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?
Glenn Ashton -
So we have had a change in the guard in South Africa, engineered on shaky precepts but carried out smoothly and seamlessly, at least from a political perspective. However, the real issues have been obscured by the haste of the transition and the relentless blather of the chattering classes. Perhaps the time is ripe to draft some perspective on what really happened.
It was common knowledge Thabo Mbeki was toast. As John Carlin pointed out a week after his departure, Mbeki should never...
The average nett worth of white American families is US$70,000 compared to US$6,000 for African Americans, who are twice as likely to be unemployed. One in three African American males will go to prison during their life times, while this is likely to occur to only one in 17 white males. Leading African Americans, including Danny Glover, talk about what an Obama presidency could mean for race and poverty in America.
The international superclass are people with a hugely disproportionate share of global power - who are these people and how much power do they wield? Their rise to power owes much to the effects of globalisation and the gradual reduction of trade and information barriers throughout the world. Al Jazeera asks: Does the global superclass make our governments and legal systems obsolete?
Jean Triegaardt -
The first decade of democratic dispensation in South Africa was hailed in many ways as an economic success. Macroeconomic stability was restored, the country’s debt level was reduced to internationally accepted norms, and the country attained an investment-grade credit rating. Growth was high in 2005, there were capital inflows and the rand was strong at that time. As a result of these achievements, economic growth and employment were finally beginning to increase, with observers, as...
The 2008 G8 Summit has just drawn to a close. This "On the Map - State of the World" report, released to coincide with last year's G8 summit, shows us that contrary to popular belief, aid money does not flow from the North to the South, but goes in the opposite direction. The poor have paid the rich two trillion dollars for the privilege of staying poor. When you add up all the cash that wealthy nations send south and compare it to the money going in the opposite direction,...
Glenn Ashton -
Looking at the annual gathering of G8 leaders, one could be forgiven for believing that the real reason behind these meetings is to address global concerns. But it is not. The G8 is nothing more than a meeting where a great deal of political posturing takes place to present the image of a sympathetic west.
Phantom aid is a neat concept coined by Action Aid to describe the kind of aid given to the developing world by Western powers. Action Aid’s clarification of the flow of...
