The Judicial Service Commission is interviewing four candidates for the Constitutional Court today and tomorrow (9 and 10 July). Alison Tilley of the Open Democracy Advice Centre explains why this week's process matters so much.
Alison Tilley
Opinion | 9 July 2015
On 28 May 2015 the Traditional Healers Organisation laid criminal charges against mining company Aquila Steel SA (Pty) Ltd and three of its directors for illegally causing extensive damage to one of South Africa’s most sacred cultural sites.
Tracey Davies
Opinion | 6 July 2015
Between 1,500 and 2,000 miners a year still apply for compensation for silicosis and TB contracted on the gold mines - yet the mining industry is doing very little to share the burden of these deadly diseases, writes Pete Lewis.
Pete Lewis
Opinion | 2 July 2015
Phakisa, from the Sesotho word meaning "hurry up", has been touted by government as the silver bullet that would “fast track the implementation of solutions on critical development issues.”
Christopher Rutledge
Opinion | 1 July 2015
On 23 June the Pretoria High Court struck from the roll an application by Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) that tried to put an urgent end to Operation Fiela. Lara Wallis explains why this is deeply concerning.
Lara Wallis
Opinion | 1 July 2015
Earlier this week, the Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance formally released the long-sought Environmental Master Plan for the Vanderbijlpark Steel Works owned by international steel giant ArcelorMittal (AMSA). AMSA only handed over this Master Plan, a series of expert reports on the environmental and health impacts of the steel works compiled in 2003, in December 2014, after being ordered to do so by the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Melissa Fourie, Robyn Hugo and Nicole Löser
Opinion | 29 June 2015
Trade unions — as democratic organisations of the sellers of labour — are probably more relevant now than they have ever been. Especially for anyone who feels that democracy is an important concept. Unfortunately, however, most of the unions remain narrowly focussed in a manner better suited to fighting the battles of an earlier era.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 29 June 2015
We're a generation of clicktivists, incessantly raising awareness for a wide assortment of causes and social justice issues. But we rarely follow through with any tangible action or put our money where our ‘shares’ are. So, logically, we should be lauding those attempting to deliver actual change by attempting to physically address societal problems.
Natasha Skoryk and Caitlin Spring
Opinion | 24 June 2015
Are we on a slippery slope to authoritarianism? It’s a valid question to ask since both the Cosatu and the national constitutions have been undermined. And they were both, in their own way, flag bearers of the democratic promise of the new South Africa.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 22 June 2015
On Friday, R2K Gauteng is planning a protest at the gates of the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD). We did this after many years of frustration -- from R2K activists and other civic structures in Gauteng -- at how JMPD officers have undermined the right to protest.
Bongani Xezwi
Opinion | 18 June 2015
Constitutional Court judge Edwin Cameron delivered the Bram Fischer Memorial Lecture at Oxford University on 16 June. While much longer than pieces we normally carry, the speech is relevant to vital current issues and we present it here in full.
Edwin Cameron
Analysis | 17 June 2015
Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The court’s prosecutor alleges that al-Bashir has "criminal responsibility for the crime of genocide … killing members of the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups … causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of those groups, and deliberately inflicting on those groups conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction in part”.
GroundUp Staff
Analysis | 15 June 2015
Today, the Pretoria High Court dismissed the urgent application by Advocate Dali Mpofu on behalf of Mzoxolo Magidwana, who was shot by police during the Marikana massacre, and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), for the Marikana Commission’s findings to be released immediately. The President has given a self-imposed deadline of 30 June for releasing the report.
Fairouz Nagia-Luddy
Opinion | 15 June 2015
Human rights lawyers have been engaged for ten years in a bid to secure massive damages for former gold miners who suffer from silicosis and TB. As the case heads for the courts, the mining industry is scrambling to offer its own and much less comprehensive solution.
Pete Lewis
Analysis | 11 June 2015
In a feature titled The Counted, The Guardian is keeping track of the number of people killed by police action in the United States. “US police kill more in days than other countries do in years,” says The Guardian. We wondered how the police in South Africa compare.
GroundUp Staff
Analysis | 10 June 2015
Apparently, it was Benjamin Franklin who said, “You fail to plan, and you plan to fail.” This axiom was repeated to me by a Blikkiesdorp community member.
Alison Tilley
Opinion | 9 June 2015