Amid unprecedented media interest, Cosatu’s eleventh national congress gets underway in Midrand on Monday. Many of the nearly 300 journalists, photographers and members of camera crews accredited to attend the event are clearly expecting drama.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 19 September 2012
In 2011, a new Backlogs Grant was introduced. The National Treasury allocated R700 million to it. The grant's main purpose was to eradicate inappropriate structures and mud schools as well as the provision of basic services to schools such as water, electricity and toilets.
Yoliswa Dwane
Opinion | 18 September 2012
Last year Rhodes University academic Jane Duncan warned of "proto fascism" emerging in South Africa. At the same time, in an article for a local publication, I wrote that "the first loud, trumpet calls to fascism in modern South Africa have been sounded".
Terry Bell
Opinion | 12 September 2012
South Africa has one of the most progressive constitutions in the world. The Constitution states that everyone has the right to basic healthcare, education and shelter, but upon reading further, there are limitations placed on these rights such as the state acting "within its available resources".
Zamandaba Sibiya
Opinion | 12 September 2012
Dalli Weyers looks at the design problems with the Tara KLamp circumcision device.
Dalli Weyers
Opinion | 5 September 2012
The bloodbath at Lonmin’s Marikana mine served to alert more of the public to aspects of feuding and tension that have been ongoing for years and not only at Lonmin and in the mining industry generally. In particular it has highlighted the stresses, strains and battles for power and position within the trade union movement and opened up a number of debates about the way forward.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 3 September 2012
The name Armstrong dominated the past week's headlines. Neil remained a public hero until his end. Lance’s drug infested career came home to roost. However the level of public support demonstrated for Lance Armstrong, as evidenced in website comments and polls, has been surprising.
Shuaib Manjra
Opinion | 29 August 2012
None of the big political parties are showing the kind of leadership that is needed when it comes to housing.
Nathan Geffen
Opinion | 29 August 2012
“Money, historic distrust, poor communication by and between different parties and the intervention of a small criminal element provided the volatile mix that exploded into violence....."
Terry Bell
Opinion | 27 August 2012
Given the amount of often dangerous nonsense being sprouted about "anarchists" and about Amcu allegedly being a newly formed union sponsored by everyone from the Chamber of Mines to BHP Billiton, I provide this historic record: an Inside Labour column published on February 19 this year with which nobody from the NUM or SACP disagreed.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 22 August 2012
A few weeks ago, the City of Cape Town was rocked by a spate of road blockades and other significant protests. Certain liberal NGOs joined the Democratic Alliance in condemning the protests claiming that they are violent and motivated by political party agendas.
Jared Sacks
Opinion | 22 August 2012
On the evening of Friday 3 August thousands of Khayelitsha residents were nearing the end of the long and difficult bus journey that city workers endure twice a day.
Gavin Silber
Opinion | 17 August 2012
The ongoing tension and violence at South Africa’s Lonmin platinum mine is a much more complex and messy business than a simple turf war between unions in the Rustenburg region of the country.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 17 August 2012
On 6 August, something extraordinary happened: NASA, the US space agency, landed a research craft called the Curiosity rover on Mars.
Jacques van Heerden
Opinion | 15 August 2012
In this week of Women’s Day, the 30th summer Olympiad is coming to an end. Over the past week and more, women and men from all backgrounds have displayed their sporting abilities, watched on television by more than 1 billion people around the world.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 13 August 2012
I live in a house in Nyanga township in Cape Town. But before 1994 I lived in Nyanga Bush in a tent, then a plastic shack, then a corrugated iron shack.
Vuyiseka Dubula
Opinion | 8 August 2012