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News & Views by Terry Bell
Browsing All Posts published on »September, 2011«
Back to the future: workers & ‘optimisation’
September 17, 2011
From an employer and business perspective there is one major problem with workers: they are human. This is not a moral judgement, and to use a term generally ascribed to the pampered aristocracy of yesteryear, workers are “a necessary evil”.
Remembering the ‘Battle of Auckland’
September 13, 2011
There were two major rugby events in New Zealand on Sunday, September 11. In the capital, Wellington, the Springboks faced Wales in their first defence of the World Cup; 640 km to the north, in the economic centre of Auckland, anti-apartheid veterans marched to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the anti-apartheid "Battle of Auckland”.
Old lessons yet to be learned
September 10, 2011
Little more than a year ago, it was discovered, to clucks of disapproval and widespread expressions of horror, that even those most South African of all sporting noise makers, the vuvuzelas, had been imported from China. Now the same discovery regarding World Cup rugby memorabilia, has been made. But instead of tackling the real issues, trade unions and others continue banging the drum of patriotism.
Home-grown SA fascism emerges
September 2, 2011
The first, loud, trumpet calls to fascism in modern South Africa have been sounded. They emanate from Julius Malema and the ANC Youth League (ANCYL). It may seem melodramatic to write this, but only because fascism is a little understood, ill-defined term that sends shivers of apprehension through most minds.
A strike that could be a tactical blunder
September 2, 2011
If South Africa's major trade union federation, Cosatu, goes ahead with its planned one-day national strike on October 5 it could prove to be a major tactical blunder that will weaken, rather than strengthen, the labour movement.
Terry Bell Writes 
Secrecy: a poison to democracy
September 22, 2011
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Secrets often leak into the public domain. In the process they can become distorted and those in the know can also use them to gain favours or protection — to blackmail and manipulate. However, there are two kinds of secret: one that should be eradicated as vigorously as possible and the other which perhaps cannot — and certainly should not — be tampered with.