Ben Cousins, University of the Western Cape What is going wrong in South Africa’s land reform programme, and how can its failings be addressed? In 22 years land reform has barely altered the agrarian structure of South Africa, and has had only minor effects on rural livelihoods. Partly unintentionally, partly by design, land reform has […]
News/Politics
Posted inNews/Politics
Pollyanna throws in the towel against the university Taliban
Let’s chant a dirge for the chief executives of one of South Africa’s most besieged economic sectors. Just consider the challenges they face daily. They head financially precarious entities in a field where both the raw-material inputs and the finished goods are of declining quality. A number of them preside over plants that once produced […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
SA’s UN vote against press freedom NGO is a vote against diversity of perspectives
By Caroline James This week, South Africa was one of eight countries in the United Nations Committee on Non-Governmental Organisations that voted to deny the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) observer status at the United Nations (UN). South Africa voted against accreditation along with countries like China and Russia who are not known for their […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Democratic agitation needs a different protest language
The report by Municipal IQ (May 11, 2016) on the trends in service-delivery protests in the country is indeed very disturbing. A worrying component of these protests is the increasing level of violence that is associated with these protests. What is even more worrying is the fact that the violence is mostly perpetrated by the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Why the traditional leadership bill will entrench corrupt, rural political atmosphere
At this very moment, government efforts to enact the Traditional and Khoisan Leadership Bill are advancing; it is up to civil society to stop this. The legislation would entrench power and further legitimacy to undemocratic structures in traditional leadership operating within an often violent and corrupt rural political atmosphere. Even if the bill were conducive […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Zapiro, monkeys and red herrings
Editorial cartooning must be one of the most difficult jobs out there. Not only must the cartoonist be technically adept when it comes to caricature, he or she also has to find the humour in situations that often, on the surface, aren’t especially funny. Day in and day out, cartoonists have to generate ideas and […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
What does Africa really want?
As we celebrate yet another Africa Day, the question of what Africa really wants (and or what Africans, wherever they are, want) cannot be avoided. This question is forever lingering, and it becomes sharpened when Africa interacts with the rest of the world. The question must be confronted or posed directly especially given the fuzzy […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Decolonising knowledge doesn’t contradict ideal of academic excellence
By Shose Kessi Real and lasting social change does not take place without theory. Theory crafts, guides, sustains and legitimises social systems. In order to dismantle the social systems we live in, which are characterised by racism and other forms of oppression, we need to advance our theories. These theories should and must emerge from […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zuma washes his hands of a looming crisis
To state that South Africa is spinning towards a serious crisis is not hyperbole. There are many factors causing this, including failed governance and delivery, but at its nub it is triggered by greed and powered by a ruthless determination to subvert our democracy and the mechanisms that protect it. This is not yet the […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
White people have much to learn from Eugene de Kock
By Natasha Skoryk In the past few days, Eugene de Kock’s presence at the Franschhoek Literary Festival caused a popular furore. “He had no right to be there,” people have insisted, “He should have known better.” I understand what black South Africans mean when they say this. I can only imagine the unspeakable pain of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Is it time for a third party shake up in US politics?
By Caitlin Dean My husband got up on his soap box last week and now he won’t get down. He is angry, shocked and wants change. Why is he so rankled? Well of course, it’s this US election and more precisely, voting and what he sees as an unfair process. Dear husband’s frustrations with the […]
Posted inEquality, General, News/Politics
On decolonising Africa and studying abroad: A response to Zinhle Manzini
By Kgaugelo Sebidi As a Rhodes Scholar who will be heading to the University of Oxford in a few months to read for a master of philosophy in development studies, I must admit that the arguments made in Zinhle Manzini’s blog post “If you are serious about decolonising Africa, don’t study abroad” are short sighted […]