A new documentary on Winne Mandela – called simply Winnie – is fascinating both for what it reveals about the hidden history of South Africa’s transition away from apartheid and for its relevance to other, current struggles. I highly recommend that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn get his hands on a copy as soon as possible.
There was nothing of the Siddhartha about her. Modest and sombre middle ways are not the stuff of revolutionary ardour. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s mark on history was always going to render the violent normal, the blood stain a perceived, even psychopathic necessity. If society itself was prone to sanguinary realisations, she would oblige and flourish within its confines.
Otto van Malderen is the head of the Antwerp NSV! The NSV! is a student organization that focuses on Flemish identity and is active in all big cities in Flanders. Otto studies applied economical sciences at the university of Antwerp.
A video version of this interview is available here.
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — Youth Day, as it is known in South Africa, is a national holiday commemorating the anniversary of the 1976 Soweto uprising against the white-minority apartheid government. Arriving almost an hour late to the rally at a soccer stadium in the all-black township, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela approached her ex-husband’s successor, President Thabo Mbeki as he sat with other government officials on a dais, and leaned in to kiss his cheek.
Be in absolutely no doubt about the significance of the start of the peaceful Great Return March which began in Gaza on Friday and led to 17 Palestinians being killed and hundreds more wounded by the Israeli army and its snipers. That Israel felt the need to resort to violence in response to unarmed resistance speaks volumes about its innate brutality.
South Africa: Vicki Momberg, a white woman, was convicted of 'hate speech' and sentenced to two years in prison for yelling a racial slur at a black policeman after thieves broke into her car. A video of her rant went viral in which she requested a white or Indian officer and said that black people are "plain and simple useless." [Far worse things now are being yelled at white people in South Africa but, as always happens when there are laws to control thoughts and speech, they are applied unequally, depending on who controls the government.
Jonas Nilsson is a political scientist graduated from the Swedish Defence University with a focus on security and crisis management. He is currently a master student in Politics and War at the same university. Nilsson is the author to Anarcho-Fascism Nature Reborn and the documentary film The Boer Project: South Africa A reversed Apartheid? He has a solid experience from South Africa and the oppositional work that the peoples face.
Account deficit to GDP has narrowed in South Africa, according to 2017 statistics
The South African current account deficit on the balance of payments narrowed to 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) from 2.8% in 2016, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) said in its latest Quarterly Bulletin.
On a quarterly basis however, the current account deficit widened to 2.9% of GDP in the fourth quarter from 2.1% in the third quarter as import growth outpaced export growth resulting in a narrowing in the trade surplus in goods.
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND — If we were to truly honor the late, great Stephen Hawking, perhaps it would pay to remind ourselves of the principles the acclaimed physicist really stood for. One of those principles was Hawking’s commitment to the boycott of Israel in response to Israel’s longstanding policy of egregiously violating the rights of millions of ordinary Palestinians.
South Africa is passing through one of the most troubling times since 1994. The country was brought to its knees by a cynical mafia elite in the governing African National Congress. It’s presence in government had nothing to do with governance. From the president down, their goal was simple: self enrichment at any cost. Selling their country to to bunch[Read More...]
