By Jared Sacks A few weeks ago the City of Cape Town was rocked by a spate of road blockades and other significant protests. Certain liberal NGOs have joined the DA in condemning the protests claiming that they are violent and motivated by political party agendas. To...
Politics
Marikana shows that we are Living in a Democratic Prison
by Bandile Mdlalose South Africa has the most beautiful Constitution amongst all countries. Its beauty is well documented and respected. But we are living in a Democratic Prison. We must acknowledge the fight of Doctor Nelson Mandela, Steve Biko and the community...
Echoes of the Past:Marikana, Cheap Labour and the 1946 Miners Strike
Chris Webb On August 4, 1946 over one thousand miners assembled in Market Square in Johannesburg, South Africa. No hall in the town was big enough to hold them, and no one would have rented one to them anyway. The miners were members of the African Mine Worker's...
A new historical period? | by Edgardo Lander
Civilization crisis, limits of the planet, inequality, assaults to democracy, permanent war state and people in resistance. There is no time Other than the one that has touched us. Joan Manuel Serrat Crisis of the hegemonic civilizational pattern We are experiencing...
Hamlet without the Prince: Politics and the Eurozone | by Sanjay Reddy
An economic solution to the eurozone's ills cannot be found without political legitimacy. The current European crisis has most often been viewed as the combined consequence of misguided technical arrangements and unanticipated economic shocks. In contrast, little...
Letters – Working conditions on South African mines
Working conditions on South African mines Dear Amandla! There is an urgent need for intervention in the way in which mine workers continue to operate in South Africa, despite the presence of unions. The three existing unions seem to grapple with the nature of their...
ANC and the Alliance: transition deferred?
The ANC, SACP and COSATU will hold vital conferences that will shape the Tripartite Alliance for the next years. Given the role of the ANC in power, these meetings have the potential to shape the direction of the country for a number of years to come. A major question...
The “second phase of the transition”: another dead end? | by Vishwas Satgar
The ANC held a policy conference in June, after being South Africa's ruling party for almost two decades. There are many ideas and policy perspectives up for discussion but the `big idea' framing the discussion is captured in a 47-page long document entitled: `The...
Canada’s `maple spring’: student strikers against austerity | by Chris Webb
The student strike wave that swept through the Canadian province of Quebec the past several months, now beginning to spark in other Canadian provinces and campuses, is a watershed moment in the struggle against neoliberal austerity in Canada. What began as a revolt...







