Only one week before the massacre in Marikana on 16 August last year, Bench Marks Foundation published its report, 'Policy Gap 6'. It was a part of a long series of critical studies of SA mining. It described in detail the social and environmental havoc created by...
houses
The state of the struggle:Lonmin workers’ organising one year later
by Benjamin Fogel The Lonmin Worker's Council was birthed by last year's wildcat strike at the London Mining (Formerly London Rhodesian mining) mines in Marikana. The strike itself emanated from a long-running dispute between workers and management stemming both from...
Farmworker Housing | by Benjamin Fogel
The housing crisis is not merely confined to the cities and towns of South Africa; it is at the heart of political struggles in rural areas as well. Farmworkers not only face the same types of issues as those who dwell in urban areas, but also face some that are...
Houses for all! Now! | by Martin Legassick
Women and children have been forced to endure the Cape's lashing winter winds and rain sleeping in the open in the Marikana area of Philippi. This is the result of illegal actions by the Democratic-Alliance-sponsored Anti Land Invasion Unit (ALIU), demolishing their...
The Antinomies of Democracy in Durban | by Richard Pithouse
Originally published at The South African Civil Society Information Service (SACSIS) In the last days of June, Nkululeko Gwala was assassinated in Cato Crest - a shack settlement in Durban that is in the process of being upgraded with formal housing. Just over three...
‘Jumping the Queue’, Waiting Lists and other Myths | by Kate Tissington
Senior Research and Advocacy Officer at the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) www.seri-sa.org Since 1994 the South African government, through its National Housing Subsidy Scheme (NHSS), has embarked on the large-scale provision of...
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...
Social and environmental impact of mining
A Mining company can uproot an entire community for the meager sum of R600: a prospecting permit from the Department of Mineral Resources costs only R500 and a mining permit is R100. In contrast, tribal, cultural and community structures in rural areas have been...
Social and environmental impact of mining
A Mining company can uproot an entire community for the meager sum of R600: a prospecting permit from the Department of Mineral Resources costs only R500 and a mining permit is R100. In contrast, tribal, cultural and community structures in rural areas have been...


