The spectacle of the blows between a Democratic Alliance-led crowd and COSATU (Congress of South African Trade Unions) would have been the stuff of farce if it weren’t so tragically unedifying. The DA has every right to march and be “provocative”. COSATU’s response...
march
The ballot box and a youth wage subsidy
The battle for the electoral support of the millions of unemployed, unskilled and mostly ill-educated youth — perhaps the most crucial voting bloc for the 2014 elections — is now in the open. It came with the decision by the Democratic Alliance (DA) to march on Cosatu...
Economic policy PR without scruples
Originally in Business Day, 2012-03-05 Adcorp’s method of measuring employment "generates such massive employment levels that it does away with SA’s unemployment problem in one fell swoop, lowering the unemployment rate to around 5%", write Dr Kerr and Prof Wittenberg...
Spain: Huge general strike could mark turning of tide | by Dick Nichols
Since the global economic crisis broke out in 2008, the many-sided protest movement against neoliberal austerity has yet to gain enough strength to force any real retreats from governments doing the bidding of capitalism’s ruling elites.But the March 29 general strike...
Protests and Police Statistics: Some Commentary | by Prof. Peter Alexander
On 19 March the Minister of Police, Mr. Nathi Mthetwa, informed parliament about the number of ‘crowd management incidents’ that occurred during the three years from 1 April 2009. Table 1, compares the new data with similar statistics for the preceding five years.In...
Occupy the Rondebosch Common | by Lillina Ruiters
Where were the old revolutionaries? On Friday, 27 January, about 100 people marched from Manenberg to Rondebosch Common bent on occupying the wasted land resource. The march turned sour after the City refused to allow it to proceed. The protesters insisted (on what...
The January Awakening in Nigeria | by Baba Aye
Few in Nigeria would have the feeling that 2012 is barely a month old. The past few weeks have been filled with events of historic proportions. First, in response to the unpopular 120% hike in petrol price, the people spontaneously took to the streets across the...
Economic freedom in our lifetime: A timely wake up call
ANCYLThe tragedy – and most severe critique of the South African Left – is that Julius Malema and the ANC Youth League were allowed to hijack the struggle for economic freedom, for their own opportunistic and demagogic purposes. It would thus be a big mistake for the...
Vox Pop with Simphiwe Dana | by Andre Marais
Andre Marais (AM): What does Simphiwe Dana stand for?Simphiwe Dana (SD): I stand for justice. I stand for peace.AM: What inspires your music?SD: The human condition. My roots are everything. I am passionate. I was born in Africa.AM: How did growing up in rural...





