 |
|
|
|
|
Comparing Israel with apartheid SA is unfair
Ronnie Kasrils (“Israel 2007: worse than apartheid”, May 18) is not wrong in likening his recent visit to the West Bank and Gaza Strip to “a surreal trip back into an apartheid state of emergency”. Following nearly seven years of constant conflict, a thoroughly abnormal situation has come into being with regard to the relationship between Israel and the Palestinian territories, writes David Saks. |
|
|
|
Writer tilts at the NCOP windmill
Debate on how to strengthen the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), occasioned by its 10th anniversary, will not achieve the desired outcome if led by critics who are distanced from the institution. This includes the press. Earlier this year, NCOP chairperson Mninwa Mahlangu remarked that in general, the media had scant knowledge of the council. |
|
|
|
 The dangers of two-faced development
The ANC discussion document titled Economic Transformation for a National Democratic Society captures important shifts initiated by the government in recent years. It rejects market fundamentalism, supports a developmental state, endorses the major public sector-led infrastructure investment programme and affirms the need for state-led industrial policy, writes Jeremy Cronin. |
|
|
|
The Jekyll and Hyde of academic scholarships
Why are there so few up-and-coming new career black academics at South African institutions? South African statistics (2004/05) show that 69,8% of the master’s/doctoral degrees in the country are held by whites. The entry requirement into professional academia is a doctorate, obtainable after 10 years of study. Securing financial support is one of the dispiriting battles |
|
|
|
'Race' is a bankrupt concept
Adam Haupt’s contribution to the discussion about affirmative action (“We dare not erase ‘race’ from debate”, May 11) is riddled with the sorts of egregious errors that have characterised so many responses to my lecture. First, he assumes that my arguments against racial-preference affirmative action must be a product of my “race” or of some associated insensitivity, writes David Benatar. |
|
|
|
 SA still needs affirmative action
In recent months a rising chorus has argued for an end to affirmative action. A range of white commentators and white-dominated organisations has argued for a “sunset clause” on affirmative action policies so that the good intentions of what is otherwise morally justifiable legislation will not eventually translate into apartheid in reverse. |
|
|
|
 The National Council of Pointlessness
Ten years after it replaced the short-lived senate as Parliament’s second chamber, the National Council of Provinces has very little to celebrate. The gathering momentum behind proposals to trim the provincial system down to size is a real existential threat to the council, but even without constitutional changes to hurry it to oblivion, it has long since drifted into irrelevance. |
|
|
|
Red, white and blue shadow falls over SA
Chalk it up to naivety, perhaps, but when I left my university bubble at Boston College in the United States to spend a semester studying here at the University of Cape Town, I was expecting a break from Oprah, apple pie and Wal-Mart. But now that I'm here, all I see, hear and eat is tinged with red, white and blue, writes Tom Wiedeman. |
|
|
|
The Constitutional Court hits a low point
The sheer volume of sexual offences committed in South Africa poses one of the great challenges to the criminal justice system. Most recently, the Constitutional Court was confronted with the validity of the common-law definition of rape to the extent that it excluded anal penetration and was gender-specific. |
|
|
|
 Israel 2007: worse than apartheid
Travelling into Palestine’s West Bank and Gaza Strip, which I visited recently, is like a surreal trip back into an apartheid state of emergency. It is chilling to pass through the myriad checkpoints -- more than 500 in the West Bank. They are controlled by heavily armed soldiers, youthful but grim, tensely watching every movement, fingers on the trigger. |
|
|
|
'Yellow peril' slurs stain the rainbow nation
It was from Canton, now known as Guangzhou, that the first wave of Chinese immigrants sailed to South Africa in the 1870s. There had been Chinese in the country well before: the Dutch brought Chinese labour from their colony of Batavia as early as 1658, for example. |
|
|
|
 Why we're ready to strike
The biggest public service strike in a decade now seems unavoidable. All unions have rejected the government’s paltry offer of a 6% wage increase, with no improvement to other critical conditions of service. Government presented its last offer on May 3. Unions representing more than one million workers refuse to accept salary increases limited to inflation targeting, writes Shireen Pardesi. |
|
|
|
Everlasting truth is ours
Drew Forrest (“Will the self-righteous inherit the earth?,” April 26) used some strong qualifications in his attempts to discredit my letter (April 20). He edited it in such a way that it would suit his reply a week later. That’s his prerogative as an editor, but even he would have to admit that it does not exactly level the playing fields of religious discourse. |
|
|
|
 Leadership, wheat and chaff
Revolutionary movements seldom develop elaborate theories on the role that leadership plays in the pursuit and achievement of the objectives of a people. The ANC has, however, made certain pronouncements on the qualities the movement should expect from its leaders. The best contribution to date was the document titled Through the Eye of a Needle. |
|
|
|
 Hot reading tip: The Bill of Rights
There has been a good deal of strutting and fretting already, but the drama over the Films and Publications Amendment Bill will end up in a deal that leaves essentially intact the existing regime of controls on expression. That is a pity, and not just for the media, writes the Mail & Guardian's associate deputy editor Nic Dawes. |
|
|
|
 We dare not erase 'race' from debate
There has been much debate at the University of Cape Town since Professor David Benatar's inaugural lecture on Justice, Diversity and Affirmative Action several weeks ago. Benatar essentially argues that "race is a lazy proxy for disadvantage" and that affirmative action "does not succeed", writes Adam Haupt. |
|
|
|
The NPA must start obeying the Constitution
It is a popular pastime for commentators to muse about Jacob Zuma, the previous criminal cases against him, his supposed presidential ambitions and his political activities. But in this sea of opinion it is difficult to find commentary based on fact. And an even-handed assessment of Zuma’s actions or decisions is virtually impossible to find, writes Ranjeni Munusamy. |
|
|
|
 From altruism to 'SA Inc'
Democratic South Africa is an important actor on the world stage. This growing international and continental role requires thoughtful and constant consideration of policies and strategies to be pursued. Yet the ANC policy discussion document on international relations, A Just World and a Better Africa is a Possibility, released in preparation for the party’s June policy conference and its national conference in December, falls short of addressing these considerations. |
|
|
| MORE ARTICLES |
|
|
| Activism and the almighty dollar |
| Nigeria at the crossroads, once again |
| Who will define SA democracy? |
| SA needs 'opportunity', not 'revolution' |
| English only? Eish! |
| Sleaze: Devil's in the details |
| Will the self-righteous inherit the earth? |
| A retreat from the historic ANC programme |
| The British pot labels the African kettle |
| Judges shouldn't meddle with media freedom |
| A strategy designed to trigger foreign intervention in Darfur |
| Who is up to being president? |
| Dances with Wolfowitz |
| Failure could haunt a generation |
| Seeing the God of my very own understanding |
| Whose democracy is it anyway? |
| We're South Africans and we're here to stay |
| The female face of divinity |
| The case for social health insurance |
| We reject Israel’s violations of international law |
| SA puts politics before principle in Zimbabwe |
| De la Rey: Afrikaner absolution |
