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?
Richard Pithouse -
The road from Port Elizabeth to Grahamstown winds past one luxury game farm after another. John Graham, a British soldier, drove the Xhosa people off this land, the Zuurveld, between 1811 and 1812. His soldiers burnt their homes, destroyed their crops and killed any man that resisted.
It was John Cradock, the governor of the Cape Colony, who had given Graham his orders. Cradock had some experience in these matters. He had crushed anti-colonial rebellions in Ireland and India before being...
Alex Doherty -
Christopher Davidson is a Reader in Middle East politics at Durham University and the author of, most recently, 'After the Sheikhs: The Coming Collapse of the Gulf Monarchies.' New Left Project's Alex Doherty spoke with him about the possibilities in the region for radical change, inter-state rivaly, a possible thaw between the United States and Iran, relationships with Israel, religion, women, Syria and more.
ALEX DOHERTY: You describe a constellation of internal and external factors that...
Cameron Brisbane -
There has been an on-going protest for months in Msunduzi, home of the capital of the Province of KwaZulu- Natal, over swingeing electricity tariff increases that have caused indigent debt and hard disconnections to spiral and many businesses to downscale, relocate, or close shop. It has been wholly unreported in the national media -- nobody has been shot in the process, save one resident of an informal settlement when municipal security backed up by SAPS arrived to remove illegal cables. But...
Are we at an inflection point in the development of capitalism? Can there be an intersection between business and values? Can capitalism be made to serve a just and equitable society? The traditional form of capitalism is to make money from a product or service in the marketplace. However, some business people contemplate that the real entrepreneurship is to figure out how the world is better off because of your product or service and bring that into the marketplace. The makers of the...
Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen -
“A rising tide lifts all boats.” This aphorism means that in a growing economy everyone benefits, and by extension that government’s role is to focus on the macroeconomic environment. Moreover, it suggests that distributional changes occur after economic growth. In the days following the end of the cold war, this was the conventional wisdom emerging from the World Economic Forum. Today, that singular faith in the power of economic growth is fraying, even at Davos....
Jane Duncan -
As a new political party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has generated both excitement and criticism in a short space of time. Its commitment to anti-capitalism, anti-imperialism and Fanonianism sets it apart from the gaggle of parties vying for the political centre, and clearly its message has gained traction, especially amongst the youth.
Much of the media commentary has focussed on these aspects of its founding manifesto, especially its position on nationalisation, and some on the...
