Hypocrisy and strike facts to think about

October 31, 2022

1

(First published on Fin24 28.10.2022 and in City Press 30.10.2022) The decision this week by acting public sector minister Thulas Nxesi to “pencil in” a unilateral payment of a 3% pay rise for the public sector was, as many workers see it, another display of arrogance, insensitivity and hypocrisy by the government. It had the […]

Tagged:
Posted in: Uncategorized

Lessons of South Africa’s Transnet strike

October 19, 2022

0

First published on Fin24 and in City Press on 16/10/2022 After being out of the country for two months, I have returned to find, perhaps unsurprisingly, that nothing much has changed: the trade union movement has not fragmented, crippled state owned enterprises stagger on, prominent corruption accused retain their ;positions and major political arguments continue […]

Posted in: Uncategorized

Latest in the Wayward Boy series

October 12, 2022

0

Posted in: Uncategorized

Teetering along the brink of the abyss

August 9, 2022

1

(First published in Fin24 and in City Press, South Africa) The past few weeks have highlighted more clearly than ever, that the authority and the rule of law within South Africa’s constitutional parliamentary dispensation has gone beyond merely fraying at the edges. Also how confusion can be spread, with potentially dangerous consequences, by the manipulation […]

Posted in: Uncategorized

Worst case scenario for SA

August 1, 2022

0

(First published in Maverick 168 on 30 July, 2022) An “Arab Spring” threatens South Africa, former President Thabo Mbeki warned last week..  But he was wrong.  The threat the country faces is much more dangerous:  violent fragmentation fuelled by ethnic nationalisms — even potential civil war.   That is the worst case scenario, which, if […]

Posted in: Uncategorized

SA election battles get underway

July 12, 2022

1

(First published in City Press, Sunday, August 10) At first sight the sudden demise of the New Frame publication, a major conference of the Defend our Democracy (DoD) group and the ongoing crisis at Eskom have nothing in common apart from having made it into the news over the past week. Yet all are very […]

Posted in: Uncategorized

Reflections of a wayward boy

June 20, 2022

0

If you are interested, the latest in the series is available at: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-06-19-reflections-of-a-wayward-boy-the-bitter-battle-to-free-moses-mayekiso-after-27-years-in-exile/

Posted in: Uncategorized

Two strikes — several lessons

June 20, 2022

0

(First published on Fin24 11,06.2022) This month saw two lengthy strikes come to and end. In the process, there were several stark lessons for the labour movement and an explanation as to why workers, on strike for months, seem prepared to sacrifice what they do. The three-month long Sibanye-Stillwater strike by 25,000 mineworkers ended this […]

Posted in: Uncategorized