History Matters

By Mondli Makhanya – Sunday Times 21st February 2010 At the height of the battle between Josef Stalin and Leon Trotsky, the former was doing everything in his power to ensure that Lenin’s mantle passed on to him. In later years, having won the struggle, Stalin went to the extreme lengths of airbrushing Trotsky out [...]

Allister Sparks Published: 2009/09/02 THE decision by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) not to refer the complaint of gross misconduct against Cape Judge President John Hlophe to a formal hearing and to find him not guilty is disturbing, but hardly surprising. It has been apparent from the start of this drawn-out saga that there has [...]

What to make of the war of words that has erupted between Jonathan Jansen and Jessie Duarte? Briefly, ANC spokesperson Duarte is demanding that recently installed University of the Free State Rector Jonathan Jansen apologise for calling Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga a “lazy and incompetent minister, if one takes into account her record as [...]

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA Jul 14 2009 14:25 The government is still committed to halving unemployment and poverty by 2014, despite the global economic downturn, National Planning Commission Minister Trevor Manuel said on Tuesday. Outlining the government’s Medium Strategic Framework (MTSF) in Pretoria, Manuel said its main focus was to minimise the impact of the economic [...]

Comfort Ero and Piers Pigou.All Africa News 29 June 2009 Just ahead of this week’s African Union summit in Libya, South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma has advocated an old and discredited approach for dealing with African heads of state facing international justice, write Comfort Ero and Piers Pigou.When a leader of South Africa’s ruling African [...]

Chandré Prince Sunday Times June 27 Most packages are ‘small change’ Militant South African doctors, angered by the government’s “Mickey Mouse” wage offer, are now intent on shutting down the country’s public health system. Strike action, which this week crippled medical services in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, is set to intensify and spread throughout [...]

State of the Nation Address by His Excellency JG Zuma, President of the Republic of South Africa, Joint Sitting of Parliament, Cape Town 3 June 2009 Honourable Speaker; Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces; Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP; Deputy President of the Republic, Kgalema Motlanthe Former [...]

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Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement Tuesday, 19 May 2009 Now that the election is over and the politicians have finished hunting for positions they are running away from the people. It is impossible for a poor community to get a meeting with a politician. They only send in the police to break the people’s homes and [...]