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?
Members of an HIV support group in Khayelitsha talk about the challenges and successes of living with HIV. Members argue that "the stigma of AIDS" is still a huge problem that must be overcome. Highlighting the tragic circumstances of poverty, members report that some people deliberately drop their CD4 count to become eligible for the state's disability grant, valued at R940 per month (about US$120). See part two of the report here.
Joshua Holland -
Politically, Barack Obama's choice of Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) as his running mate is a strong one. Biden, an experienced white guy with working-class roots and a reputation as one of the leading Democrats on foreign policy, does for the ticket just what a VP pick should: he balances out Obama's perceived weaknesses. As far as policy goes, Biden's record, with a few notable exceptions, is pretty strong on most of the domestic issues that progressive voters hold dear. In terms of his foreign...
Threatened with mass eviction, the residents of the Joe Slovo settlement in Langa, Cape Town gathered outside of the South African Constitutional Court in Johannesburg on 21 August 2008 to appeal the judgement of High Court Judge Hlophe that would forcibly remove them to Delft, a township on the outskirts of Cape Town, to makeway for the completion of the N2 Gateway Housing Project. The featured clip below (part one), is of an earlier protest at the Cape High Court where residents air their...
A South African family changes its shopping and eating habits to cope with the high price of food. For many South Africans, high food prices mean less nutritional choices and in some cases, foregoing meals all together. In the past year, the price of brown bread has gone up by 16 percent making it a luxury item in many homes.
Mohamed Motala -
A recent review of the child support grant (CSG) concludes that while the grant is reaching poor households as intended, it could do better by developing better coordination with other social relief programmes.
This finding was supported by evidence collected in an extensive survey of 2 640 households. The survey revealed that households receiving the grant, exhibit characteristics of poverty in relation to access to basic services, education levels, employment opportunities and...
Tom Engelhardt -
Anthrax Department
Oh, the spectacle of it all -- and don't think I'm referring to those opening ceremonies in Beijing, where North Korean-style synchronization seemed to fuse with smiley-faced Walt Disney, or Michael Phelp's thrilling hunt for eight gold medals and Speedo's one million dollar "bonus," a modernized tribute to the ancient Greek tradition of amateurism in action. No, I'm thinking of the blitz of media coverage after Dr. Bruce Ivins, who worked at the U.S. Army...
