What has the South African government delivered in 20 years? A massive welfare state with 16 million grant recipients (nearly a third of the population); 95% of the people served with clean water access; a rising rate of matriculation by 12th graders; a dramatic...
personal
THE CASE OF SHANNON—OUTCASTE CAPE TOWN: a personal reflection by Andre Marais
THE CASE OF SHANNON---OUTCAST CAPE TOWN: a personal reflection by Andre Marais My nephew Shannon is about to be sentenced next week. He is currently languishing in Polsmoor as an awaiting trial prisoner. As I watch him being brought from the holding cells to court in...
Chris McGregor and the Brotherhood of Breath
The morning of our father's 82nd birthday dawned with the news of Chris's death. We had known for some time that he was desperately ill and so had already booked a flight to France to go and visit him – ironically the flight was due to leave that very evening. Chris...
Who was Walter Rodney?
A brief introduction to his life and works Walter Anthony Rodney, known to many as Walter or Brother Wally, was born on 23 March 1942 in Guiana, a British colony on the northern coast of South America. His father Edward was a tailor and his mother, Pauline, a...
In Memoriam: Chinua Achebe
(1930-2013) | by The Botsotso Collective Chinua Achebe was a writer with massive influence in Nigeria, in Africa and, indeed, in the world. He was the first African writer to achieve this status with his first novel, Things Fall Apart, published in 1958, which was...
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...
Pampering of rich too costly | by Dick Forslund
Speculation is rife in anticipation of next week's budget speech. Will Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan announce tax increases? Might the tax rate for personal income above R617 000 increase to 42 percent? Might it even return to 45 percent for the portion of income...
Tax pegging ratio of 25% tax to GDP = A Small State | by Donna Andrews
Revenue from personal income tax is part of how governments are able to fund the type of society they imagine. In the case of South Africa, the government presents a vision of a more equal society, striving to lessen inequality and right the wrongs of the past. For...
Time to stop the tax cuts
'There is no money!' This is the standard response to the demands with which the government continues to be bombarded by people whose basic needs have still not been met after nearly 20 years of post-apartheid rule. People in South Africa are angry and impatient in...




