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?
Frank Meintjies -
This has been a tough year as far as labour relations go. There have been numerous strikes and many of them have been characterised by violent clashes. The length of the strikes has also taken its toll. Companies, workers involved and members of the public have all faced the adverse effects of major labour conflicts.
The wave of strike action has triggered another round of the blame game. A huge segment of the public blames unions for strikes. Many go further and accuse unions of damaging...
Fazila Farouk -
Birthdays and anniversaries are treated as milestones for reflection by many people, so it’s no surprise that Freedom Day, 27 April 2014, South Africa’s looming 20th anniversary as a democracy has unleashed a barrage of commentary aimed at reflecting on the country’s development.
Debates are heightened by the fact that the momentous anniversary coincides with the country’s forthcoming 2014 general elections. It’s the 5th time that South Africans will go to the...
Israeli negotiators are demanding that Palestinians concede their future state border at the separation wall along the West Bank. Palestinians say this amounts to an illegal land grab, as the separation wall crosses the internationally recognized 1967 Green Line. This idea that the wall can be considered an international border is a preposterous idea, argues Shir Hever, an economist from an Israeli-Palestinian organisation. Israel can make this claim, as long as the U.S. is willing to...
Nigeria is expected to release revised economic figures in December to show that the country has overtaken South Africa as Africa's largest economy. The Nigerian economy is growing faster than the South African economy. In 2012 Nigeria’s economy grew by 6.6% while South Africa's grew only between 2-3%. Leonce Ndikumana, a Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst argues that despite its growth, the Nigerian economy has been growing in the...
Jane Duncan -
Last month, forensic auditor Lawrence Moepi was killed in a suspected hit, which happened as he arrived for work at his Johannesburg office. Apparently, Moepi was working on some big cases involving suspected corruption. The Auditor-General had also appointed him to the investigations team on the now-notorious arms deal.
Moepi had earned a reputation of being a fraudster’s worst nightmare: a fearless, principled, incorruptible auditor. It is widely suspected that he was killed to...
Chris Hedges -
Israel has been poisoned by the psychosis of permanent war. It has been morally bankrupted by the sanctification of victimhood, which it uses to justify an occupation that rivals the brutality and racism of apartheid South Africa. Its democracy—which was always exclusively for Jews—has been hijacked by extremists who are pushing the country toward fascism. Many of Israel’s most enlightened and educated citizens—1 million of them—have left the country. Its most...
