Africa – Zabalaza for Socialism

Placing the truth on record

Ruth Ntlokotse9 November 2026

An open letter to Irvin Jim, General Secretary of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa

Why Africa needs the Real Marxist Tradition now more than ever

Gyekye Tanoh6 November 2026

Ghana was on fire in 1982. Workers seized factories, Defence Committees challenged the military government, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) circled like a vulture, preparing its structural adjustment programs. Under Jerry Rawlings, a young officer, a military regime projected a left-populist image while tightening control. Defence Committees — loosely modelled on Cuba’s Committees for […]

Liberalism understands and presents itself as the moral conscience and force of the modern world

Richard Pithouse6 November 2026

Liberalism understands and presents itself as the moral conscience and force of the modern world: a universal creed of rights, reason and rule of law. This idea retains significant power in our public sphere and is central to the ideological structure of the Daily Maverick, the Democratic Alliance (DA), and so on. But the liberal […]

Op-Ed: Competence Is Not Where We Begin

Ali Ridha Khan6 November 2026

On the Question of Palestine, and South African Local Government Elections For weeks now, I have not been able to shake the question Adam Habib put on the table in August, when he took to X to endorse Helen Zille as mayor of Johannesburg. His argument, put plainly, is that the city is collapsing, that Zille has […]

popEd: Thapelo Mohapi

My Vote Counts ZA6 November 2026

This week we’re in conversation with Thapelo Mohapi, General Secretary of Abahlali baseMjondolo, about land, democracy, political education, and what it takes to build people’s power from the ground up. We talk about eKhenana Commune, the struggle for land and housing, and why organised communities are so often treated as a threat. Thapelo reflects on […]

The tide is beginning to turn

ZASO29 October 2026

Zabalaza for Socialism (ZASO) draws strength from the rising tide of global protest against right-wing populism and the increasing impoverishment of ordinary people. ZASO calls on the working class and the poor in South Africa to learn the lessons…and be inspired! This global turmoil was preceded by similar uprisings in Africa: Mass action is alive […]

SIYAZENZELA, BUT WHO CONTROLS THE WEALTH?

Keep Left29 October 2026

Republished from socialism from below, journal of Keep Left We are now living what was once only fiction to our imagination. When we first read Chinua Achebe’s 1958 novel, few of us believed that its events would be experienced in South Africa. Today the reality is clear: “Things are fall[ing] apart.” Solutions remain far from […]

Worsening Violence as the Election Comes Closer

Abahlali baseMjondolo29 October 2026

Our country is one of the most violent in the world, worse than some war zones. The rate of violence against women and the rate of murders committed by young men against other young men are among the highest in the world. There is violence in the home and in communities, violence from ordinary people, […]

2026 MTBPS Statement: Balanced books, but empty plates

Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC)22 October 2026

Two realities exist in South Africa. In one, a wealthy minority enjoys a standard of living comparable to Denmark. In the other, the majority live the “struggle after the Struggle”: mass unemployment, hunger, poverty and war-like levels of violent crime. In the first reality, and in the financial markets that speak for it, this 2026 […]

RICHARD PITHOUSE: What happens in Durban doesn’t stay in Durban

Richard Pithouse15 October 2026

Political project being built in the city is a direct challenge to constitutional democracy In 1983, two signal events set the stage for the drama that unfolded over the next decade. On August 20, the United Democratic Front (UDF) was formed in Cape Town, inaugurating a period of mass struggle that, along with the trade […]

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Category: Africa