The story of Samancor Chrome is a textbook case of how “investor-friendly” policymaking has enabled corporate plunder, at the cost of long-term development.
Samancor and the dark side of foreign investment
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South Africa: Snubbing quotas for women, snubs transformation
by Katherine Robinson Johannesburg, 7 February: While South Africa celebrates 20 years of democracy this year, the country will also be holding its national election, the first since 1994, without Madiba. If the last two months are anything to go by, we will surely...
Why Western Media are getting Egypt Wrong
by Khalid Shaalan: This article orginally appeared Mada Masr Western media coverage of the massive waves of protests in Egypt over the past two days is revealing of a number of problems that plague knowledge production about the Arab world. As crowds across the...
Hugo Chavez has died – long live the Venezuelan revolution! | by Hands Off Venezuela
Today, March 5, at 4.25 pm local time, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez died. This was announced by Vice President Maduro. Earlier in the day, a joint meeting of the government with the military high command and the country's 20 PSUV governors had decided to take a...
Where Is Everybody? | by Tom Engelhardt
Two Sundays ago, I traveled to the nation's capital to attend what was billed as "the largest climate rally in history" and I haven't been able to get the experience -- or a question that haunted me -- out of my mind. Where was everybody? First, though, the obvious...
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...
First they came for Tatane.
by Benjamin Fogel and Jared Sacks adapted from the old holocaust poem. "First they came for Tatane.Then they came for the miners at Marikana.Then they came for Juju.Then they came for the miners at Rustenberg.Then they came for Madonsela.Then they came for Abahlali...
Sugar Coating Exploitation
by Shawn Hattingh Southern Africa has become well known for being one of the cheapest places to produce sugar. Consequently, million of tons are produced in the region every year. Two companies have come to dominate much of this lucrative industry: Illovo Sugar and...
Marikana marks rift in ANC ideology | by Vishwas Satgar
On August 16 the Marikana massacre brought to the fore two forms of violence present in the everyday lives of workers. Workers in South Africa live in a violent world. This is not exceptional; it is inherent to the general condition of capitalism, which Karl Marx...