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?
Visit the archives.
John Treat and Enver Motala -
While finding solutions to South Africa’s high rates of unemployment continues to occupy a leading place in national debate, ongoing strikes over wages and working conditions continue to be met with threats of job cuts from employers. In a recent Business Report article called, “Job losses loom amid platinum strike”, Implats executive Johan Theron is quoted: “If the strike continues in the months ahead, we will unfortunately be forced to apply for a section 189...
Dale T. McKinley -
Messy alliance politics are clouding issues in the run up to the 2014 general election, but community organisations and other civil society formations across the country have welcomed promising moves by National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) to forge an independent and anti-capitalist united front of the broad working class.
For the first time in the history of a democratic South Africa, a COSATU-aligned union, and its largest one at that, has openly declared that it no...
On 9 April 2014, one of the world's most respected public thinkers visited the RSA to explore the hidden workings of capital. David Harvey, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the City University of New York, unraveled the paradoxes at the heart of capitalism. In this fascinating lecture and discussion the role of rapidly developing technology and its impact on labour is identified as a major challenge. Technology is actually removing labour from the dynamics of capitalism....
Jon Queally -
Archbishop emeritus of Cape Town and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu is saying there is no longer any excuse for not doing everything humanly possible to fight climate change and called on Thursday for an international "anti-apartheid-style boycott" against the fossil fuel industry.
In a striking essay and call to action in The Guardian newspaper, Tutu writes: "People of conscience need to break their ties with corporations financing the injustice of climate...
Shawn Hattingh -
The Public Protector’s report on Nkandla has unleashed a storm of anger. Radio shows and newspaper columns have been filled with people complaining about the state spending vast sums on upgrading the President’s private residence. Rightfully, they have pointed out that it is wrong that the state spent R248 million on the project – money, which could have been spent on housing, healthcare and service delivery for the public.
However, when it comes to analysing how Nkandla...
Gillian Schutte -
Sexual harassment on the streets is a pervasive phenomenon that women from a range of racial and cultural backgrounds as well as social circumstances experience in daily life. Most men, even educated men from so-called respectable backgrounds belittle women’s experiences of sexual harassment. Internationally, this has led to a spate of new films and campaigns where women are calling attention to casual and more aggressive forms of sexual harassment by turning the tables on men. Their...
