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?
On Friday, 8 July 2011, hundreds of activists from around the world were prevented from landing in Israel's Ben Gurion International airport. The activists were invited by Palestinian groups in a campaign called "Welcome to Palestine."
The Fly In was meant to protest Israel's practice of frequently denying the entry of activists and the Palestinian Diaspora into the occupied territories.
Just as the boat flotilla's are being prevented from leaving Greek and Turkish...
Mark Weisbrot -
The Euro is crashing today to record lows against the Swiss Franc, and interest rates on Italian and Spanish bonds have hit record highs. This latest episode in the Eurozone crisis is a result of fears that the contagion is now hitting Italy. With a two-trillion dollar economy and $2.45 trillion in debt, Italy is too big to fail and the European authorities are worried. Although there is currently little basis for the concern that Italy’s interest rates could rise high enough to put its...
Dale T. McKinley -
If there is one thing that history has regularly taught us, whether at the individual or collective level, it is that what might seem like a good idea at the time often ends up becoming something very different when put into practice. With the benefit of seventeen years of democratic hindsight, nowhere is this lesson more applicable than in respect of South Africa’s provincial tier of government.
During those heady days of constitutional negotiations in the early 1990s, despite the...
On Friday, 8 July 2011, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square for what could be the largest demonstration since the uprising that toppled former president, Hosni Mubarak. They say there has been little progress on reforms promised in the five months since the uprising.
Democracy Now correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous provides a live update from Tahrir Square. "There is a sense the revolution is being stolen from beneath people’s feet...
Glen Ford -
The African Union found the spine to reject execution of an arrest warrant against Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi issued by the International Criminal Court, which appears to have an “Africans only” indictment policy. The AU’s chairman calls the court’s prosecutions “discriminatory” because they ignore the West’s crimes in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. China has hosted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, another ICC arrest target.
The African Union...
Jane Duncan -
The African National Congress’ (ANC) next elective congress is looming. Already, there are signs that President Jacob Zuma has lost the confidence of key constituencies in the ANC-led alliance, owing to indecisive leadership and his failure to re-orientate the state in a pro-poor direction. This growing disquiet among working class alliance members may well trigger a succession battle.
In response, the new elite clustered around Zuma could be tempted to fight back to retain power,...
