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 -
As Numsa head towards their special congress in Boksburg next week the tensions within Cosatu, and between Numsa and the SACP, are exploding. The critical question that is up for debate at the congress is whether or not the union should break with the ANC and support another party or set up its own party. If the union does decide to break with the ANC and set up a workers’ party its political credibility, solid organisational base and capacity to generate its own resources from its...
Using current technology, Mars could be colonised within decades, argues Adam Steltzner engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he led the design of the Mars Curiosity "sky hook" landing system. Steltzner projects how humans might be able to make a home beyond the confines of the Earth, but questions the motivations for such an endeavour. He argues, that a lot of people are attracted to the idea of colonising Mars because we are going to overpopulate or pollute this...
Glenn Ashton -
Edward Snowden, Chelsea (Bradley) Manning and Julian Assange have all attained legendary status amongst citizens’ rights advocates. They have exposed the extent that modern government has, under the aegis of security and intelligence gathering, encroached into all of our lives. This blanket surveillance of the citizenry, on a previously unimaginable scale, is the current manifestation of Orwell’s 1984 Big Brother.
Yet few have heard of Jeremy Hammond, sentenced to 10 years for...
Charlotte Laws -
I felt like Will Smith in "Enemy of the State."
I was being hunted, harassed and stalked by criminals with technological expertise. I had been thrust into an unexpected war. I felt exposed, vulnerable and alone on the front line. I had awoken a hideous network of villains and saboteurs, who were in pursuit of me, hoping to ruin my life. I had received creepy emails, backlash on Twitter and three death threats. My computer had been bombarded with viruses, and a technician had...
Once upon a time, not so long ago, world leaders gathered to make an agreement to fight climate change. They met in Japan and agreed to the famous Kyoto Protocol. A principal feature of the Protocol turned out to be carbon trading: a magical solution to curb CO2 emissions. It was presented as a flexible market mechanism able to tackle climate change in a cost effective way. The magical elements were carbon credits, who reached the status of superheroes once their full potential was...
Frank Meintjies -
The recent resignation by NUMSA president Cedric Gina is another rip in the fabric of the trade union federation, COSATU. Given that a breakup of COSATU will weaken labour’s voice as a counterpoint to the strength of capital and the state, this development again raises the question as to what is to be done to save the situation.
By now, all those who follow current affairs are familiar with the features of the split. The broad pattern harks back to COSATU’s formation.
The...
