By Aidan Prinsloo In my previous contribution, I made a fairly simple point: the retrenchments proposed by the big mining companies in South Africa are unavoidable. The only way our mines can offer competitive prices and look after their employees properly is if they move from the outdated and inhumane many people, low-tech model to […]
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Posted inNews/Politics
Why Amplats is doing the unavoidable
By Aidan Prinsloo The upcoming retrenchments are neither malicious nor a justified retribution. Instead, they are signs of transition that South African business must make. The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) and Cosatu have expressed outrage at Amplats’ proposed cut of 14 000 jobs. Other mining companies are proposing similar cuts. Some think […]
Posted inGeneral
I abused my daughter
By Nina Mahlangu* I first took my daughter to counselling when she was five years old, I was 29. Before that I had been abusive towards her since she was six months old. At the time I was unemployed. The father didn’t want anything to do with his daughter since the pregnancy. My baby and […]
Posted inGeneral
Dancing to the tune of whiteness?
By Sipho Singiswa Almost 19 years after the 1994 election, institutionalised racism against indigenous African people has remained intact and largely unchallenged. The majority of Africans still live in poverty with very little access to land, housing, basic quality education, clean water and decent primary healthcare. All this is in violation of the much-praised South […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Black people, fight your own battles
By Jackie Shandu Was Steve Biko over-optimistic when he said ”blacks are tired of standing on the sidelines and witnessing a game in which they should be participating”? It seems to me black South Africans do not want to be involved in the struggle for their own liberation. How else does one interpret the frenzy […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Will we remember Burry in six months’ time?
By Kerryn Krige The death of Burry Stander is appalling. But what is likely to be more shocking is that it is meaningless. That our current feeling of tragedy, of frustration and anger, our need to insist and see action will quickly fade. Tomorrow it will be another day. By next week Burry will be […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The unbearable ‘rightness’ of whiteness
By Barbara Mhangami-Ruwende There has been a robust discussion on the issue of white privilege in the world and in South Africa in the last few days on Facebook and I am relieved to see that finally people can have these discussions and express their views without the whole exercise degenerating into an e-blood bath. […]
Posted inNews/Politics
I’m scared of white men
By Miranda Mkhumbuzi I strongly believe we were all created equal and that we’re all the same. Race is a social construct with little biological significance. But most of my friends are the same race as me. I think this is because I live in a predominantly black area. Soweto to be exact. As far […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The blame game
By Lethukuthula Mxolisi Kheswa In all major setbacks, be they political, social or racial, there’s a dominating need to look around for the weak link to place the blame on. We’ve seen it countless times. Blame the bank for charging high fees, blame the government for failing to deliver, blame the principals for not enforcing […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The value of life in Palestine
By Nina Butler, Ramallah Days are short in Palestine. It is pitch black by 5pm and winter has not yet even solidified over the barren, beige land, scarred with barbed wire and mountains of trash. Lives are short here too. At 6pm last night I received a call from a local friend in Ramallah to […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Cervical cancer: Women’s lives are worth saving
By Nyasha Chingore-Munazvo and Priti Patel Around the world a woman dies of cervical cancer every two minutes. This is even worse in southern Africa, where cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women — more women in southern Africa die of cervical cancer than breast cancer. Deaths due to cervical cancer […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Aid agencies should use local journalists to get message across
By Prue Clarke Mae Azango is one courageous reporter. But she is also a potent weapon in the fight for human rights. Azango’s reporting on female genital cutting (FGC) in her native Liberia earlier this year, brought death threats and sent her and her nine-year-old daughter into hiding. Three weeks later, the Liberian government, having never dared risk votes by […]