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 is a multidisciplinarian with a background in geography. Besides being a published author, he also edited "A Patented World? The Privatisation of Life and Knowledge," published by Jacana in South Africa. He currently is on the editorial board of the SA Journal of Natural Medicine.
Additionally, Glenn has written many commentaries and analyses of wide ranging issues including waste management, water use, food security, genetic engineering, nanotechnology, health, agricultural fuels, marine resources, climate and many other environmental and socially relevant issues.
He has also presented many papers and talks to a wide range of audiences. He specialises in communicating complex scientific issues in an accessible manner. He is a freelance writer and researcher.
Glenn Ashton -
The Department of Marine and Coastal Management (MCM) has recently been in the news for all the wrong reasons. First came news of the breakup of the department when President Zuma announced his cabinet reshuffle. Second was the proposal to triple licence fees for recreational fishing activities without any consultation.
The proposal to hive off the fisheries aspect of MCM to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), while MCM continues to manage and oversee environmental...
Glenn Ashton -
The Zuma administration has clearly taken a far harder line on crime, in accord with its populist approach. Central to this is the direct threat to 'get' criminals.
Invoking this 'shoot to kill' philosophy has already impacted tragically on innocent lives. The pendulum is swinging from a more restrained, western, rights-based style of policing toward a more reactionary and offensively aligned style of policing.
Deputy Police Minister Fikile Mbalula has not only made immoderate...
Glenn Ashton -
The ongoing public debate about electricity price hikes raise questions about how our national energy policies are decided. Public interaction with the National Electricity Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) cannot yield expected results, as NERSA is little more than a messenger and not the framer of policy. The real problems revolve around the relationship between Eskom, the state and the ruling party and the degree of influence that our electrical generation behemoth wields.
The...
Glenn Ashton -
The latest catastrophe to hit Haiti has motivated massive responses from a shocked global population. It is hard to believe that an entire nation can be rendered so utterly helpless that they are functionally unable to assist themselves in any meaningful way. But the earthquake of January 13, 2010 is just the latest in a series of body blows to the poorest nation in the western hemisphere.
By all accounts Haiti should be a shining beacon of hope, of democracy and an example of the...
Glenn Ashton -
The more people in a meeting, the more difficult it is to achieve consensus. Accordingly the UN negotiating system, built on consensus processes and inordinately influenced by the wealthy G8 nations, makes agreement difficult.
Big talk shops have poor records of delivery even after fragile consensus has been reached. Agreements made during The World Summit on Sustainable Development have largely fallen by the wayside. The Millennium Development Goals and associated promises from the G8...
Glenn Ashton -
South African agricultural policy is obsessed with market driven agricultural models while disproportionately high numbers of our people remain hungry. This is a hangover from our historical legacy, which continues in the form of internal and external neo-liberal pressures on government to conform to the tyranny of the market.
Sure, lip service has been paid to evolving small farmers and pursuing food security. In 1992 a policy called the Integrated Food Security Strategy was...
