Opinion
In crisis times, symbiosis can trump the adversarial
South Africa’s annual wage bargaining — some say, strike — season has begun. In a
series of conferences this week, the various sides got together to decide on their
strategies and to plan the tactics they intend to follow as the hard talking gets
underway.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 20 March 2013
Apartheid: South Africa’s history, Palestine’s reality?
This is an edited version of remarks made by Doron Isaacs at an event hosted by the UCT Palestine Solidarity Forum for Israel Apartheid Week 2013. The other panelists, who spoke prior to Isaacs, were Professor Andrew Nash and Mbuyiseni Ndlozi.
Doron Isaacs
Opinion | 15 March 2013
Women’s day ideals: still a long way to go
It was International Women’s Day (IWD) on Friday. And it seemed an appropriate
time for a reminder about the labour movement origins of the day and of its noble
aims and egalitarian promise. This because several recent studies reveal that the
female half of humanity is once again bearing the brunt of the global economic crisis.
After all, when it began in 1910, IWD was rich with the promise of equality.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 13 March 2013
South Africa under construction: Give public works a chance
The Expanded Public Works Programme aims to create millions of short-term jobs every year while also providing the county with much needed infrastructure such as roads, hospitals and schools in areas that need it.
Amelia Midgley
Opinion | 13 March 2013
DA electoral reforms ignore the main problem: party funding
Of all the adjectives used to describe South African politics, boring cannot be one of them. Completely out of the blue the Democratic Alliance (DA) on Tuesday submitted an Electoral Reform Bill (Bill) to Parliament, which aims “to provide for the demarcation of … constituencies” in order to deal with the “alienation by voters from the political system”.
Gregory Solik
Opinion | 6 March 2013
The grant that changed my life
South Africa's social grant system is sometimes criticised as financially unsustainable and fueling dependency, but people such as Maureen Philander from Delft provide an example of how social assistance can transform lives. She shares her story with us.
Maureen Philander
Opinion | 6 March 2013
Mud Schools: a decade of lying to children
Angie Motshekga is in an ebullient mood. On Tuesday at Parliament she told the media that South African education is on an upward trajectory, characterized by focus, consistency and clarity. Fine. Nothing wrong with a bit of positive thinking.
Doron Isaacs
Opinion | 5 March 2013
Constitutionally speaking about the 2014 election
The 2014 election campaign has clearly begun and promises to be long and almost
certainly very bitter. Labour relations — and relations with labour — are likely to be
in the forefront, with Cosatu, as a member of the governing tripartite allliance, in the
thick of it.
Opinion | 27 February 2013
So you want a gun?
Do you want to buy a firearm for protection? Many people do because of the high rate of violent crime in South Africa. But is it sensible? Will a gun make you more secure or will it put you and your loved ones in greater danger?
Nathan Geffen
Opinion | 27 February 2013