politics | Terry Bell Writes

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Free trade fiction & crumbs of hope

June 16, 2019

Crumbs of hope are still being tossed to increasingly restive and increasingly unemployed working people, the latest of these being the promise of a multi-trillion dollar free trade zone apparently to the benefit of Africa's 1.22 billion population. This is yet another myth promoted to support a systemic problem.

Thuma Mina (send me): to Geneva?

June 14, 2019

At a time when belt tightening is called for and greater austerity looms, South Africa arrives at the International Labour Organisation's 100th birthday bash, with one of the largest delegations. Now there are calls for the public to be given a cost/benefit analysis of what seems to be an expensive junket paid for by working people through one o other means.

A new dawn — or an impending storm

May 31, 2019

It was obvious from the first announcement last year about South Africa's minimum wage levels that they probably signalled storm clouds rather than any pale rays of a new dawn. However it is not only to the labour front that the purveyors of a promised new dawn  should pay close heed.

SA elections – a cry for a real alternative

May 17, 2019

Last week, if nothing else, most workers, employed and unemployed, showed that they are not gullible voting fodder; that they are dissatisfied with what is on offer in the parliamentary dispensation. This applied particularly to those in that important adult age bracket of 18 to 30. Most South Africans are probably more than ready for an alternative political dispensation

What about the workers?

May 8, 2019

Much has changed on the South African political scene since the transition from apartheid in 1994. In the sixth national election since then, the votes of more than 2 million unionised workers could be crucial to the final outcome.

Flawed democracvy & words as weapons

May 4, 2019

'Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.' So said French philosopher Voltaire. It is a statement worth bearing in mind in this digital age where distortions of fact and the manipulation and faking of news in both social and mainstream media is becom ing ever more prevalent.

Land & outlandish promises in SA

April 24, 2019

Land and its expropriation remains a common theme, along with the need to amend Section 25 of the Bill of Rights, as South Africa heads toward its sixth non-racial parliamentary election. But this is flawed sloganising: Section 25 allows for the expropriation of ANY PROPERTY, provided it is "in the public interest", for "a public purpose" and to provide "equitable access to the country's natural resources". Property, the section notes, "is not limited to land". The only proviso is that expropriation should be "just and equitable".