The ANC heads to its 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 the notion of a ‘second transition’. A whole...
understanding
Why The Spear outraged us | by Mzukisi Makatse
Mzukisi Makatse on freedom of artistic expression in South Africa The contextual and political understanding of the freedom of artistic expression in South Africa Now that the dust seems to be settling after the storm and hysteria occasioned by The Spear - Brett...
Contesting a ‘just transition to a low carbon economy’ | by Jacklyn Cock
The ‘transition to a low carbon or green economy has massive implications for labour.’ Jacklyn Cock takes a look at the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ response. INTRODUCTION Recently, the South African labour federation, the Congress of South African Trade...
Why I dropped ‘The Spear’ | by Ferial Haffajee
Commentary from City Press editor-in-chief Ferial Haffajee on the City Press decision to remove "The Spear" from their website. "The Spear" is down - out of fear and care "The Spear" is down. Out of care and as an olive branch to play a small role in helping turn...
Taming transgressions: South African nation building and `body politics’ | by Antje Schuhmann
Abstract This text questions the support that Caster Semenya received in the name of patriotism, arguing that the heteronormative and patriarchal home base of nationalism, its gendered matrix so to say, reflects a dilemma: the popular support for Semenya reinforced...
Problematising National Democratic Revolution (NDR): the ‘national question’ | by Raymond Suttner
Introduction The moment when one becomes newly curious about something is also a good time to think about what created one’s previous lack of curiosity. So many power structures-inside households, within institutions, in societies, in international affairs-are...
Lies, damned lies and statistics
Lies. damned lies and statistics. It’s a cliché that has been used several times in this column over the years. I have used it because statistical data, especially about employment and the cost of living, can influence attitudes, opinions and policy decisions. As...
John Saul’s empty chalice | by Jeremy Cronin
As we mark the centenary of the ANC there are, as we might expect, idealised versions of its history being trotted out. These tend to present the ANC’s hundred years as a righteous procession from early beginnings, through persecution and heroic resistance, to...
The origin of our species | by Chris Stringe
The origin of our species might seem a question of purely scientific interest, but it is actually also an intensely political one. Stringer gives us a dialectical understanding of our evolution, argues Elaine Graham-Leigh. The Origin of our Species (Allen Lane 2011),...



