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?
The National Union of Metalworkers’ of South Africa (Numsa) is set to host a preparatory assembly for the launch of its United Front on 13 and 14 December 2014 in Johannesburg. Just over a fortnight ago, the United Front’s coordinator Dinga Sikwebu, talked about the aims and objectives of the front at an international seminar exploring the theme, “The Relationship between Labour and Civil Society in the Struggle for Social Justice”.
Delegates from as far afield as...
Gillian Schutte -
The fanfare at the beginning of a New Year is usually celebratory and full of hope. This celebration is a way for people to wipe the slate clean and begin anew. But last year, 2013, was a particularly tumultuous year in South Africa when we were besieged by problems. In reality, these problems have been with us for many years and cannot be swept under the carpet. Many of the challenges South Africa faces are systemic and must be addressed with greater urgency. Let us include the resolution of...
SACSIS -
In Spring 2010, The South African Civil Society information Service (SACSIS) co-hosted a roundtable discussion with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) South Africa Office. The meeting sought to get a better understanding of how the South African media reports on the economy.
One of the key reasons behind hosting the event was that as a country and indeed as the world, we live in precarious times.
Given the financial crisis of 2008 and the global recession that followed, 30 million...
Alide Dasnois, Editor of the Cape Times, said that the South African economy was not on the right growth path when she spoke at a roundtable discussion co-hosted by SACSIS and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung South Africa Office. She also highlighted the problem of ideology that does sometimes creep into reporting, despite editors' best efforts to clean it out.
Dasnois talked about the importance of encouraging debate in newspapers. To this end, the Cape Times launched a series called...
"Is Inequality Good or Bad? It Depends," said Prof. Haroon Bhorat of the University of Cape Town's School of Economics, setting off a heated debate at a roundtable discussion co-hosted by SACSIS and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung South Africa Office.
Every issue should not be a normative one, said Bhorat who urges people to follow the numbers to find the real answers.
Our normative response to the question, "Is inequality wrong?" is "yes, of course it's...
SACSIS columnist, Leonard Gentle, challenged Dr. Haroon Bhorat's assertion that every issue does not have to be a normative one, at a roundtable discussion co-hosted by SACSIS and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung South Africa Office.
Surely the starting point is to take a position on inequality, he argued.
The roundtable discussion, which examined the media's perspective of the South African economy, put the following questions to editors: Is the economy on the right growth path? What are the...
