donors report their financial disbursements to the OECD as part of a coordination and anti-corruption mechanism. Using the OECD QWIDS database, one can see that in 2011, donors reported $1.2 billion in disbursements to South Africa with $90 million (around R820...
Glenn Ashton -
The role of the military in Africa has morphed from the established model of supporting strongmen, to that of projecting economic power and influence. This has recently been placed in sharp focus by the questionable intervention of South African National Defence Force (SANDF) troops in the Central African Republic (CAR).
The opacity around South Africa’s presence in the CAR has been tragically emphasised by the statistically unsatisfactory outcome of 13 dead and 26 declared injured...
One billion people go to bed hungry every night and two million children die from malnutrition every year. A high proportion of them are in sub-Saharan Africa. Climate change, land grabs, food price fixing, commodity trading and the financial crisis all play their part in the food crisis that the world is currently facing. On March 26, the Frontline Club in London hosted a panel of experts to engage with the problem. One thing they agreed on is that there is enough food being produced in the...
Saliem Fakir -
The 5th BRICS Summit recently hosted in Durban has come to an end with great fanfare and celebrations that progress has been made with the announcement that a BRICS development bank will be established.
The concept of the bank is sketchy and it is hard to tell what it will look like given that the partners are still mulling its final form. However, its primary focus is mooted to be in infrastructure development. Beyond that South Africa will chair the BRICS process until Brazil hosts the...
Alexander O'Riordan -
In a March 26 press statement, the Executive Director of The Institute for Democracy in Africa (Idasa), Paul Graham, announced that the venerable South African democratisation and rights organisation would be closing. Idasa has been in existence for over twenty years, played an important role at the end of apartheid and is a major loss to civil society in South Africa.
However, it is also important internationally. Idasa is one of the widely recognised African democratisation and rights...
