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?
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Since 2006, About 60,000 African migrants have arrived in Israel on harrowing treks across the Sinai Desert fleeing poverty, persecution, ethnic cleansing and genocide. As refugee camps across Africa fill up and Europe closes its gates to asylum seekers, Israel became the next best option -- accessible by land and said to be a developed democracy. But instead of providing them with safe haven, Israel is both refusing to grant them any benefits and denying them the ability to work legally to...
The Marikana massacre most certainly turned the spotlight on the women in mining communities by bringing into sharp focus the challenges facing the widows of the slain mineworkers.
Fazila Farouk of SACSIS talks to Samantha Hargreaves of WoMin about the broader impact of mining on women in mining communities and learns about land grabs, water grabs and the health impacts of environmental degradation and water pollution, which create an additional burden for the women behind the...
In a major new report, the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations details a global crackdown on peaceful protests through excessive police force and the criminalization of dissent. The report, "Take Back the Streets: Repression and Criminalization of Protest Around the World," (PDF) warns of a growing tendency to perceive individuals exercising a fundamental democratic right — the right to protest — as a threat requiring a forceful government response....
In what appears to be a protest against cruelty towards animals, provocative British street artist, Banksy, filled a meat truck with stuffed animals that can be heard squeaking in distress as the truck drives through New York’s meatpacking district. The truck full of toy animals, which exemplifies Banksy’s signature style of thought-provoking street art, will tour the area for two weeks.
Banksy, whose real identity remains unknown, is a UK-based graffiti artist, political...
Private healthcare costs are spiraling out of control in South Africa. So much so that our Competition Commission has launched an inquiry into the high cost of private healthcare in South Africa. SACSIS' Fazila Farouk caught up with executive director of SECTION27, Mark Heywood, to find out if this market inquiry will go far enough in its investigation to get to the bottom of the problem.
We discovered that the inquiry might not even get off the ground if the private healthcare sector gets...
We have drifted from a market economy to a market society and one of its most corrosive effects is un-commonality, argues Harvard academic, Michael Sandel.
Those who are affluent and those who have modest means lead separate lives. This isn't good for democracy. Democracy doesn’t require perfect equality, but what it does require is that citizens share in a common life. What matters is that people of different social backgrounds encounter one another in the ordinary course of life...
