The death of Black Consciousness leader Steve Biko this month 35 years ago shocked the world. It was the cruel manner in which he died that highlighted the undesirable effects of torture by law enforcers. Biko was tortured to death while held at Pretoria Central Prison in 1977. Apartheid security policy allegedly tried to get […]
News/Politics
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Marikana a marker of profound dissatisfaction countrywide
The explosion that at Marikana mine left 10 dead to union violence and 34 dead to police gunfire oddly caught the government by surprise. It was as if social discontent is not a seething issue in South Africa, surging constantly against the breakwaters of complacency. But it seems that neither the government’s intelligence networks nor […]
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Race underlies this race
Sometimes it’s shockingly explicit, sometimes it’s subtle, but it’s always present: There’s an undeniable racial undertone to this year’s US presidential contest between President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney. Part of it is structural: Most Americans are no longer white. This year, for the first time, Latinos, African-Americans, Asians, and Native Americans together outnumber […]
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State capacity key to economic growth
Historically, in the developing world, active macro-economic and industrial policy on the part of the state is more often than not greeted with pessimism and scepticism. This very prevalent competency and trust-deficit emanates from valid concerns that the state — specifically in the developing world — is often too inefficient and too corrupt (sometimes both) […]
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Marikana, the sign of a schizophrenic state
As assault charges are laid against the police in the aftermath of the Marikana massacre, the outrageous reality is that torture is still not criminalised in South Africa. A draft law called the Prevention and Combating of Torture of Persons Bill is before parliament but far from adoption. The relevant parliamentary committee has postponed the […]
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How to fix Lindela
By Corey R Johnson The Lindela Repatriation Centre, South Africa’s main detention facility for persons deemed to be illegal and slated for deportation, has a long and notorious reputation for repeated rights abuses of detainees. In 2000 the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) released a report, which detailed the human-rights violations and listed a […]
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Who’s behind the Marikana murder charge?
The decision to charge the protesting Marikana miners who were arrested by police with the murder of their 34 colleagues who died at the hands of the authorities is patently misguided. In this regard not only will the state’s efforts to prove the necessary dolus required for murder remain elusive but the alleged employment of […]
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Can we save the ANC?
The ANC is a party at war with itself. A party grappling with the machinations of converting from a liberation movement into a modern political party in government. This has proved to be a huge challenge as it also seeks to balance the fears and stubbornness of the old guard with the militancy and impatience […]
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Anything but the ANC
By Liz Molomo Watching silently from the side-lines over the last few months, as our country slowly unravels, many feel the restlessness of a nation at war with itself. It is not a war of guns and bombs. Neither is it a war of the pen and the sword. It is a war of words, […]
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Marikana: Time to rethink mining rights?
By Takura Zhangazha The tragic and fatal shooting of 34 mineworkers in South Africa has sadly brought back memories of the violence of the apartheid years. And because memories of apartheid are not only limited to South Africa, the killing fields of Marikana must also be viewed as part of the Southern African narrative of […]
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Don’t kiss me, I’m 16
The recent fiasco with the Sexual Offences Act should serve as an alert about continuing problems dating from before the act’s adoption in 2007 and that have still not received parliament’s attention. The Western Cape High Court in May upheld a finding that meant the courts could not pass sentences for 29 crimes for which […]
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After 33 years of stability, the labour landscape shudders
The tragic shootings at Lonmin’s Marikana mine is a wake-up call to South Africans who imagined that the hard yards had ended with the advent of democracy. It is also a seismic shock to a labour-relations system that has weathered more than three decades. At the very least, the shooting to death of 34 miners […]