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The Institute for African Alternatives and Surplus Radical Books are pleased to invite you to a film screening of “Concerning Violence: Nine Scenes from Anti-Imperialistic Self-Defense” by Göran Hugo Olsson. This event forms part of our African Film Series in which we explore the life and times of important African…

The Institute for African Alternatives and Surplus Radical Books is pleased to invite you to a Public Lecture by Dr. Freedom Mazwi of the Department of African Studies and Linguistics at UCT, entitled “Zimbabwe at 43: Challenges and Contradictions of a Postcolonial State.” This is the fourth in a series…

This online discussion forum is brought to you by IFAA and Surplus Books, featuring Jonathan Jacobs, Entrepreneur, and small business owner, and discussant Patrick Kadalie, CEO of Social Business Advisory Services. In this critical discussion, we seek to acknowledge the crucial role SMEs play in improving the business environment at…

The Institute for African Alternatives invites you to a seminar on Energy Options for South Africa to be presented by Mr Viv Crone on Tuesday, December 6, 2022, at 2:30 pm Zoom Registration: https://cutt.ly/K1PwZi3 Our Presenter: Viv Crone is an electrical engineer with 50 years of experience in high-technology product design…

Keynote speaker Yanis Varoufakis, renowned radical economist and former Greek Finance Minister, will speak on Africa in the Face of the new Cold War and the West’s new colonial escapades The annual Ben Turok Memorial Lecture marks the anniversary of the death of IFAA’s founder and former director, the struggle…

Venue: Bertha House, 67 & 69 Main Rd, Mowbray, Cape Town Date: 23rd November 2022 Time: 4.30 pm for 5 pm (Snacks and Drinks in Dining Area) RSVP to: https://cutt.ly/UMAaEPh Press Statement The “Niger Delta Command”, a work of fiction will be launched at Bertha House in Mowbray, Cape Town…

Today (26 June) South Africa marks the 66th anniversary of the Congress of the People where thousands gathered to endorse the Freedom Charter. But it is of particular significance to those who also remember the man who wrote its economic clauses, the late Professor Ben Turok, whose birthday happens to…

“…[W]e will miss your boundless energy, your strength, your wisdom, your uncompromising intellectual incisiveness in the interests of the fundamental social transformation of our country; in the interests of the masses and not an elite.” These are the words of world-renowned economist and  intellectual, Professor Vishnu Padayachee, who passed away…

On Wednesday 28th April 2021, 3 pm The Institute for African Alternatives (IFAA) marks the forthcoming Workers’ Day with a Public Forum that draws attention to the impact of Covid-19 on the future of work and social justice.  The disruptions created by the pandemic have radically altered the way we…

By Moira Levy The Institute for African Alternatives (IFAA) joins many South Africans in mourning the passing of Cecyl Esau, who will be remembered for his work as an underground activist in Umkonto we Sizwe and a community organiser within the United Democratic Front (UDF). His interest in politics emerged…

Urban farming is not a new phenomenon but it has proliferated rapidly in recent years. This has been driven by advances in technology and global challenges that include food insecurity, energy shortage, urban migration, poverty, unemployment and environmental degradation. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization urban farming is…

IFAA would like to congratulate our senior researcher, Dr Hibist Kassa, on the publication of her chapter ‘The Crisis of Social Reproduction in Petty Commodity Production and Large-scale Mining: A Southern Perspective on Gender Inequality’ in the new collection Inequality Studies from the Global South, Routledge (2020). For more information…

The Institute for African Alternatives invites you to join our online discussion forum: Reflections on Trotsky, on Thursday 29th October 2020, 3pm. Please read the brief and find the webinar link information below: Brief As we mark the 80th anniversary of Trotsky’s assassination we find ourselves in the midst of…

Capitalist development since the Second World War ushered in unprecedented rates of capital accumulation and structural change in the world economy in the form of rapid industrialisation. Fast and sustained industrialisation has been associated with large increases in wage employment, labour productivity, and health and educational welfare. Countries that have…

Sibusiso Sibisi is chief executive officer of the CSIR, South Africa’s Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. They don’t make many headlines, but CSIR research and development is opening the way for new made-in- SA technology and enterprises. Ben Turok: Is it true that CSIR was founded mainly to meet…