part of no part

In response to the recent court judgement in the Pretoria High Court, Minister Mantashe lamented the ruling, claiming that “ the community of Xolobeni needs mining in order to bring about much-needed development in the area ” and that “ mining is being treated like a curse rather than a blessing. It is not treated as a wealth, it is treated as more of a negative. It is a polluter, it is a depravation and all that. That worries me a great deal because the mining we have, we are endowed with it naturally. We should just be forced to mine responsibly .” Minister Mantashe`s comments capture in a few short sentences the essence of why conflict between mining companies and communities have become so pervasive and why communities have been forced to resort to the courts in the face of a deep chasm of understanding between government and the people, whose interest’s government is supposed to represent. The assertion by the Minister that mining will bring development and oth...

Fatima Vally and Christopher Rutledge 22 November 2018. “When I first reported my case (of sexual harassment), I was told that he was too politically important to fire”. “There seems to be an institutionalised elite in this sector (civil society) that cannot be held accountable.” ‘’The media, funders, organisations and society in general have a particular idea of what a victim looks like. Karabo Mokoena’s murder made national headlines while most South African’s have no idea that Lerato Moloi, a black lesbian woman from the townships, was gruesomely murdered just a few days after Karabo.” These were just some of the harrowing comments and experiences shared at a public discussion hosted by ActionAid South Africa this week. The discussion was aimed at examining and confronting the hidden culture of violence, discrimination, harassment, and oppression that pervades civil society spaces and keeps women who organise and work in these spaces, in constant fear. In a ...