SA election battles get underway

(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 […]

Reflections of a wayward boy

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/

Two strikes — several lessons

(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 […]

Two strikes — and several lessons

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 week.  And, as with almost […]

Early education & corporal punishment

A glimmer of democratic hope

(First published on Fin24 and in City Press, May 29, 2022) A destructive political bloodbath was avoided at the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) second elective conference in Boksburg last week.  But while no issues were finally settled, the underlying problems, some of which have festered for years, were laid quite bare.  Aluta, as […]

Squatting around Hampstead Heath

Reflections of a Wayward Boy (31) can also be found: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-05-11-reflections-of-a-wayward-boy-squatting-on-hampstead-heath/ For all my tendency to optimism, I have always harboured a degree of caution. So, when we sold up everything in New Zealand and shipped ourselves and more than a tonne of books, and other educational gear to start the ANC primary school in […]

Mayday, Mayday for May Day

These are parlous times for trade unions, not just in South Africa, but globally. And as May Day 2022 dawns once favoured slogans such Phambili basebenzi! Forward [with the] workers! should perhaps, more appropriately, give way this year to the international radio distress signal: Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. For, almost everywhere, the labour movement is floundering, […]