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?
Richard Pithouse -
More than half of our young people are unemployed. For many of these people there is no formal route through which they can develop their energies and creativity and have them rewarded with a passage into autonomy and adulthood. Time becomes circular rather than linear and as life moves in descending and tightening spirals rather than up and forward, pain and panic set into the bones.
Some people are able to keep their spirits up with the support of family, friends and congregations that...
Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen -
Wage negotiations in the public sector have reached an impasse. Unions have rejected a 6.5% wage increase offer from government, holding out for 8% and as well as a housing subsidy of R1500.
Commentary on the state of negotiations is focused on themes of fiscal sustainability and performance in the public service. The propaganda of both government and unions focuses on winning the proverbial hearts and minds of communities, should a dispute be declared.
Strikes seem a likely possibility...
May Day is celebrated in over 80 countries around the world, including South Africa, on May 1st. To mark the occasion workers took to the streets in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe yesterday.
The Real News filed this report of rallies from around the world, including South East Asia (where turnouts were massive), Japan, Spain, Greece, Germany, Russia, Turkey, Bahrain, Egypt and more.
Low wages in a time of high food and oil prices, job security and harsh working conditions were...
Over the last 15 years we've seen the emergence and growth of the practice of labour broking in South Africa, which places workers, particularly those employed on the lowest rungs of the South African economy, in a very precarious position with respect to job security and a host of related quality of life indicators.
Ighsaan Schroeder of the Casual Workers Advice Office explains Why Cosatu called for a general strike against the practice of labour broking. However, he argues that the trade...
Demonstrators are marching on Wall Street in a campaign dubbed "Occupy Wall Street," which began on Saturday, 17 September 2011, when thousands gathered in New York City’s Financial District. Inspired by the massive public protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and Madrid’s Puerta del Sol Square, hundreds have marched and slept in a park near Wall Street since Saturday.
Ad Busters, a Vancouver-based culture-jamming magazine, put out a call for Saturday’s protest...
Khadija Sharife -
If recent media reports are correct, Walmart, both the world's largest private employer and its largest company, has threatened to pull out of the R16.5 billion merger with Massmart if the South African government insists on imposing conditions to protect local manufacturers. According to Massmart’s CEO, “It would be disruptive of the competition process championed under the Competition Act to impose local procurement targets on one retailer to the exclusion of its...
