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?
Daniel McLaren -
October 16 is World Food Day. As the 20th World Food Day since the establishment of our democracy dawns on South Africa, a grim shadow of hunger and malnutrition hangs over the gains of the democratic era.
Section 27 of the South African Constitution guarantees the right to have access to sufficient food to all people in our country. This and other socio-economic rights were enshrined in the Bill of Rights because their fulfilment was recognised as integral to the Constitution’s...
The President of Uruguay is known as one of the most progressive and selfless in the world. Jose Mujica gives away 90% of his salary, has legalised gay marriage as well as marijuana and offered refuge to Guantanamo prisoners. Yet under Uruguay's constitution Mujica can't stand for a second term and with an election next month, the latest polls for his successor haven't been good. The main opposition candidate, Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou, is from one of the wealthiest families in the country....
Mandisi Majavu -
Cuba is reportedly sending the largest foreign medical team from a single country to West Africa to help fight the Ebola virus. Cuba's contribution to the development and progress of African countries is often unacknowledged in the mainstream public discourse. One is more likely to read about the United Nation’s condemnation of Cuba’s human rights record than about the vital role Cuba has played assisting African countries establish public health systems. Cuba has helped establish...
Tim Radford -
A global low-carbon energy economy is not only feasible, it could double electricity supply by 2050 while actually reducing air and water pollution, according to new research.
Even though photovoltaic power requires up to 40 times more copper than conventional power plants, and wind power uses up to 14 times more iron, the world wins on a switch to low-carbon energy.
These positive findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Edgar Hertwich and Thomas...
In recent months, it has been reported that the Zulu King, Goodwill Zwelithini, under the auspices of the Ingonyama Trust, is preparing to lodge a massive land claim that will cover much of the land in the province of KwaZulu-Natal.
Why is King Zwelithini lodging a land claim that goes back to 1875 when South Africa’s land restitution programme only recognizes land dispossessions after 1913?
Speaking at an event hosted by SACSIS and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) to examine...
Patrick Bond -
Is age 70 a dignified time for retirement, especially for policies and practices long considered destructive but now back in official favour at the World Bank?
Founded in 1944 to finance war-torn Europe’s reconstruction, the Bank is now suffering one of its most severe credibility crises. A new civil society campaign, ‘WorldVsBank’, features protests and teach-ins on Friday, October 10, at the Bank’s Annual Meeting in Washington and ten other countries, including...
