Opinion
Youth Day: Struggle for equal education continues
Nearly 40 years ago on 16 June 1976, there was a youth uprising in Soweto. This was evoked by the learners at the time who did not want to be taught in Afrikaans. Their struggle was against an inferior education system that was setting them up for failure.
Sizwe Zubenathi Mapapu
Opinion | 16 June 2014
English, not Afrikaans, is the problem for today’s youth
As a young African and as a member of youth organisation Inkululeko in Mind, I hold 16 June as a day of honour for our heroes who gave their lives so that our generation would have better education. We have to defend and advance their legacy and pass it to generations to come.
Monde Kula
Opinion | 16 June 2014
“White foreigners”: The danger of history repeating itself
Gwede Mantashe, former chairman of the SA Communist Party, former general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and now the powerful secretary-general of the governing ANC, sounded furious this week. In what must qualify as the most ironic case of “we’ve heard all that before”, he blamed the platinum belt strike and the consequent crisis on “white foreigners”.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 13 June 2014
Lwandle: too much acrimony, too little understanding
The house demolitions and evictions that took place in Strand last week highlighted the class and race fractures that run through our country.
Nathan Geffen
Opinion | 12 June 2014
NUM and Nzimande defence of Zokwana raises questions about transparency for unions
The recent allegations of financial impropriety in the upper ranks of the SA Municipal Workers’ Union are only the latest in a string of similar scandals over the years. And it is little wonder that these have erupted, for many trade unions have transformed themselves into bureaucratic organisations with business links.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 11 June 2014
Broken promises and climate of fear at Eastern Cape school
Back in 2012, learners at Moshesh Senior Secondary School, about 35km from Matatiele in the Eastern Cape, contacted Equal Education (EE) about the abysmal conditions at their school. Last week, EE returned to Moshesh to see what had changed.
Olivia Murphy
Opinion | 10 June 2014
Can the platinum producers afford the wages demanded?
Like any good question, the answer to whether the platinum producers can afford the demands made by striking workers is: “it depends”.
Gilad Isaacs
Opinion | 9 June 2014
Cape Town’s informal settlements the same, despite facelift
Ruth Massey recently undertook doctoral research in Cape Town’s Makhaza and New Rest settlements. Here, she shares her concerns about the way informal settlements are being managed.
Dr Ruth T. Massey
Opinion | 5 June 2014
Fix our healthcare system so that we may live!
Access to the Constitution and constitutional education in isiXhosa is not an an added extra—it is a constitutional right, argue Tim Hodgson and Mluleki Marongo.
Tim Hodgson and Mluleki Marongo
Opinion | 4 June 2014