Opinion and Analysis

Government’s fuel policy makes us all poorer

Expect another hike in the price of petrol, diesel and paraffin in October. This is because the price is staying above $110 a barrel and the rand is weakening.

Jack Lewis

Opinion | 19 September 2012

Another disappointing delivery failure by the education department

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

NPA’s response to Marikana has undermined the right to life

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

Why fascism is a real danger

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

Injury, bleeding, delayed healing and mangled penises by design

Dalli Weyers looks at the design problems with the Tara KLamp circumcision device.

Dalli Weyers

Opinion | 5 September 2012

A union key to a really democratic future

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

Lance Armstrong: It’s about the bike, not the boosters

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

Behind the political posturing and defensiveness are people with genuine unfilled needs

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

Sorting facts from propaganda at Marikana

“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

Implats, Lonmin and the battle of the unions

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

On the Politics of Protest in Cape Town

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

Why Cape Town has erupted and what we can do about it

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

No angels in the bloody Lonmin clashes

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

Mars and the need to imagine a different South Africa

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

The forgotten history of workers’ Olympics

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

Service delivery failures: we need leadership not opportunists

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