Opinion
West Papua’s “Cry for help, Cry for Freedom”
On 17 February Equal Education hosted a talk by Benny Wenda of the Free West Papua Campaign at the Wits School of Education. He is in South Africa to spread awareness about the West Papuan fight against Indonesian colonialism and gross human rights abuses of the West Papuan people. He said he was also here to "learn how [South African] leaders fought against apartheid, for justice and against [racial] discrimination."
Joshua Maserow
Opinion | 25 February 2015
A R12,500 spectre, cool heads and wage talks
Although there is speculation that the spectre of the R12,500 a month minimum wage demand is stalking the gold mines, no mandates have yet been received by the unions involved. This pay demand came to prominence at Lonmin’s Marikana platinum mine in August 2012. It has now developed something of an iconic status among mine workers.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 23 February 2015
City of Cape Town: Unauthorised extensions to homes hamper housing delivery
The City of Cape Town has policies in place, not to make it more difficult for our residents to live dignified lives, but to ensure that land use and housing delivery is equitable. The undeniable fact is, there is limited land available. And there are many people coming into our city for a better life. So, we have to be as fair as we can.
Priya Reddy
Opinion | 20 February 2015
Farm workers still fighting for dignity and their rights in the Western Cape
All kinds of nice things are being said and promises are once again being made by all the political parties around the State of the Nation speech and debate in parliament, writes Henriette Abrahams. But the reality on the ground for farm workers is very different.
Henriette Abrahams
Opinion | 20 February 2015
School governing bodies have vital role to play
Zonnebloem Boys is a primary school in District 6 in Cape Town. In March, along with all South African public schools, it will hold elections to decide who will represent its parents, teachers and learners on the School Governing Body (SGB). Much is at stake in these elections: SGBs have the potential to ensure that quality education is distributed more equally across our population.
Frances Eberhard
Opinion | 20 February 2015
Commuters must organise to improve Metrorail
The Metrorail website claims that it carries up to two million passengers per day countrywide. Finding a reliable estimate of how many people commute daily using trains in the Western Cape is challenging. Estimates range from 300,000 to over 700,000. Whatever the number, a lot of people, mostly working class, depend on trains to get to and from work.
Nathan Geffen
Opinion | 19 February 2015
Love is Blind: The youth wage subsidy and the South African media
Some media houses are cheerleading for the youth wage subsidy, despite the available evidence strongly suggesting that it is already a R2bn waste of public money.
Doron Isaacs
Opinion | 19 February 2015
Poverty report strengthens COSATU’s case for national minimum wage and comprehensive social security
The Congress of South African Trade Unions’ argument for a national minimum wage, comprehensive social secuity, and a basic income grant was greatly strengthened by the report released by Statistics SA on 3 February 2015, which exposed the shocking extent and continued persistence of extreme levels of poverty, writes the organisation's General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.
Zwelinzima Vavi
Opinion | 19 February 2015
A silver lining for the post office?
Every cloud has a silver lining. This expression implies that there is some good in every troubled circumstance. Yet it is often difficult to find that silver lining in terms of benefits gained or lessons learned. However, in the present shambles that is the Post Office many workers and trade unions seem to have learned a valuable lesson: nationalisation — state control — does not necessarily mean any improvement.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 16 February 2015