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News & Views by Terry Bell
The union that asked billion Rand questions
February 22, 2019
Although unmentioned, considerable credit for the fact that there is a commission of inquiry into the scandal ridden Public Investment Corporation (PIC) should go the PSA (Public Servants’ Association). Probably the largest public sector union in the country, it was the first to raise serious questions about the way the PIC was administered.
Posted in: Inside Labour Column
How the people could really govern
February 10, 2019
Democracy as practiced in so-called parliamentary democracies around the world is a lie. One person, one vote was a concession granted by the governing, monied elite after long, brutal and bloody struggles by oppressed majorities. But it was a concession within the same corrupt and corrupting system. With the advance of communications technology, true democracy beckons
Posted in: Commentary
Labour’s view of SONA 2019, S. Africa
February 9, 2019
There is nothing new in the recipes proposed by President Cyril Ramaphosa to remedy the damage done over the past decade to South Africa's state institutions and the economy. They are recipes that trade unions across th board have already rejected.
Posted in: Commentary
SONA 2019: Mbeki without the poetry
February 9, 2019
Hard questions now need to be asked and hard facts faced as politicians continue to make extravagant promises that, on even cursory examination, ignore reality. And that does not even mean looking ahead to the consequences of the fourth industrial revolution that the world has already embarked on.
Posted in: Inside Labour Column
A citizens’ path to true democrcy
February 2, 2019
Without democratic control over, and the right to recall, elected representatives — these being the “basics” early anti-apartheid unions strove for — the corrupting and monied minorities will continue to have a relatively free hand in manipulating and controlling society.
Posted in: Inside Labour Column
Davos & the spectre of populism
January 26, 2019
Populism was a spectre haunting the super rich when they met in Davos, Switzerland. this past week. But while this emergence of nationalist, protectionist sentiment does pose a threat to global corporations, it does not threaten the system based on competition and the exploitation of labour. It also carries with it the poison of zenophobia.
Posted in: Inside Labour Column
Time to recall: Ye are many, they are few…
January 15, 2019
This coming year promises turbulence, both nationally and globally, with the political and economic environment remaining volatile. We, along with citizens of other nation-states, will also almost certainly be inundated with calls to patriotism and to pull together in the cause of a better life for all. The question — as always — will be […]
Posted in: Uncategorized
Terry Bell Writes 
February 24, 2019
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