Brazilian President Lula entered the elections for his second term with his back against the wall, confronting a massive corruption scandal and growing disenchantment at the base of his party. In response, he changed course, turning to organised labour and social...
worker
COSATU’s precarious challenge
It is true we in live a world where technology and globalisation give the impression of rapid change and constant flux. The mouthpieces of capital, marching under the banner of 'labour flexibility', insist that this reality must be reflected in the world of work....
COSATU’s history: coming full circle| interview with Dirk Hartford
Interview with Dirk Hartford, the first head of COSATU media and editor of COSATU News in the 1980's, about the implications of the current tensions in COSATU. Amandla!: What do you make of what is happening in COSATU now with the allegations against its General...
COSATU at the crossroads
This feature of Amandla! lays bare the conflict unfolding in COSATU. Tensions in SA's biggest labour movement play themselves out over the failure of the Polokwane project. The ANC's 2007 Polokwane Conference, which adopted a host of progressive policies, was supposed...
COSATU: a house divided| by Benjamin Fogel
COSATU is in the midst of the biggest crisis in its 27-year history. This crisis has arisen from an SACP-driven attempt to oust democratically elected COSATU General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, under the guise of corruption charges. The conflict's roots are in...
Noam Chomsky: Can Civilization Survive Capitalism?
There is "capitalism" and then there is "really existing capitalism." The term "capitalism" is commonly used to refer to the U.S. economic system, with substantial state intervention ranging from subsidies for creative innovation to the "too-big-to-fail" government...
After the World Ended (IV): But How Can It Be Done?
What has to be overthrown in the ANC is a party which nearly two-thirds of the electorate voted for, and which is led by some of the shrewdest and most unscrupulous politicians in the country. Somehow those people have to be persuaded to stop supporting it, and those...
Editorial : Polokwane to Mangaung: five wasted years: What prospects for the Left?
Polokwane has come and gone. Mangaung is upon us and the prospects for the left remains the same: quite dismal, at least inside the ANC, with its current power configurations. Talk of a 2nd transition or of a Lula moment conjure the illusion of a break with what's...
Whose strike to whose gain? | by Christian Selz
Alongside the prominent demand for R150 a day, striking farm workers in the Western Cape are demanding an end to labour brokering – an uphill battle that they are likely to lose given that some of their perceived leaders appear to trade in that very business. It is...








