Bureaucracy is defined as management or administration marked by hierarchical authority among numerous offices and by fixed procedures. The abuse of power by officials is a very old phenomenon in the labour movement worldwide. Bureaucratisation is seen in this article...
working
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...
Interview with police Major General Jeremy Vearey
In this extract from a longer interview conducted by Amandla! Vearey outlines a brief history of policing methodology in Cape Town and a critique based on the intersection between class/capital/space in terms of how crime arises and policing functions in Cape Town A!:...
THE CASE OF SHANNON—OUTCASTE CAPE TOWN: a personal reflection by Andre Marais
THE CASE OF SHANNON---OUTCAST CAPE TOWN: a personal reflection by Andre Marais My nephew Shannon is about to be sentenced next week. He is currently languishing in Polsmoor as an awaiting trial prisoner. As I watch him being brought from the holding cells to court in...
Marikana: 1 year later | by Benjamin Fogel
Just over a year has passed since the Marikana massacre and the amount of critical reflection on the worst act of state violence since the end of apartheid is minimal at best. Other scandals have dominated the news cycle, from Nkandla to Guptagate, along with endless...
Commemorating Marikana: The Spirit of Mambush Lives on
Luke Sinwell and Siphiwe Mbatha On 16 August 2013, exactly one year after the Marikana Massacre, 20,000 workers peacefully commemorated that fateful day. Church leaders, political parties, progressives and the workers themselves addressed the crowd – including...
The state of the struggle:Lonmin workers’ organising one year later
by Benjamin Fogel The Lonmin Worker's Council was birthed by last year's wildcat strike at the London Mining (Formerly London Rhodesian mining) mines in Marikana. The strike itself emanated from a long-running dispute between workers and management stemming both from...
The Amplats workers’ committee dilemma | by Benjamin Fogel
The Amplats workers' committee formed during last year's Marikana wildcat strike on the platinum belt. The Amplats strike did not begin because of the events at Lonmin; it arose out of a long-running dispute between workers, NUM and Amplats. Since June 2012 workers at...
Selections from NUMSA’s scathing response to the SACP and ANC leadership
Some choice bits from NUMSA's response to COSATU The full text can be found here 13. We have boldly maintained that at the heart of the crisis in COSATU are two opposing forces: the forces of capitalism and the forces socialism. The capitalist forces within the...

