Russsian bureaucrats have been honestly surprised at the reaction by the official West – they did not expect such anger or unanimous condemnation. European politicians are beside themselves with fury. The mainstream press is relating appalling stories to its readers...
residents
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...
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...
City of Cape Town makes up law to justify eviction of the poor by Jared Sacks
The City of Cape Town has been caught red-handed using a fraudulent legal pretext to justify the eviction of shack dwellers who had occupied a vacant piece of City-owned land, by citing a non-existent law they claim is called the "Protection of the Possession of...
Unfreedom Day Land Occupation: Police assault activists| by Camilla Rose Coutts
On 27 April 2013 Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM), the largest organisation of the militant poor in post-apartheid South Africa, established in Durban in 2005. Released a press statement entitled "Marikana: A New Land Occupation Founded on UnFreedom Day 2013." The...
Letter From Haiti: Life in the Ruins | by Amy Wilentz
Sometimes you can't help but be sickened by the behavior of certain international organizations helping Haiti recover from the devastating January 2010 earthquake—hit, that is, by a wave of real physical nausea. The other day, I spent an afternoon in the displaced...
A tale of two museums | by Andre Marais
Landlocked Timbuktu in Mali and coastal Cape Town are 6,000 kilometres apart from one another but they are both under threat: one museum by a religious fundamentalism, the other by economics. Both museums are preserving important historical and heritage sites. Both...
Protest Politics:Sweet Home
a version of this article was published in the Mail & Guardian on 21 September 2012 By Jared Sacks For much of this winter, communities in shack settlements across Cape Town have taken to the streets in some of the most active civil disobedience protests since...
On the Politics of Protest in Cape Town
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...





