South Africa – Page 2 – Zabalaza for Socialism

Profits Up, People Down: The Dangerous Illusion of South Africa’s Growth Agenda

Christopher Rutledge25 June 2026

Cyril Ramaphosa and the Democratic Alliance (DA)—the two dominant forces within South Africa’s newly formed Government of National Unity (GNU)—have converged on a singular narrative: economic growth is the key to undoing centuries of apartheid colonial inequality. This mantra has become the cornerstone of the GNU’s public rhetoric and policy direction. Ramaphosa in particular has […]

Bearing Witness in the Age of Generative AI

Koketso Moeti12 June 2026

Pushing back against the assault on verifiable reality is a crucial undertaking in the pursuit of justice. The advent of generative AI has made it even harder to distinguish between what’s real and what isn’t, and also easy to claim what is real is fake. This threatens to undermine the very idea of “evidence,” which […]

Response to Jacintha Zuma

Bslefi Chirwa12 June 2026

It is important to be led by people who have at least picked up a pamphlet before a microphone. You’re choosing the easy way out Jacinta, because you’re simplistic in thought but radical in action. How do you blame me and EFF for crimes committed by foreigners when we aren’t government? What do you blame […]

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY

ZASO27 May 2026

Dear Comrades of the South African Communist Party, We write to you as ZASO following lengthy deliberations with like-minded allies whosubscribe to independent socialist politics and support the primary thrust of what follows below. Firstly, we share your conviction that the fragmentation of the left and movements of the working class and poor must be overcome, and that South Africa’s deepening social crisis — mass unemployment, poverty, inequality, […]

Stuck Between Promise and Reality

Suliman Rajah22 May 2026

Soup kitchens, long cold, dry and dark winters Why your local council can’t just make water and electricity free — and what communities can do instead South Africa’s Constitution says everyone has the right to enough water. It says local government must provide basic services fairly. Those are not empty words. They are binding promises. […]

The SACP’s Conference of the Left

Richard Pithouse22 May 2026

In a moment in which silence appears as complicity the websites of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the SACP show no sign of having issued a statement against March and March and the recent escalation of xenophobic rhetoric – often including classic fascist tropes – and street thuggery. For some time […]

TOWARDS A CONFERENCE OF THE LEFT: THOSE MAKING THE CALL NEED TO ANSWER CRITICAL QUESTIONS

Brian Ashley14 May 2026

South Africa is living through a deepening social crisis. Unemployment, inequality, hunger, state decay, ecological destruction, and violence continue to define everyday life for millions. The political formations that once claimed to represent the aspirations of the working class have lost legitimacy, while the Right – both neoliberal and authoritarian – has grown stronger. In […]

RESPONSE TO THE CONTRADICTIONS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY

Lebohang Phanyeko13 May 2026

The inclusion of right-wing populist formations in the South African Communist Party (SACP) ‘Conference of the Left’ to be held at the end of the month alongside formations such as the African National Congress (ANC) and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), can only escalate rather than resolves the deep contradictions facing the South African left […]

The xenophobia outbreak in South Africa: Strategic questions facing the new social movements

Oupa Lehulere6 May 2026

June 2008 – The township of Alexandra outside Johannesburg, South Africa, has a long history of resistance to oppression and exploitation. In the late 1950s Alex (as it is popularly referred to) was the centre of bus boycotts against increases in fares and of struggles against apartheid, in the 1980s Alex was the centre of […]

OPEN LETTER TO OPERA SINGER AVIVA PELHAM ON HER OBJECTION TO UCT AWARDING IMTIAZ SOOLIMAN AN HONORARY DOCTORATE IN RECOGNITION OF HIS HUMANITARIAN WORK

Mike Van Graan5 May 2026

Dear Aviva, We do not know each other well, but from our brief interactions over many years and from what I’ve seen of your work within the performing arts, my impression was of a huge musical talent and of a warm, generous, humorous and smart human being. Which is why I find your objection (now […]

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Tag: South Africa