South Africa

Workers of the world: Round-up

By Pablo Velasco South Africa Charges against Anti-Privatisation Forum dropped Solidarity with Cambodian hotel workers! Support Argentinian food workers Criminal trials of Chinese workers begin South Africa Charges against Anti-Privatisation Forum dropped Anti-privatisation activists in South Africa arrested in March had the charges dropped last week, in a climbdown by ANC-led authorities. 52 members of the Anti-Privatisation Forum (APF) had been arrested in the run-up to the recent election on charges of participating in an illegal gathering. But before the APF activists could actually appear...

The writing on the wall

Ciao Floods of East Europeans... leave Britain Plus ça change... Comrade racist? Yes, we have bananas Ciao For three weeks they drifted in the Mediterranean because no European country was willing to take them in. Then the 37 men - reportedly Sundanese refugees - made it… to the safety of an Italian concrete shed surrounded by barbed wire. They were brought to land by a German aid agency in their own boat. Originally the Italian authorities had refused to receive the ship, arguing that it ought to have docked at its first port of call, Malta. Under pressure, the Italians caved in. But on their...

The writing on the wall

Rogue bodyguards Blair's bodyguard Multi-cultural? No, anti-semitic BNP idiot of the week By their celebrities shall you know them Not our brothers Rogue bodyguards Over the last weeks we have become more aware of the extent to which the Iraqi Coalition Provisional Authority "outsources" its security services. According to the Pacific News Service 1,500 of the security personnel are South Africans and many have used their backgrounds as mercenaries during the years of apartheid to bolster their credentials. This fact emerged after after a bomb blast in January 2004 in which one South African...

South Africa: Stop Privatisation!

On 15 August 87 anti-privatisation activists from the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee in Johannesburg, are to got to court, accused of public violence, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and malicious damage to property. They were arrested after a demonstration against electricity cut-offs in the city. The trial is an attack on one of the most important and strong campaigns to emerge in post-apartheid South Africa. The SECC have called for an international day of action against the trial. Thursday 15 August 4.30pm onwards, South Africa House, Trafalgar Square, London.

Swaziland faces isolation

The Internal Security Bill of 2002, otherwise known as the Makhundu, has begun to attract national and international outrage just weeks after it was announced. The Makhundu, which retrenches the government's repressive stranglehold on the democratic opposition (see Simunye Update, 17 June 2002: http://www.swazis.org.uk/simup-170602.pdf ), appears to have already come into force before going through the official rubber-stamping procedures. One SWAYOCO member told SSC that "police special branch cars are monitoring the movements of political activists on a constant basis. "All PUDEMO and SWAYOCO...

Rome summit and the fight against hunger

The UK-based Swaziland Solidarity Campaign (SSC), launched this week, is blaming the Western-imposed liberalisation policies for food shortages throughout southern Africa. In Swaziland, a country of over one million people, the World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that 210,000 people will face food shortages this year following a 18 per cent fall in maize production in 2001. Domestic cereal supply of 77,000 tonnes is far short of the 188,000 tonnes requirement. The WFP estimates the country will need at least 15,200 tonnes of food aid in 2002 to avert starvation. While lack of rainfall has...

Zimbabwe socialists call for workers' united front

"Forward to Madagascar" is the slogan circulating among some activists on the left in Zimbabwe after Robert Mugabe declared himself the victor in the presidential elections of 9-11 March. In Madagascar, a disputed presidential election was followed by a huge general strike, and the officially-defeated candidate has now established himself as an alternative power, in an alternative capital. Zimbabwe's opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change, has - even according to the figures from the election run, patrolled and rigged by Mugabe's ruling ZANU (PF) party - large majority support in the...

South Africa : an alternative is within reach

An interview with Neville Alexander, Cape Town. In this interview, Alexander says that in South Africa "there isn't any general system of state welfare benefits...it is almost exactly the same as during apartheid", and comments on the somewhat strained relations between the neoliberal ANC and their coalition partners the SACP and COSATU, and the possiblilties of a new workers' party. Question: South Africa plays a key international and negotiating role for the whole southern African region. Who profits from the foreign policies of the South African government? Neville Alexander: South Africa...

The Winnie Mandela scandal

Many opponents of apartheid are still unwilling to look too closely into what has become known as the “Winnie Mandela affair”. That is a mistake. The episode tells us much about the ANC, its methods, and the prospects for democracy in the new South Africa. To refuse to examine the evidence against Mrs Mandela and her followers amounts to nothing less than a refusal to come to terms with the recent history of the liberation movement. It is the politics of faith rather than facts. What are the facts? Mrs Mandela has been found guilty of being an “accessory” to kidnapping and assaulting four...

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.