part of no part

"The Commission finds the former state and the minister of police directly responsible for the commission of gross human rights violations in that excessive force was unnecessarily used to stop a gathering of unarmed people. Police failed to give an order to disperse and/or adequate time to disperse, relied on live ammunition rather than alternative methods of crowd dispersal and fired in a sustained manner into the back of the crowd, resulting in the death of sixty-nine people and the injury of more than 300” From the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report , Vol 3, Chapter 6, October 1998 But this could easily have been from the Farlam Commission of enquiry into the massacre of 34 people in Marikana on the 16 th August 2012.  Why then the connection between Sharpeville and Marikana and what is the significance for South Africa today? According to Alistair Boddy-Evans, “ What caused worldwide condemnation (Of the Sharpeville massacre in 19...

As NUMSA bravely steps out of the shadows and begins to once again light the flame of working class emancipatory hopes, it is perhaps an opportune time to consider the development of South African economic policy and the subsequent abandonment of all that had gone before.  A rational starting point to analyse the trajectory of ANC economic policy should quite correctly be the Freedom Charter, which noted that " liberation would be meaningless without a return of the wealth of the land to the people as a whole...to allow the existing forces to retain their interests intact is to feed the route of racial supremacy and does not represent even a shadow of liberation". And which called for the transfer of ownership of the mineral wealth, the banks and monopoly industry, for industry and trade to be controlled in the interests of the well being of the people. it also pledged that all restriction on land ownership on a racial basis would be ended and that the land wo...

To the Editor Business Day Re: Policy Confusion relegates SA to depths of mining log : dated Tuesday 05 march 2013 It would appear to me that the incessant fixation of the business media, mining houses and its research and policy advocates on the difficulties faced by the mining industry attempts to hide the super profitability of the minerals sector in general in the hope that those directly affected by mining will not find a foothold in their objection to the continued exploitation of workers, communities and the land in general. This is not to say that mining is not a challenging industry and that it is not capital intensive, with all the concomitant difficulties that it implies. Rather, the profusion of lamentations about mining are indeed an indicator of the technicality of both its financing and operations. It would however appear to me that the super profitability of mining remains an issue which does not attract headlines. Seldom have I seen headlines shouting...

Too often we hear and see ordinary citizens throwing their hands up in desperation and despair, believeing that they are not able to make a difference to the ongoing corruption and exploitation of our country. All too often we hear and see individuals believing that their own isolated actions will make a change. "Isolated action, no matter how noble, is impotent.", but collectively we can make a difference. Through collective action we can change the world. Every citizen, no matter where they find themselves, can make a difference. To quote gene Sharp "The oft quoted phrase “Freedom is not free” is true. No outside force is coming to give oppressed people the freedom they so much want. People will have to learn how to take that freedom themselves. Easy it cannot be.If people can grasp what is required for their own liberation, they can chart courses of action which, through much travail, can eventually bring them their freedom. Then, with diligence they can co...