The impact of SA policy on inequality
By: Joel Netshitenzhe – Although income poverty has declined since the advent of democracy, the country’s rates of equality have not improved, writes Joel Netshitenzhe What are the major trends with regard to income inequality in South Africa? First, income poverty has been declining since the advent of democracy. Second, functional distribution of national income […]
ANC emotional about gun laws – AfriForum
By SAPA – Johannesburg – The ANC-led government’s intention to introduce amendments to the Firearms Control Act is an emotional reaction, AfriForum said on Friday. “The ANC government reacts on emotion, following the murder of our Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa in Vosloorus (in Ekurhuleni) in the past week,” spokesman Ian Cameron said in a […]
Zim to receive funds as EU lifts sanctions
Harare – The European Union lifted trade sanctions against Zimbabwe on Thursday and will resume development and finance cooperation with the country. EU ambassador to Zimbabwe Philippe Van Damme told journalists on Thursday that direct aid will resume this weekend, when part of the sanctions imposed on the Zimbabwean government over alleged rights abuses expire. […]
More land ‘grabbed’ in Africa than rest of the world combined
SAPA – Over 55 million hectares of land has been grabbed in Africa since the year 2000, this is according to research presented at the Africa Land Grab conference held in Midrand. More land had been “grabbed” in Africa between 2000 and 2012 than in the rest of the world combined, Dr Blessing Karumbidza, senior […]
Inequality before the law – Is South Africa’s criminal justice system punitive to the poor?
By ROBYN LESLIE, CAROLYN RAPHAELY & RUTH HOPKINS. Oscar Pistorius didn’t only reach notable speeds on the athletics track – his trial was wrapped up at a remarkable pace as well. Other disabled inmates are not so lucky, and the difference in their treatment casts a shadow on our ‘justice’ system. “It would be a […]
Government relocations: One more losing battle for shack dwellers
By BHEKI C. SIMELANE – Government seems to have a laudable intention to reach out to poor communities, the latest evidence being the relocation of informal settlements by the Department of Human Settlements. Unfortunately, however, it did not work out as planned. The relocations are riddled with errors and uncertainty. Erratic, cruel and often failing […]
KZN hospital on alert for Ebola virus
By Kamini Padayachee, Mpume Madlala, Lauren Rawlins and Bongani Hans – Durban – A suspected Ebola case had Addington Hospital on red alert on Wednesday as staff scrambled into protective gear and closed off entrances and wards to ready the facility to treat the incoming patient. On Wednesday night KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo confirmed […]
Zambia’s President Michael Sata dies at 77
By Reuters – Zambia’s President Michael Sata has died in London, where he had been receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness, three private Zambian media outlets said on Wednesday. The reports on the private Muzi television station and the Zambia Reports and Zambian Watchdog websites said the southern African nation’s Cabinet was about to meet. […]
Judge puts Gauteng Health MEC on spot
By Vuyo Mkize – Johannesburg – Why did the Gauteng Health MEC not interrogate the evidence of the department’s own medical expert witness on the urgency of why a patient needed an emergency caesarean? Why was it necessary that a medical negligence matter go to trial if both medical experts for the defendant and plaintiff […]
Mantashe: Numsa like a diseased person
Johannesburg – ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe has compared Cosatu’s largest affiliate the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) to a person suffering from a lifestyle related disease, the Sowetan newspaper reported on Wednesday. “Sometimes you have a chronic disease that is lifestyle related, [and] instead of behaving properly and doing the right thing, […]
