wanted

Numsa and the crisis in the Cosatu: What now?

by Benjamin Fogel During the 1980s the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) was the figurehead of the so-called 'workerist' tendency within the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and has always been on the left in Cosatu. Although Numsa...

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Solving gangs one life at a time

Before we send the army in to 'solve' the crime problem in Cape Town's troubled townships or appease politicians and nervous shop owners with a police crackdown, we need to remember that we're targeting a city's adolescents, who have reason to wreak revenge on an...

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Mandela Quotes

"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others." "There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again...

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Blaqpearl: The new voice of the Cape?

WHY THE NAME BLAQPEARL? Back in the day I was part of a hip hop group called Insidious Inc. The three males in the group, including my late brother, Mr Devious, all had stage names – of course I also wanted one! So being rarely aware of myself from a very young age...

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Centenary of the 1913 Land Act | By Colin Bundy

Centenary of the 1913 Land Act | By Colin Bundy

Why consider the history of a hundred-year old law? Surely the Marikana massacre and farm-workers' strikes are more urgent? In fact, there are direct links between the Natives' Land Act of 1913 and current struggles. The Land Act and its consequences still shape rural...

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The Weirdness Closes In

The Weirdness Closes In

On the face of it, Mamphela Ramphele's long political Calvary has not seemed so strange. It has been clear ever since she returned to South Africa, flushed with neoliberal propaganda and plugging effortlessly into the right-wing smear campaign against President Mbeki,...

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We don’t want your development

The people of Mpondoland are determine theird to save their land from mining by an Australian company which wants to tear apart their pristine coastal dunes to mine titanium. Four years ago, they succeeded in reversing a decision to allow the destruction of the Wild...

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