Venezuela is once again in the grip of violent protests, targeting the post-Chavez administration of Nicholas Maduro and which have claimed at least 19 lives as of writing. The official reasons for these protests range from a high crime rate (particularly violent...
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Numsa and the crisis in the Cosatu: What now?
by Benjamin Fogel During the 1980s the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) was the figurehead of the so-called 'workerist' tendency within the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and has always been on the left in Cosatu. Although Numsa...
Marikana: 1 year later | by Benjamin Fogel
Just over a year has passed since the Marikana massacre and the amount of critical reflection on the worst act of state violence since the end of apartheid is minimal at best. Other scandals have dominated the news cycle, from Nkandla to Guptagate, along with endless...
The housing crisis
As demonstrated in these pages the housing crisis is complex and multi-layered and cannot be separated from the wider social malaise facing South Africa. The causes of this crisis include policy confusion, market-based mechanisms for service provision, and the...
Our own Zuma moment?| by Amandla! Editorial staff
Brazilian President Lula entered the elections for his second term with his back against the wall, confronting a massive corruption scandal and growing disenchantment at the base of his party. In response, he changed course, turning to organised labour and social...
COSATU at the crossroads
This feature of Amandla! lays bare the conflict unfolding in COSATU. Tensions in SA's biggest labour movement play themselves out over the failure of the Polokwane project. The ANC's 2007 Polokwane Conference, which adopted a host of progressive policies, was supposed...
Slaughter at South Africa’s Marikana mine: the bloody politics of platinum | by Charlie Kimber
Striking South African mineworkers were gunned down by police on Thursday. Charlie Kimber looks at events leading up to the massacre—and the business interests behind it Police in South Africa have opened fire at striking workers at the Marikana platinum mine near...
ANC and the Alliance: transition deferred?
The ANC, SACP and COSATU will hold vital conferences that will shape the Tripartite Alliance for the next years. Given the role of the ANC in power, these meetings have the potential to shape the direction of the country for a number of years to come. A major question...
The “second phase of the transition”: another dead end? | by Vishwas Satgar
The ANC held a policy conference in June, after being South Africa's ruling party for almost two decades. There are many ideas and policy perspectives up for discussion but the `big idea' framing the discussion is captured in a 47-page long document entitled: `The...




