Opinion

Nkaneng: sorry symbol of a century of neglect

Living conditions of Lonmin workers show how exploitation and neglect continue on South African platinum mines.

Raphael Chaskalson

Opinion | 17 July 2013

We must confront the poisonous roots of the past

“History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived. But, if faced with courage, need not be lived again.” So wrote American author and poet Maya Angelou; providing an insight that seems highly pertinent to the South Africa of today, especially when considering the fraught situation in the mining sector.

Terry Bell

Opinion | 16 July 2013

Pay rises, policy alternatives and regime change

Trade unions are irresponsible and greedy, demanding double digit pay rises and so driving up inflation and threatening the stability of the currency and the economy. And while they criticise government policies, protest about the system or refuse immediately to accept government brokered deals, they provide no adequate explanations or alternatives.

Terry Bell

Opinion | 10 July 2013

MyCiTi: Why Cape Town needs a unique solution to public transport

BRT has become a buzzword when talking about creative transport solutions. However, it is only under very specific conditions that BRT provides the one-size-fits-all answer to a city’s needs.

Martin Eichhorn

Opinion | 10 July 2013

Labelling Israeli injustice

For three long years, activists across the country campaigned to ban Israel’s practice of falsely labelling goods that are made in its illegal settlements as "made in Israel". In April this year, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) issued a regulation banning this practice.

Jonathan Dockney

Opinion | 3 July 2013

Egypt’s second revolution

As massive protests swept across Egypt on Sunday, many outside of Egypt were surprised to see the sheer volumes of people that were unhappy with President Mohamed Morsi and his government, so soon after the revolution.

Mary Fawzy

Opinion | 3 July 2013

Go beyond lawyers for new judges

Should only lawyers be made judges? Greg Solik says no. He argues that for the judiciary to transform we need to go beyond the legal profession.

Greg Solik

Opinion | 3 July 2013

Dancing and tears greet book treaty for blind

On 22 June a treaty for the blind was heading for disaster as negotiators stalled and refused to budge on hardline positions. Three days later a negotiator stepped out of a boardroom in the Atlas Medina hotel in Marrakesh and announced to a crowd of tense and exhausted observers, "We have a text!" The tears and dancing that followed is hardly what you’d associate with the making of international law.

Marcus Low

Opinion | 3 July 2013

Cameron to African leaders: End stigma against gays

This is an edited transcript of a speech by Judge Edwin Cameron on 28 June at the UNAIDS/LANCET Commissioners Dinner in Malawi. Cameron criticised stigmatising laws that hamper the response to HIV.

Edwin Cameron

Opinion | 2 July 2013