Opinion and Analysis

Operation Fiela: Sweeping Dignity Aside

Just under a month ago today, South Africa was shocked by the images on the cover of the Sunday Times on 19 April 2015. The images depicted Emmanuel Sithole, a Mozambican man and breadwinner for his family, lying on his back amongst rubbish as he pleaded with three men bearing knives standing above him, moments before they fatally stabbed him in cold blood.

Lara Wallis

Opinion | 18 May 2015

Extraordinary wage inequality among those paid with public money

South Africa is desperately short of nurses and many highly skilled practitioners are now over the age of 50 and nearing retirement. Yet there are estimated to be more than 30,000 South African nurses working abroad, everywhere from Dubai to Dublin.

Terry Bell

Opinion | 18 May 2015

“What is your business in Council?” - My experience trying to participate in the City of Cape Town’s budget

Every year the mayor calls for residents to participate in the budget process by making submissions on Cape Town's draft budget. Last year fewer than forty people wrote submissions and only 23 were from the public. This has been the trend for the last couple of years.

Axolile Notywala

Opinion | 14 May 2015

On D-Day for public sector wage agreement, consider lopsided government salaries

Don’t blame workers for poor management. And feel some sympathy for any competent managers, whether in a large school, a government department, or parastatal who often have to deal with a legacy of maladministration, all too often accompanied by levels of corruption.

Terry Bell

Opinion | 11 May 2015

How Virginia de Azevedo has improved our health

Dr Virginia de Azevedo, the City Health Manager in Khayelitsha, has become a target of SAMWU strike action which affects ten City of Cape Town run clinics in Khayelitsha.

Lynne Wilkinson

Opinion | 7 May 2015

On being black in UCT’s law faculty

Amid all the furore over the removal of the Rhodes statute, a crucial point must be made and reiterated: the Rhodes statue is not merely a symbol for the continued exclusion of black students, it is also the lived experience for many black students -- as the experiences of black students at the UCT Law School shows.

Johan Lorenzen, Thamsanqa Malusi and Kevin Minofu

Opinion | 6 May 2015

The rebellion of the poor

Today, 1 May, South Africa celebrates Workers’ Day. In the third and last in a series of articles, Leonard Gentle argues that a new labour movement will have to be part of a broader social movement.

Leonard Gentle

Opinion | 1 May 2015

The crisis in Cosatu ,“ how should we respond?

Cosatu’s biggest union, Numsa with 340,000 members, has been expelled from the federation. Half of Cosatu’s affiliates have allied themselves with Numsa and are operating outside Cosatu’s fold. But does the crisis in Cosatu matter? Does it make any difference to class struggle in defending and promoting working class interests?

Martin Jansen

Opinion | 30 April 2015

Is COSATU at a crossroad? No, it’s just irrelevant

Tomorrow, May 1, South Africa celebrates Workers’ Day. In the second of three articles, Leonard Gentle analyses the recent history of the labour movement in South Africa.

Leonard Gentle

Opinion | 30 April 2015