South Africa
-
SA elections – a cry for a real alternative By Terry Bell
Most South Africans are probably more than ready for an alternative political dispensation. That much seems clear, given the results of last week’s national and provincial elections where the gatvol (fed up) factor was in full play. Continue reading
-
South Africa elections 2019: widespread fury and big gains for the EFF
Election results can provide an important barometer of the mood in society. The results of the Sixth National and Provincial elections on 8 May confirm that there is a deep ferment in South African society. The sharp drop in voter turnout, together with the high abstention from the election process, especially by the youth, meant… Continue reading
-
Dossier 16: Resource sovereignty—the Agenda for Africa’s exit from the state of plunder
In May 2011, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a Working Paper by Burcu Aydin called ‘Ghana: Will It Be Gifted Or Will It Be Cursed?’ (WP/11/104). Oil had just been discovered off the shore of Ghana. This anticipated a bounty of revenue for the country. Aydin asks whether Ghana will face the ‘resource curse’.… Continue reading
-
South Africa: What about the workers? By Terry Bell
While there has been much media debate about what “black middle-class” voters will do today, there has been nothing about where the votes of unionised workers may go as South Africa completes its sixth non-racial election. This is perhaps because it is widely assumed that, in terms of labour voting patterns, nothing much has changed… Continue reading
-
What is the SRWP’s Vision for South Africa? By Pavan Kulkarni
With the slogan “Equality, Work, Land!”, the newly-founded Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party (SRWP) of South Africa is set to contest the general election scheduled on May 8. The party aims to use parliamentary institutions to complement mass struggles, with the slogan “socialism and nothing else”. It has unveiled a radical agenda for the country, including… Continue reading
-
From the BRICS countries to the townships: racial and social segregation continues
Over 25 years ago now the people of South Africa won the struggle to end the Apartheid regime.(1) Nevertheless, even though it is now against the law, de facto racial segregation is still apparent. Moreover the capitalist assault on the majority of the population is blatant. The class struggle is all the more clearly perceptible… Continue reading
-
Time to shun the financial kakistocracy By Terry Bell
South Africa’s trade unions were probably just as confused as most people when a considerable fuss was made last week about the decisions of ratings agency Moody’s. The agency first said it would not publicise its views on South Africa’s status before the May 8 elections. Days later, it changed tack. Continue reading
-
South Africa: Democracy & ‘Father Christmas socialism’ By Terry Bell
As South Africa coasts uncomfortably toward national and provincial elections on May 8, accompanied by rolling blackouts and with commissions delving ever deeper into sewers of corruption, it is time to take stock of where the country is and where it may be going. This should apply in particular to trade unions that have, in… Continue reading
-
A Simple Translation of Anglo-European Russophobia Over Africa By Phil Butler
The Anglo-European monopolization of Africa as a cash cow may soon be at an end. Until then, however, Africans will have to stomach the never-ending distortions of truth, on top of watching their legacy evaporate like a mirage over the sands of the Sahara. I’ve covered the disinformation on neo-colonialism many times, but today I… Continue reading
-
How the people could really govern By Terry Bell
The people shall govern. So says the Freedom Charter. And so they do, says the ANC along with all the parties represented in parliament. But this is a lie. And awareness of this fact is what has caused such widespread disillusionment with mainstream politics and political parties. In our party list electoral system this is… Continue reading
-
SONA 2019: Mbeki without the poetry By Terry Bell
South Africa is again in the midst of that five-yearly cycle when politicians make extravagant promises that, on even cursory examination, ignore reality. And that does not even mean looking ahead to the consequences of the fourth industrial revolution that the world has already embarked on. Continue reading
-
A citizens’ path to true democracy By Terry Bell
There is a clear lesson — amounting to a wake-up call — for every trade unionist in the allegations and evidence emerging from the Zondo Commission into state capture. It is that the perception in the labour movement that the present economic system is inherently rotten, is true. Continue reading
-
Climate Eco-cide and Democratic Eco-Socialism in South Africa by Vishwas Satga
The end of the human race is a very real prospect in the context of climate change and ultimately a heating world. Global warming at increases of 3, 4 or 5 degree Celsius means planet earth will no longer be habitable for human and most non-human life. There is scientific evidence that this has happened… Continue reading
-
South Africa Searches for a “Financial Parachute”, A $170 Billion Foreign Debt Cliff Looms. IMF “Economic Medicine” By Prof. Patrick Bond
Johannesburg – This week’s hush-hush visit by International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde to Pretoria (between stops in Ghana and Angola) is mysterious. In contrast to last week’s IMF press briefing claim – “Madame Lagarde will hold meetings with the authorities, as well as fairly extensive meetings with the private sector, civil society, academia,… Continue reading
-
‘Fallism 2016’ – when SA students challenged the status quo By Terry Bell
Everything Must Fall, the hard-hitting, thought provoking documentary film that provides perhaps the best insight possible into the tumultuous events that disrupted South African university campuses in 2016 will feature in the Netherlandsat the world’s largest documentary film festival from November 15 to 25. It will be part of a programme section entitled Frontline at… Continue reading
-
South Africa: Everything Must Fall – Documentary Trailer 2018
An unflinching look at the #FeesMustFall student movement that burst onto the South African political landscape in 2015 as a protest over the cost of education, and morphed into the most militant national revolt since the country’s first democratic elections in 1994. The story is told by four student leaders at Wits University and their… Continue reading
-
This is how to do it: A new land occupation in Germiston, South Africa
On 11 May 2018, more than two hundred people occupied unused land in Germiston, on the East Rand in Gauteng, South Africa. We laid out our design for the occupation in the afternoon, built throughout the night and slept on the occupied land. Around 350 stands have been marked out via a democratic and carefully… Continue reading
-
Cyril Ramaphosa relaunches neo-liberalism By Prof. Patrick Bond
Cyril Ramaphosa’s soft-coup firing of Jacob Zuma from the South African presidency on 14 February 2018, after nearly nine years in power and a bitter struggle to avoid resignation, has contradictory local and geopolitical implications. Amidst general applause at seeing Zuma’s rear end in the society, immediately concerns arise about the new president’s neo-liberal, pro-corporate… Continue reading
-
Cape Town Water Wars: A Literal Shitstorm
In Cape Town, one of the most unequal cities in the world, poor people are taking the buckets they use for chemical toilets and turning them into weapons, as the water shortage intensifies class conflicts Continue reading
The New Dark Age 