Now that Nelson Mandela is gone, there will be no end of people claiming to know exactly what his opinion would have been on every conceivable issue. Invariably, it will coincide with the opinion that they, too, hold. But while I can’t honestly hazhard Madiba’s opinion on e-tolls, I do sense a growing irritation among […]
COSATU
Posted inNews/Politics
With an ‘oppositionist’ Cosatu, who needs a DA?
ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe is not so happy with the “oppositionist” posture that Cosatu and some unions within the federation take when dealing with the ruling party. The veteran former unionist surely feels that “as comrades with same revolutionary parent (read goal), let us talk gently and say our opprobrium behind closed doors, not […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, News/Politics
We must treat women as equals: Response to Jessie Duarte on Vavi
Life is complex and therefore consciousness about life is caused by a myriad of issues internal and external to each person and society at a particular time. In this instance cause and effect do not sit in rigid anti-thesis one from the other. Therefore, presentation of things in a one-sided manner as Jessie Duarte did, […]
Posted inNews/Politics
There will be more Vavis
Our revolution in order to succeed depends on Zwelinzima Vavi too much. Thus, if they target or kill him, they would have delayed this revolution for decades. By their nature, revolutions take time to build alternative and credible leaders. This is because revolutions depend on selflessness and loyalty, which are traits that take time to […]
Posted inNews/Politics
It’s not easy being an ANCYL member these days
Things are getting very interesting in South African politics. They are confusing too. The emergence of the Economic Freedom Fighters has made things worse. Now, imagine that you are a young person, an active member of the ANCYL and also a young worker participating in a Cosatu-aligned union. At every level of your activism you […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The Jewish-Christian link in SA elections
Elections due for early 2014, are shaping up to be South Africa’s most hotly contested. A critical array of issues, such as unemployment levels in excess of 40% and still rising, poor delivery of basic services, police brutality, on-going rolling labour unrest, chronic government corruption and a stalling economy are vital to every population group. […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Surreal manipulation of truth by Wits concert disrupters
It doesn’t matter what ball you put in your opponent’s court so long as you spin it. Shane Warne would agree, and so would those behind the break-up of a concert by Israeli-born pianist Yossi Reshev at Wits last March. Ever since that incident, the latter and their apologists have presented a consistently changing set […]
Posted inNews/Politics
SA’s Tripartite Alliance: ‘He loves me, he loves me not…’
It’s on, it’s cootchy-coo. No, it’s off, it’s divorce. Monitoring South Africa’s governing alliance is a bit like watching a low-grade soapie starring a fractious married couple. Or more accurately, an eternally bickering ménage à trois, with two parties always ganging up on the third, but with loyalties shifting constantly. Sometimes it is the African […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Marikana: Political or economic unrest?
No one can argue that South Africa will never be the same again after the Marikana massacre. What remains arguable, however, is how the country moves forward in the aftermath of the incident. For business, the sooner everything dies down and workers go back to work the better. For workers, in sharp contrast, this is […]
Posted inGeneral
White males, naked capitalism and ending economic apartheid
The country watches transfixed as the ANC creaks and groans like a wooden ship trapped in Antarctic ice. The ANC has long kept the lid on things, like some benevolent dictator might have done. But now the ship threatens to break apart. There goes the life boat. People cling to its splintered timbers hoping these […]
Posted inBusiness, General, News/Politics
Wage subsidy: Cosatu doesn’t care about the youth
A drive on a weekday morning around the township of Alexandra in Johannesburg will reveal to you the real face of unemployment in South Africa. On the corners of the many avenues in this sprawling township where I grew up, young men and women roam the streets. Some play dice and morabaraba and some are […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Street politics: A new twist to an old tactic
The yoof are on the march. Again. It does not make for a pretty picture, although it is a politically fascinating one. The issues vary from train fares at the micro level to unemployment, rural deprivation and racism at the macro. The strategy, however, is uniform, calculated and well tested in South Africa. It is […]