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?
SACSIS promotes the fundamental right of the poor to services such as clean water, sanitation, waste management, affordable energy, public transport, health, education and social security.
Shawn Hattingh -
Eskom has been plagued by inefficiencies and scandals. There’s been load shedding, exorbitantly large managerial salaries, and scandals around tenders and coal-supply costs. Over and above this has been Eskom’s demand for significant tariff increases to supposedly overcome a funding shortfall despite the fact that the power utility recorded a R7 billion profit last year.
Eskom’s troubles have also been used as a pretext, by some, to once again call for its full...
Mandisi Majavu -
With Youth Day upon us again this week commemorating the contribution made by the school-going children of Soweto during the apartheid struggle in 1976, it’s hard to gloss over the enormous sacrifices they made. How tragic it is then that 21 years into our democracy, their massive impact has merely led to a fragile pact between black and white South Africans, where blacks have yet to be unconditionally welcomed in historically white neighbourhoods and institutions, and where white...
Saliem Fakir -
Two forms of anarchism will further imperil the energy crisis – first there’s Eskom’s anarchic pursuit of large power stations like the nuclear plant. Second, there’s the fact that those citizens and corporations who can afford it, are following their own path in response to the financial crisis and mismanagement within Eskom.
Neither situation is desirable. However, the need for pragmatic forms of local power supply (localism), both for rich and poor producers as...
Dale T. McKinley -
AMANDLA NGAWETHU! We hear it all the time and many regularly shout it. Indeed, ‘Power to the People!’ has been a crucial part of South Africa’s political vocabulary for decades, first as the sole preserve of those in the anti-apartheid struggle, but now as an almost generic democratic slogan.
While the slogan has always been largely defined by a macro-frame of political and social struggle, the ongoing and intensified electricity crisis has given a new twist to its...
Anna Majavu -
South Africa has a growing number of unemployed teaching graduates, especially Black teaching graduates. When Dr Blade Nzimande took office as Higher Education minister, he increased the number of bursaries for teacher training, supposedly to remedy the extreme shortage of teachers. Last year, R2.4-billion was allocated by the Higher Education ministry to providing scholarships for study in “scarce skills” areas, including bursaries for the Funza Lushaka teachers’ training...
Glenn Ashton -
South Africa’s Post Office has effectively ceased to function over the past three months, turning this once successful and strategic state-owned enterprise into a dead letter box. The recent agreement between unions and management will not solve its ills. Even before this latest strike it was, along with many of its international counterparts, in deep trouble. But perhaps there are ways to reform this much maligned government run corporation to truly reform this once important...
