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Persistent and obscene inequality A post-apartheid policy choice By Seeraj Mohamed How is one to understand the poor economic performance of the South African economy since the end of apartheid? SEERAJ MOHAMED argues that the post-apartheid government chose to adopt neoliberal economic policies rather than taking on a developmental state…

What does it mean to be‘progressive’ in South Africatoday? Viewpoints from civil society An awful lot has changed during South Africa’s 30 years of democracy – but clearly not nearly enough. The state’s provision of certain basic services isbroadly recognised, and commended, but democracy is not measured onlyaccording to the…

Nostalgia as a weapon … … and also a way to bring back the dream – By Ari Sitas Ari Sitas is the Acting Director of the Institute of African Alternatives (IFAA). He is also Emeritus Professor and former head of the Department of Sociology, University of Cape Town, and…

Editorial Essay Democracy of a Special Type? Persistent World-Class Inequality – By Gregory Ruiters, Guest Editor Professor Gregory Ruiters holds the Chair in Citizenship and Democracy in the Economic and Management Sciences Faculty at the University of the Western Cape and is Acting Director of UWC’s School of Government Introduction…

Book Review A Practical Guide to Levitation: Stories By José Eduardo Agualusa Review by Jacqueline Nyathi Translated from the Portuguese by Daniel Hahn Mozambique-based writer José Eduardo Agualusa and his wonderful translator, Daniel Hahn, have a way with words, the fantastical and the surreal. They bring ghosts to life with…

Dateline Africa 1 December 2023 to 29 February 2024 21 February: Türkiye – once the Ottoman Empire, a colonial occupier of north Africa for centuries – is extremely active in Africa once again. It is to assist in strengthening coast-guard services in Somalia. This comes amid infrastructure projects in east…

Making sense of today’s labour movement as we confront the burden of the future By Monique Marks Marks is the head of the Urban Futures Centre at the Durban University of Technology. She is an internationally recognised and rated researcher and has won a number of prestigious awards for her…

40 years of shop floor resistance Racial ordering and history of militant culture By Sithembiso Bhengu Dr Bhengu is the Director of the Chris Hani Institute and Senior Research Associate with the Sociology Department, University of Johannesburg. He holds a PhD in Industrial Sociology from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Based…

Cosatu’s mute response Waves of social movement unionism in South Africa and its crisis during Covid By uMbuso weNkosi uMbuso weNkosi is a sociology lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. His research is focused on labour studies, industrial policy, political economy, agrarian studies, archives and social theory. He…

Farming support must switch to black smallholders Focus on urban elite amounts to rural State Capture By John Matisonn Journalist and author Matisonn began political reporting in 1974. He was foreign correspondent in Washington for the Rand Daily Mail and reported for National Public Radio in the US. He has…

South Africa’s migration policy mess Where did it come from, and can it be fixed? By Alan Hirsch Alan Hirsch is Professor Emeritus at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town; the Leader of the Migration Governance Research Programme at New South Institute; and a Professorial…

Lessons for South Africa China during the era of ‘reform and opening up’ By Douglas Ian Scott Scott, a South African policy analyst and social scientist, is the director of policy at Wikimedia South Africa, a non-profit that advocates for free access to knowledge and supports the growth of Wikipedia…

Where is the development in SA’s developmental state? And where is the road to sustainable job creation? Journalist and author Matisonn began political reporting in 1974. He was foreign correspondent in Washington for the Rand Daily Mail and reported for National Public Radio in the US. He has been published…

Degrowth in an African periphery Recentring decoloniality around circular ontologies By Roland Ngam Dr Roland Ngam is programme manager for climate justice and socioecological transformation at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Southern Africa, where he coordinates the climate blog ClimateJusticeCentral. Before that, he was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Emancipatory…

Editorial In search of a ‘developmental state’ – By Martin Nicol This Special Issue on Economics and Labour is divided into two sections. Contributions on current economic development are followed by three articles presented at a conference marking 50 years since the Durban Strikes of 1973. That said, all of…