A promising move against impunity
It may have taken 34 years, but the decision to bring the murderers of Thomas Sankara to book is an important warning to assassins and their backers.
Editorial
Data is not a luxury but a necessity
South African network providers MTN and Vodacom have been exploiting their customers for decades, from high SMS prices to exorbitant data costs. They need far more than just a slap on the wrist.
Long Read | Senzeni Na?
The South African state and the society from which it stems and governs are systemically violent. It is time to break this cycle of violence with a politics rooted in a commitment to healing.
A fleeting sense of national solidarity
Trust in the state and the ANC has declined precipitously since the initial lockdown began, making it urgent to look beyond shallow political dramas and see what is driving the country’s crisis.
King Zwelithini’s reckless use of personal power
It would be remiss not to acknowledge the Zulu King’s complicity with apartheid machinations, political violence, homophobia, sexism and xenophobia – and the exploitative Ingonyama Trust.
The rising threat of political gangsterism
Jacob Zuma’s tea parties and the new political alliances and ideological projects being created suggest a dangerous intensification of authoritarian, ultra-nationalist and ethnic politics.
Women under fire
As International Women’s Day approaches, we need to affirm the right of women – all women – to full and free participation in the public sphere.
Traditional Courts Bill denies democratic rights
A fabricated idea of tradition legitimates the way in which the bill enforces subordination to traditional courts, with no possibility to opt out.
Motshekga and language that authorises rape culture
The minister of basic education’s recent statements about rape, civilisation and sophistication need to be considered in ways that take the makings of culture and function of language seriously.
Zuma faction’s last stand endangers all of SA
With the legal net tightening around Jacob Zuma and his key allies, the political temperature will escalate rapidly in the ANC and society. Analytical and political clarity is an urgent imperative.
Sport has a rape culture problem
Like racial abuse, the ingrained use of rape as sporting terminology is unacceptable and all those involved in sport need to stop condoning such language.
Xenophobia marks SA’s ongoing decline
The anti-Chinese posts that flooded social media in response to Xiaomei Havard taking office are loathsome.
Zuma, the once invincible chess hustler exposed
Revelations about the former president’s abuse of the intelligence arms of the state to secure power and riches for himself and his cronies are profoundly disturbing.
Biden is an inadequate response to the rise of the Right
Defeating right-wing authoritarianism means rejecting the neoliberal status quo and replacing it with an emancipatory agenda driven by popular organisation.
Alcohol industry and government have to do better
The three sales bans the government has imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic have placed South Africans’ alcohol abuse and the booze industry’s predatory nature firmly in the spotlight.
Trumpism will fester into the future
American voters really only had two choices at the polls, and diversity at the helm is not enough to put the US firmly on the road to inclusivity.
The revolutionary promise of New Year’s Day
In 1804, enslaved Africans seized their freedom on the Caribbean island that became Haiti. It came at an unthinkable cost, but it remains an inspiring example of what popular commitment and organisation can achieve.
A year of global crisis
The Covid-19 pandemic remains a worldwide crisis. An adequate response to it, and to the crises to come, will require forms of progressive organisation with a global reach.
SA is failing to meet the challenge of a second wave
The intersection of the second wave of Covid-19 infections with the festive season poses real risks for society – risks that the government seems unable or unwilling to address.
More authoritarianism will escalate social violence
South Africans live in constant fear. Many of the responses proposed to deal with the crisis of endemic violence are themselves a threat to social solidarity and the prospect of a just peace. However, the downward spiral can be reversed in democratic, lasting ways.
Urgent action is required to oppose xenophobia
Both ANC factions have chosen to incite xenophobia to sustain consent for their authority, but popular organisations can and must create grassroots opposition in solidarity with migrants.