November | 2011 | Terry Bell Writes

Browsing All Posts published on »November, 2011«

Xmas bells ring in profit — and deeper debt

November 26, 2011

The measures taken to to get the tills of the towns of South Africa ringing for a profitable Xmas season, are similar to those that led, via the sub-prime mortgage debacle in the United States, to the current and ongoing global crisis. This is based on short-term thinking and the extension of unsustainable credit.

A call to resist the secrecy law

November 21, 2011

November 22, 2011, has been dubbed “Black Tuesday” in South Africa. This is the day the Protection of State Information Bill went before parliament on its way to being rubber stamped into a law that all principled journalists worth their salt will do everything to circumvent. And, courtesy of the nature of the internet, they will be able to do so.

Another pre-school fairy story?

November 17, 2011

National planning minister Trevor Manuel and his commission consider early childhood development (ECD) and pre-school education vital to the future development of South Africa. However, the 20-year National Development Plan (NDP) released this week by Manuel does not even define ECD or pre-school education, let alone how it should be implemented, where, when and by whom. So the fear across the education sector is that the NDP may be yet another case of “just talking the talk”.

Sober reflection as SA’s CCMA turns 15

November 12, 2011

As the world teeters on the brink of a further slide toward what looks like economic chaos, South Africa's Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) has marked 15 years of existence. Director Nerine Kahn proudly noted that there was much to celebrate, but there was no celebration.

A 13-year legal travesty

November 4, 2011

In a scene reminiscent of the apartheid era, the final act in a 13-year travesty of justice drama began shortly after midnight on Thursday last week. Although there is no evidence that Donovan Leibrandt was at the scene either before during or after a 1998 arson attempt by another naval rating who died in the process, he was taken into custody this week to serve a four-year sentence on the basis of "common purpose".