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?
Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen -
Presidents’ relish shorthand descriptions of the agenda they are implementing. In Jacob Zuma’s first term of office, the term “faster change” played that role. Bureaucrats and politicians quickly took up this term not merely to demonstrate loyalty to a newly installed President, but also because many in public service valued a commitment to accelerating change. The term however faded from usage, buried in inaccessible policies and procedures, and the absence of a...
Millennials are broadly defined as people born after 1980. Paul Taylor of the Pew Research Centre outlines a few distinguishing characteristics of the Millennial generation based on research done in the U.S.
1) Millennials are the most non-white generation (at least insofar as research in the U.S. demonstrates).
2) They are very liberal in their social and cultural values.
3) Millennials are not attached to the idea of marriage.
4) Many Millennials are not religious.
5)...
Richard Pithouse -
From our increasingly riotous streets to our ever more fractious parliament, it is undeniably clear that South Africa is not a country at ease with itself. And, as the language of those who come out to defend Jacob Zuma and what has become of the ANC grows more hysterical and sets itself against imagined ‘agents’, ‘criminals’, ‘Satanists’ and ‘Nazis’, the weakness and panic at the heart of the Zuma project becomes increasingly evident. What were...
Gerard Boyce -
In a story that has dominated headlines worldwide over the past few months, Scots were recently asked to decide whether Scotland should become an independent country or remain part of the United Kingdom. They chose to retain the status quo in what was ultimately a very close poll. Regardless of one’s opinion on the outcome thereof, this referendum exemplifies the type of situations, viz. when leaders seek a mandate to pursue major political changes, which will alter the nation’s...
From Sharia law to women's rights, how have women managed to fight back in the theocratic state of Iran? Who are these women? What are their stories? The documentary Women on the Front Line tries to answer these questions by talking to women’s rights activists who have been in the thick of the struggle for gender equality in Iran. Produced by Sheema Kalbasi and directed by Hossein Fazelli, Women on the Front Line is a beautifully filmed documentary that provides a spellbinding picture...
Building on its notoriety following the Marikana massacre, mining company Lonmin’s disrepute is growing further with the Alternative Information and Development Centre’s revelation that the company transferred R1.2 billion to a tax haven in Bermuda.
If you’ve ever wondered how tax havens work, Backlight director, Marije Meerman documentary The Tax Free Tour will take you on a fascinating journey through the inner workings of tax avoidance. She exposes a financial world...
