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?
A trained manager, Charlene holds a BA (Sociology and English) and Higher Diploma in Education (English, History). She has held senior positions in NGOs for many years. She recently changed her professional path, but not her social focus to make documentaries that promote just societies through story-telling.
Charlene has completed several short courses in film production, scriptwriting and product development. In 2001, Charlene was the recipient of the NTVAA's coveted Craft Award for Research and Production for work on the Gangsters and Bioscopes documentary (MNET 2001).
Charlene Houston -
The discerning tourist knows that cultural displays are staged by locals to meet her expectations. Those responsible for the opening ceremony of the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand understood that the world wanted a unique, definitive ‘kiwi’ experience.
While I enjoyed the ride, revelling in the journey through the indigenous Maori people’s history complete with interpretative script, I thought about our own staging of culture in South Africa. What is the gaze we...
Charlene Houston -
It is winter in South Africa and this means it is also bargaining time for union leaders and employers. Strikes and deadlocks at bargaining councils have been dominating news headlines in recent weeks.
Agreements between employers and workers have been reached in the metal and steel industry, petroleum sector and most recently with the 200,000 gold miners that also went on strike.
Not all strikes and negotiations have ended. At the time of writing, union representatives of...
Charlene Houston -
Since 1994 the making of history in South Africa has increasingly shifted from the academy into the public domain. Many histories are being produced through biographies and autobiographies. These histories offer an opportunity to find out more about our past and what meaning the past has for our future.
There are countless versions of history yet to emerge, each of these revealing different perspectives, questioning our beliefs and building our knowledge. Each adding pieces to the...
Charlene Houston -
The ANC does not deserve my vote. I dedicated my life to the fight for freedom and a better life for South Africa's poor. During the anti-apartheid struggle, we mobilised people under the banner of the Freedom Charter. But today I’ve come to realise that the ANC does not deserve my vote because it doesn't live up to the vision of the Freedom Charter.
This has been coming for a long time – before the sensationalist hype around the private lives' and lies of...
Charlene Houston -
The state of our nation is the outcome of a multidimensional struggle. The tussle between the polluters and the sick; between the under-paid and the over-paid; between the owners of wealth and producers of goods; between the greedy and the hungry, between people and corporations; between developed and under-developed nations – all culminate to create our democratic space for engagement.
As democratic institutions, governments find themselves in a tug of war between competing...
