If a day were a long time in politics, then a decade would be akin to an eternity. As Cosatu members gather for their 10th national congress, they will cast their minds back to 1999, when the labour federation hosted…
Often civil society activism seems like a mixture of dissatisfaction and hope without much impact on the real world. Activists are usually conscious of the formidable odds against “change” because of the all encompassing and rarely adequately defined structures of…
An emerging description of the South African economy is captured in the words “polarisation paralysis.” The term has several renderings and different emphasis across academic disciplines, with important nuance and extensions. Another rendering is that it might provide a metaphor…
Recent reports by the Auditor-General on lapses in the Public Service Code of Conduct by senior managers provide a worrying picture of the state of the public service. The major finding of the report was that there were significant numbers…
The Presidency has a new website, let us call it Presidency 2.0. As I visited the site after Minister Manuel had announced the details of the government’s plan till 2014. Officially, it is called the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF).…
As Professor Pink lead narrator on the SABC educational programme, ‘Knock Knock’, explored Galileo’s confrontation with power, the SABC was engaged in its own tryst with changing power. President Thabo Mbeki appointed the board of the SABC in a move…
Public Enterprises Minister, Barbara Hogan’s comment that public enterprises requiring massive bailouts will be considered for sale, has elicited a polarised response. On the one hand, the statement has found support as an expression of the self-evident. Taxpayer’s money should…
Do individuals spend their money better than families? This foundational question in the design of income support programmes for the poor has not been robustly debated. Instead, the strong and robust debates have historically focussed on the possibilities of the…
The 1980’s saw the mushrooming of the taxi industry. Informally it provided a better alternative to riding the train or using largely unreliable bus operators. Commuters voted with their feet, providing our burgeoning taxi industry with a solid customer base,…