Water, instead of being a public service, has become an increasingly expensive service, leaving those at the bottom of the social ladder to fight for basic survival.
water
Ebola kills – Underdevelopment and poverty kill more
Sensational reporting on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is spreading fear and stereotypes about the so-called "dark continent". The disease has killed over 1,500 people in West Africa this year. With decent health care facilities, access to clean water and...
Corporate Capture in Southern African Infrastructure Development | by Michelle Pressend
Attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) continues to be seen as the core pathway for southern Africa and the African region as a whole to meet economic growth aspirations. African natural resources are in demand globally and foreign investment projects are on the...
Getting the energy mix right: towards a publicly driven, socially owned renewable energy sector | by Sandra van Niekerk
In his State of the Nation address of 26 June 2014, President Zuma called for "a radical transformation of the energy sector, to develop a sustainable energy mix that comprises coal, solar, wind, hydro, gas and nuclear energy ". Not content with building Medupi and...
“Sinkholes, Starvation and Suffering”: the Legacy of Coal Mining in South Africa? | by David Van Wyk
Even as South Africa marks the two-year anniversary of the Marikana massacre – which marked a decisive turning point for the country's platinum mining sector – extensive new research indicates that the coal mining industry poses a wide range of serious challenges of...
What, really, did the ANC deliver? Tokenistic social policy
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...
Farmworker Housing | by Benjamin Fogel
The housing crisis is not merely confined to the cities and towns of South Africa; it is at the heart of political struggles in rural areas as well. Farmworkers not only face the same types of issues as those who dwell in urban areas, but also face some that are...
Marie Hutchzermeyer cities with slums
In the past decade South Africa has witnessed an upsurge in negative labelling of informal settlements in policies and programmes, the removal of informal settlements from strategic positions in the city, and even legislative amendments to facilitate such...
People’s Assembly Land, Race and Nation Conference declaration
People’s Assembly Land, Race and Nation Conference 22 June 2013 Declaration Preamble Nearly twenty years after the end of apartheid, the 1913 Natives’ Land Act continues to haunt the South African countryside. The land question, which was so central to the struggle...

