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 -
Unemployment and poverty are certainly South Africa’s terrible twins. The social risks of a restive, unemployed workforce are legion. That the majority of school leavers cannot secure employment emphasises our dilemma.
The government has two primary interventions to address this problem. First, it has implemented one of the world’s most extensive social grant systems to directly support the neediest. Secondly, it is well down the road in rolling out a massive job creation...
Joshua Holland -
Roseanne Barr leveraged her comedic skills to become a household name. But while she's known for her biting humor, and some critically acclaimed acting in the film adaptation of Fay Weldon's novel, The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, Barr's life experiences also left her with an appreciation of just how hard it is to climb the ladder today. It was reflected in her writing; in her standup routine and on her hit TV show, Roseanne was always most comfortable breathing life into the struggles of...
There is evidence that unconscious racist biases play a role in things that matter very much. In the video featured in this post, Yale University's Professor Paul Bloom addresses racist stereotypes. Bloom refers to a study that was done to determine whether white candidates were more likely to get jobs as opposed to their black counterparts and vice versa. The study revealed that white candidates were more likely to get a job "when a judgement call" had to be made. The study...
Julian Assange talks to the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa. Correa is a left wing populist who has changed the face of Ecuador. Unlike his predecessors, he holds a Ph.D. in economics. According to US embassy cables, Correa is the most popular President in Ecuador's democratic history. But in 2010 he was taken hostage in an attempted coup d'etat. He blames the coup attempt on corrupt media and has launched a controversial counter-offensive. Correa says the media defines what reforms are...
Saliem Fakir -
A sign of a government that cares about its citizens is reflected by the degree of effort it puts into thinking about the future rather than just the demands of the present.
As South Africans we are not there yet, but we may be getting there soon.
In October 2012, the National Treasury is looking to publish a document on long-term fiscal planning (LTFP). The idea was first mooted by Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, in his October 25, Medium Term Budget Policy Speech last year.
It...
Speaking at this year's "Ideas Economy" on innovation in Berkeley, California, Navin Jain, founder of the World Innovation Institute, argues, "The fundamental problem we need to solve is that our education system was designed for the industrial era, where you learnt certain skills and worked on that for the rest of your life. Today with exponentially growing technologies, every skill that you learn becomes obsolete in 5-10 years. It's not about learning the skills, it's...
