Browsing All posts tagged under »history«

Need to confront poisonous roots of the past

July 12, 2013

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The poisonous roots of Marikana go back at least 15 years — and must be confronted if anything is to change.

Judaism, the Holocaust & Zionism

June 2, 2013

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The abuse, both of Judaism and the Holocaust, by more extreme adherents of the fundamentally racist political philosophy of Zionism, continues. And the mainstream media continues blindly to use terminology that supports this particular ideological view.

‘Prodigal daughters’ speak out

May 15, 2013

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The position of women in the exile liberation movements — a largely neglected aspect of SA history — will feature this year at the Franschhoek Literary Festival in a discussion on the book Prodigal daughters

Unions: a need to get back to first principles

February 4, 2013

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Forty years ago the modern union moveent in SA was born. Then the demands, including pay and conditions, amounted to one word: democracy. But a democracy that went well beyond the veneer of electoral politics, of the legalistic notion of rich and poor being equal.

Rewriting history and mangling facts

June 29, 2012

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Historical distortion and emotive rhetoric characterised the ANC policy conference that ended this week. In fact, it could be argued that the new transition or phase is along the lines advocated by the labour movement 16 years ago in the Social Equity and Job Creation document.

Spearing labour history

June 1, 2012

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The charade surrounding the satrical The Spear painting swamped an importnt anniversary in South African labour history, the centenary of Alexandra twonship, site of perhaps the only "liberated zone" at the height of apartheid repression and example of trade union and community collaboration.

The importance of understanding history

March 16, 2012

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We need to know our history in order to understand perhaps where we are today and how we came to be where we are; and we need to understand reality in order to face it and to progress. Such advice seems particularly pertinent in South Africa in these, at first sight, very confusing times.

Historical gallop reflected through a distorted prism

February 10, 2012

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An archived and critical book review from 2004 dealing with RW Johnson's controversial South Africa: the first man, the last nation