The South African government lifted the moratorium on fracking on 7 September, opening the way for exploration of what's been sold as a massive shale gas resource beneath the beautiful, sparsely populated Great Karoo. Fracking (short for hydraulic fracturing) is a...
farm
Harvesting discontent
"I earn R800,00 per month and with this money I have to feed, clothe and fend for my family of eight. We barely survive; I cannot even afford to buy school shoes for the children. I cannot take it any longer"- Gertie Beukes, Ashton farmworker. "We produce the food...
Whose strike to whose gain? | by Christian Selz
Alongside the prominent demand for R150 a day, striking farm workers in the Western Cape are demanding an end to labour brokering – an uphill battle that they are likely to lose given that some of their perceived leaders appear to trade in that very business. It is...
Neoliberal land & agricultural policies at heart of farm strikes | by Mazibuko K. Jara
The heroic and historic strike by thousands of farm workers in the Western Cape has struck at the heart of the ANC government's neoliberal policies on land reform and agricultural policy. The strike marks the beginnings of much-needed mass struggles to challenge white...
Cheap Labour, Cheap Lives: Contextualizing Farm Worker Deaths in South Africa and Canada.
by Chris Webb There is a passage from Olive Schreiner’s 1883 novel The Story of An African Farm where she describes the isolated existence of the rural Karoo, with its “weird and almost oppressive beauty...the stone walled sheep kraals and kaffer huts.” This cursory...
Rio+20: Sabotaging Sustainable Development | by Fazila Farouk
The messages of gloom and doom have been out there for some time now. Just about every other commentator is pronouncing on an impending failure of outcome for the Rio+20 Summit on sustainable development being hosted in Brazil this week. We are being told to temper...
Climate justice deferred: Rural women speak out at COP 17 | by Crystal Orderson
Small-scale farmers had little hope that leaders negotiating on their behalf would change their plight. Dressed in her white T-shirt and wide-rimmed hat, Dominica Shumba didn’t expect her first visit to Durban to be so hot and humid, amidst thundering clouds. The...
Food Sovereignty Campaign Protest March against “Poisonous Maize” | by The Editor, Ons Kontrei
LUTZVILLE: Objections against Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s) in South Africa were made on Friday 7 October 2011 through a placard demonstration on the farm Klipheuwel in Lutzville. The USA based multinational corporation Monsanto planted experimental...
Food Sovereignty Campaign Protest March against “Poisonous Maize” | by The Editor, Ons Kontrei
LUTZVILLE: Objections against Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s) in South Africa were made on Friday 7 October 2011 through a placard demonstration on the farm Klipheuwel in Lutzville. The USA based multinational corporation Monsanto planted experimental...







