Political – Zabalaza for Socialism

Adam Habib and the Politics of Opportunism

Ziyad Motala21 August 2026

There is something almost touching about Adam Habib’s faith in Helen Zille. https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2026-08-18-only-zille-can-save-joburg-ex-wits-vc-habib-says-da-mayoral-candidate-perfect-for-the-job/ Johannesburg, he tells us, can apparently be rescued by one woman. If Zille does not secure an overall majority, he warns, not merely Johannesburg but “the city and South Africa are doomed.” For the job of mayor, he pronounces her “perfect.” Perfect […]

FROM HUMANITARIANISM TO ORGANISED SOLIDARITY IN THE FIGHT AGAINST AFROPHOBIA

Keep Left20 August 2026

Claire Ceruti and Luke Sinwell Families sleep outside embassies and consulates wrapped in blankets against the winter cold. Beside them are plastic bags, suitcases and the few possessions they managed to carry from homes they may never return to. They are commonly described as people “returning home” or being “repatriated”. But these phrases conceal a […]

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT VICTORY MUST MARK A TURNING POINT FOR MINING-AFFECTED COMMUNITIES: GOVERNMENT CANNOT NOW LEGISLATE BACKWARDS

MACUA & WAMUA20 August 2026

Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA) welcomes and celebrates the Constitutional Court’s landmark judgment in Sustaining the Wild Coast NPC and Others v Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy and Others; Natural Justice and Another v Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy and Others. The judgment represents an important victory not only for the […]

Is Afrophobia a simplistic framing?

Socialist Voice Newsletter of the Marxist Group of Namibia18 August 2026

A left-wing view does not say xenophobia in South Africa is “naturally” Africanist or that “black” people are inherently united. It says xenophobia is a product of racial capitalism, township political economy, state rhetoric, and social fragmentation — and its racialised pattern of targets reflects material conditions, not essential identities. The term “Afrophobia” is analytically […]

The Left’s Billionaire Problem

Vashna Jagarnath7 August 2026

Money, democratic control and the struggle over where power resides The growing political power of billionaires presents the left with a contradiction that it has not adequately confronted. The problem is not only that billionaires fund the right, purchase media platforms or use private wealth to influence governments. Very wealthy individuals and foundations are also […]

Cockroach Democracy: Unarmed and Dangerous

Arundhati Roy23 July 2026

Can all the people be fooled all the time? Can a country with a population of a billion-and-a-half be dragged around like a corpse forever? It cannot. The Cockroaches are out and about. For the first time in years, it feels wonderful to be Indian. Just when hope seemed lost, they came. Young roaches riding […]

Lessons of 1976: ‘Be united to face the common enemy’

Noor Nieftagodien10 July 2026

On 30 June 2026, a few hundred people marched through Soweto as part of the broader campaign of xenophobia that in recent weeks has swept across some parts of the country. In the same month, the country marked the 50th anniversary of the historic 1976 uprising, when tens of thousands of Black students nationally mobilised against […]

March Separately, Strike Together: Xenophobia, Working-Class Fragmentation, and Strategic Crossroads

Rehad Desai and Luke Sinwell8 July 2026

500 Migrants outside the Malawian consulate Woodmead, Johannesburg In townships and informal settlements across South Africa, violence against foreign nationals is no longer episodic. It is increasingly organised and spoken about in ways that normalise it. Groups such as March and March have become associated with mobilisation that targets migrants in the name of jobs, […]

Ratanda: Two Residents Die After Water Protest, Community Calls for Mayor to Step Down

Siyafana Sonke Campaign7 July 2026

Ratanda, a working-class township south of Heidelberg in Gauteng’s Lesedi Local Municipality, has water again. Water has returned. Katleho Mokoena and Sipho Motaung will not. Katleho Mokoena (23) died after police confronted residents protesting weeks of water shortages on Wednesday, 1 July. Sipho Motaung later died in hospital from injuries sustained during the same protests. […]

INPUT BY SAFTU GENERAL SECRETARY ZWELINZIMA VAVI AT THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION SEMINAR

Zwelinzima Vavi7 July 2026

THIRTY-TWO YEARS OF DEMOCRACY: A WORKING-CLASS ASSESSMENT OF THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION Comrades, colleagues, leaders of the movement, intellectuals, veterans of the struggle, and fellow South Africans,I must begin by locating myself.I am not speaking here as a neutral observer.I am not speaking as an academic standing outside the battle.I speak as a trade unionist.I […]

News

Category: Political