Amandla Magazine made it to 100 issues! Find the most recent issue here: Amandla! #100
Unfortunately, we arrived here in a period where the right-wing is rising around the world. So the feature in this issue focuses on the rise of the right and the challenge for the Left to resist.
The editorial briefly looks back on Amandla’s origins before focusing on the challenges of the current situation and the tasks of the Left.
The feature is a tour around the world, looking at how the right is rising and what the Left needs to do to mount resistance. Gilbert Achcar gives us an overview of the daunting global political landscape. Dan La Botz sees faint glimmers of hope in an otherwise bleak landscape in Trump’s America. Sushovan Dhar eloquently and movingly explains how the BJP is constructed in India as it consolidates its authoritarian hold. Au Loon-yu gives a chastening picture of China’s totalitarian regime and its imperialist expansion. Daniel Chavez addresses the thorny question of how, as the Left, we should address the question of the Maduro regime in Venezuela. Israel Dutra explores how Brazil can respond to Trump’s neocolonial project. For South Africa, Noor Nieftagodien and Zwelinzima Vavi look at the new right in South Africa and its effects here at home. And finally, Michael Löwy explains how ecosocialism is the way forward for resistance and rebuilding of the Left.
On the Climate Crisis, Brian Ashley and Renata Belzunces describe the devastating failure of COP30, arguing that there is no capitalist solution to the climate crisis. Michael Marchant and Zen Mathe show how so much of the international funds supposed to be spent on South Africa’s just transition in fact get paid to consultants from the donor countries. And Maxine Bezuidenhout explains how the transport sector is responsible for a major part of carbon emissions in South Africa, and the need to get us out of cars and freight off the roads.
In the Economy section, Dominic Brown explains why reducing the inflation target requires increasing interest rates, which slows the economy and makes unemployment worse. Ihsaan Bassier demonstrates that the Capitec CEO’s claim that unemployment is not so high is self-serving nonsense. And Chloé van Biljon shows how the medical aid tax rebate is a subsidy for the wealthy and middle class, almost equivalent to the Social Relief of Distress grant for the poor.
In the Politics section, Jeff Rudin, in the light of the still contested SACP decision to stand in elections, takes us briefly through the history of the SACP and its relationship with the ANC. And Moepeng Talane argues that the need for proper protection for whistleblowers is one of the lessons coming from the Madlanga Commission. In the Energy section, Tracy Ledger argues that free electricity for 40% of the population, with the full cost met by the rest of the population, is the only way to address energy poverty and its consequences.
The Local Struggle section welcomes the creation of the Khanyayo Crisis Committee, joining Amadiba in the struggle against the devastation caused by the new N2 highway. And in the Labour section, Suraya Jawoodeen, in the second of her series on the perils of trade unions taking a stake in the capitalist economy, looks at how the Numsa Investment Company has presided over the demise of a medical aid, with dire consequences for Numsa’s members.
The International section focuses mainly on the G20. Patrick Bond explains how all the ‘agreements’ at the summit are, in fact, just voluntary, and therefore unlikely to have any meaningful effect. And Charlize Tomaselli asks how Cyril Ramaphosa, who got rich from the mining sector, can have any standing to lead the G20 discussions. Craig Mokhiber delivers a devastating critique of the ‘peace agreement’ in Gaza, as it obliterates any self-determination for the Palestinian people.
In the Culture section, Yomelela Fadana produces a lyrical piece, apologising for a time when he blamed the victims of capitalism for their oppression, and how he now understands how that oppression is actually constructed. In the Media section, Hassen Lorgat, Jenny Grice and Martin Jansen take us on a tour of Left media since the 1980s. And then we publish a moving obituary for Crystal Dicks by Stephen Faulkner.
And finally, the Reluctant President complains about how Amandla! is always making fun of him, as he reads the latest issue.
Download here: Amandla! #100
