Africa
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Israel/Palestine and the Apartheid Analogy by Ran Greenstein Part 1
In the last decade, the notion that the Israeli system of political and military control bears strong resemblance to the apartheid system in South Africa has gained ground. It is invoked regularly by movements and activists opposed to the 1967 occupation and to various other aspects of Israeli policies vis-à-vis the Palestinian-Arab people. It is… Continue reading
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Fears for South Africa's Press Freedom By Chris Stein
‘The broad language of the POI Bill would criminalise information-gathering methods essential to investigative journalism,’ Ayesha Kajee, executive director of the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI), told IPS. ‘It would chill the practice of this field of journalism essential to keeping the government accountable to the public.’ Continue reading
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South African Public Sector Strike Highlights Society’s Contradictions By Patrick Bond
The two major civil service unions on strike against the South African (SA) government vow to intensify pressure in coming days, in a struggle pitting a million members of the middle and lower ranks of society against a confident government leadership fresh from hosting the FIFA World Cup. Continue reading
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South African civil servants on strike over pay
One million South African civil servants have begun indefinite strike action, leaving schools without teachers and trials postponed. Continue reading
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Yeoville in 2 Genres Parts 1 & 2
As quiet as it is kept, Aura Msimang is a legend in our midst. To the Yeoville community where she lives, to the artistic fraternity, the Rastas and the local street kids, she is known endearingly as M’Aura. Excerpt from Mam Aura Msimang, A Legend In Our Midst (by Nhlanhla Hlongwane) This documentary highlights the… Continue reading
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South Africa loses its ‘War on Poverty’ By Patrick Bond
Shortly before Pretoria’s presidential power change from Thabo Mbeki to Jacob Zuma two years ago, the South African state announced its War on Poverty. What news from the front, in the immediate wake of World Cup host duties that showed observers how very pleasant life is for the rich and middle class here? We don’t… Continue reading
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THE BIG DEBATE: ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
3 August, 2010 — The Real News Network The Dinokeng scenarios: 35 South Africans with different perspectives debate the shape of their future in five videos. http://widgets.vodpod.com/w/video_embed/Groupvideo.6464663 http://widgets.vodpod.com/w/video_embed/Groupvideo.6464677 http://widgets.vodpod.com/w/video_embed/Groupvideo.6464693 http://widgets.vodpod.com/w/video_embed/Groupvideo.6464703 http://widgets.vodpod.com/w/video_embed/Groupvideo.6464731 THE BIG DEBATE: ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT, posted with vodpod Continue reading
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U.S.-backed War in Somalia Comes to Uganda, Threatens to Set Whole Region Aflame A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford
The bombs that exploded in Kampala earlier this month, killing 76 people and unleashing a wave of arrests and deportations by the Ugandan regime, are chickens coming home to roost from the U.S.-sponsored war in Somalia. U.S. corporate media routinely fail to note that the Ugandan military and other U.S. African allies are all that… Continue reading
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Land and Housing Rights in South Africa
The rural Zulu community of Nkwalini has been struggling against a neighboring farmer who is claiming that the land they have lived on for generations belongs to him. CCR met with Nkwalini residents over two days to hear their stories and document the human rights abuses that have occured due to this serious land dispute. Continue reading
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Mozambique: Not Then But Now By John S. Saul
In the very first years of Mozambique’s independence, FRELIMO also launched a bold experiment in socialist development. The intention: to implement a society-wide programme that would liberate the country’s economic potential while also meeting the needs of the vast majority of Mozambique’s population. Continue reading
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Urban Zulu R.I.P. Busi Mhlongo
16 June, 2010 Sadly, an untimely death for the one and only Busi Mhlongo, a unique African voice who stuck to her musical roots. Saw her live only once at the old MegaMusic Warehouse in Joberg and more well known in Europe than she was in South Africa. Go figure. Hamba Khahle Busi Continue reading
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Neville Alexander: South Africa – An unfinished revolution
In the Marxist paradigm, the word “revolution” has very precise meanings. Most often, it is used to refer to a “social revolution”, i.e., the displacement of the rule of one class by that of another, usually by violent means, i.e., in the course of a civil war or an armed struggle. Thus, for example, the… Continue reading
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New Colonialism: Pentagon carves Africa into Military Zones By Rick Rozoff
As the first overseas regional military command set up by Washington in this century, the first since the end of the Cold War, and the first in 25 years, the activation of AFRICOM, initially under the wing of U.S. European Command on October 1, 2007, then as an independent entity a year later, emphasizes the… Continue reading
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AFRICOM and the Recolonization of Africa By Itai Muchena
Before the Berlin Conference 80 percent of Africa and its natural resources had remained under traditional and local leadership but thereafter the new map of the continent was superimposed over the one thousand indigenous cultures and regions of Africa. Concurrently, Africa’s wealth — as pronounced by its vast human and natural resource base — was… Continue reading
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16 Years Ago. 7 April 1994: The US was behind the Rwandan Genocide: Installing a US Protectorate in Central Africa By Michel Chossudovsky
From the outset of the Rwandan civil war in 1990, Washington’s hidden agenda consisted in establishing an American sphere of influence in a region historically dominated by France and Belgium. America’s design was to displace France by supporting the Rwandan Patriotic Front and by arming and equipping its military arm, the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) Continue reading
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Fatima Meer, 1928-2010: `Regardless of how many years we have spent in this life, we must get up and shout' By Patrick Bond and Orlean Naidoo
Within a year, Meer would be sucking in the smell of post-apartheid tear gas that became so familiar in Chatsworth, her eyes streaming tears of anger, her throat coughing up disgust at the local ANC rulers whom she had helped put into power with unmatched courage during the bad years when she was beaten and… Continue reading
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NATO: AFRICOM’s Partner In Military Penetration Of Africa By Rick Rozoff
AFRICOM was conceived, carried, nurtured and delivered by the Pentagon’s European Command (EUCOM), based in Stuttgart, Germany where AFRICOM headquarters are also based as no nation in Africa has yet volunteered to be the host. Continue reading
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Selling South Africa: Poverty, Politics and the 2010 FIFA World Cup By Chris Webb
Why is it that governments can find billions of dollars for global sporting events and little to deal with the grinding poverty that affects impoverished populations? Canada applauded itself for the $135-million in aid and disaster relief it sent to an earthquake ravaged Haiti while spending nearly $6-billion on the two-week long Vancouver Olympics. A… Continue reading
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Bernd Kramer, "Zimbabwe's Land Reform Is Common Sense" By Grasian Mkodzongi
Zimbabwe’s land issue has generated unprecedented debates both within and outside the country. The debates, which followed the dramatic occupations of white farms by rural peasants in the late 1990s, are generally polarised between those who support radical land reform and those who support market-orientated reforms. The former stand accused of supporting Mugabe’s regime while… Continue reading
The New Dark Age 