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 -
The state has become a major driver of inflation. Our state owned port, railway, road, power and airport authorities have each increased prices at rates that far exceed our targeted or actual inflation rate. Consequently these so-called State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) collectively fuel further downstream inflation.
How does it benefit South Africa if government fiscal policy, supposedly focused on inflation targeting as a key fiscal instrument, is ignored, not only in the breach but in...
Released earlier this year, Two Worlds is a documentary that according to its makers, "questions why South Africa has one of the greatest divides between rich and poor." Noting that inequality is no longer a phenomenon exclusive to the developing world and that poverty is now very much prevalent in the developed world, this 28 minute film uses South Africa as a case study to probe questions about inequality for a global audience.
Visit the Two Worlds website to learn more about the...
Speaking on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997-2002, contends that "there were many mistakes made in response to those terrible attacks. The worst in my view was to start a war on terrorism. I pleaded at the time that we should treat these terrible atrocious acts as crimes against humanity and focus on going after the criminals."
"When you declare a war, its easier to erode standards,...
The African Union (AU) met in Pretoria this week. Columbia University professor and Africa scholar Mahmood Mamdani is interviewed by Democracy Now. He gives his take on the regional and global implications of NATO’s intervention in Libya, which he says threatens to increase the militarization of the African continent.
Mamdani argues,"The contention over Africa has become intense over the last decade. There has almost been a complete reversal of positions that existed during the...
Saliem Fakir -
Credit rating is a weighty obligation. Credit rating agencies (CRAs) can either boost a country’s fortunes or bring it down.
CRAs are privately owned agencies that specialize in investigating the credit worthiness (ability to pay back) of governments and companies. CRAs assign credit ratings for issuers of debt-like securities (such as, bonds in the case of governments) that can be traded.
The record of CRAs, though, has been mixed and has been scrutinized for some time now.
In 2003,...
Conn Hallinan -
Is current U.S. foreign policy in Africa following a blueprint drawn up almost eight years ago by the right-wing Heritage Foundation, one of the most conservative think tanks in the world? Although it seems odd that a Democratic administration would have anything in common with the extremists at Heritage, the convergence in policy and practice between the two is disturbing.
Heritage, with help from Joseph Coors and the Scaife Foundations, was founded in 1973 by the late Paul Weyrich, one of...
