No going back

25th May 2016 Bernard Chiguvare GroundUp 0

A group of almost 100 pensioners from the Eastern Cape picketed parliament. On the first two nights, they slept in front of the Parliament building
A group of pensioners from the Eastern Cape who have been picketing at Parliament in Cape Town have vowed to remain at the Parliament precinct until they get their moneys.

COSATU can learn from Corbyn to avoid slipping into irrelevance

8th December 2015 Terry Bell 0

“The ANC came before democracy.” This statement by President Jacob Zuma was obviously incorrect since the concept of democracy pre-dated the formation of the ANC in 1912 by about 2,500 years.
It came to us from the ancient Greeks who also provided the term, taken from demos (people) and kratos (power). However Zuma did go on to explain that he meant his comment to apply to South Africa where the first non-racial parliamentary elections were staged 82 years after the birth of what became the ANC.
This, along with comments made at last week’s Cosatu congress, put the whole question of what democracy means into focus. At the same time, the media was again accused of misleading the voting public and so undermining both the ANC and its trade union partner.
But does universal adult suffrage — votes for all to a parliament — equal democracy? And is the media really able, to a large degree, to manipulate public opinion and, therefore, harm the trade union movement and the country?

A jobs massacre on the third anniversary of Marikana

15th October 2015 Nicolas Dieltiens 0

The recent announcement by the mining industry that it would be axing thousands of jobs sent shudders of dread across the country.
The 10 joint interventions by the stakeholders  are meant to promote South African minerals,  enhance productivity and an agreement that when mines were intended to be mothballed or sold, saving jobs would be prioritized.

Youth unemployment in Khayelitsha

1st June 2014 Nick Balabala 0

Youth unemployment in South Africa has been described by the COSATU general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi as a ticking time bomb. There is merit in the […]