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News & Views by Terry Bell
Browsing All posts tagged under »politics«
How heritage got roasted
September 28, 2014
September 24 was a public holiday in South Africa: Heritage Day, called to "celebrate our unity in diversity". But perhaps rather than celebrate, South Africans should use the day to question why the country's diverse communities are so grossly unequal.
Constitutional misunderstandings
September 8, 2014
South Africa's justly praised Constitution and the institutions it created have taken something of a verbal battering over the past week and more — and often for the wrong reasons. In the process, the office of the public protector has become something of a surrogate battleground for the opposing factions in in the country's major trade union federation, Cosatu.
A ticking time bomb & a badge of poverty
June 22, 2014
The strike on South Africa's platinum belt is only one aspect of a much more severe domesic and global crisis. And some solutions had better be found — and soon.
Unions get back to democratic basics
June 1, 2014
Misunderstanding and confusion about the platinum sector pay issue persists. And much of the media is to blame for repeating, without analysis, the public relations spin of the mining companies. This distorted version of the facts states that the mining companies agreed to meet the R12 500 a month entry level wage demand, phased in […]
Voting is over — new battles begin
May 11, 2014
South Africa's 2014 election is over, but for many participants it will be recriminations rather than celebrations that will follow a watershed election, signalling changes — and battles — to come.
Labour’s loyalty: a democratic failure
April 27, 2014
The increasingly bitter row within Cosatu raises the spectre of real, grassroots democracy that could provide a serious wake-up call to union bureaucrats, but should also convey lessons for all citizens as South Africa heads toward another election.
Cosatu schisms make for a rocky road ahead
April 21, 2014
South Africa's scheduled national elections on May 7 seem to be beset by more bickering, bitterness and fragmentation than normal — and this is a clear portent for the future. A rocky road lies ahead.
Terry Bell Writes 
Hopes of grassroots democratic change
October 9, 2014
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The fact that the “Save Our Metro” campaign in South Africa's east coast Nelson Mandela Bay area was flagged in an official press notice of the country's largest union federation is important. It gives the campaign wider credibility and raises hopes of greater grassroots democracy.