Latest News

Featuring an Introduction by Director Raj Patel Surplus Radical Bookshop and The Institute for African Alternatives invite you to a screening of the recently released film ‘The Ants and the Grasshopper,’ directed by internationally renowned food policy expert, author, and social justice activist, Raj Patel and Zak Piper. The film…

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…

Please join us for Crossroads Homecoming– a collaborative book launch festival– cohosted by: Jacana Media, the Department of History and the Centre for Humanities Research at the University of Western Cape, the City of Cape Town Crossroads Library, the UWC-Robben Island Museum Mayibuye Archives, the Crossroads Philippi Young Women’s Reading…

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…

  Zunaid Moolla, New Agenda Deputy Editor spoke to Vivek Chibber while he was on a speaking tour of South Africa. He is a Professor of Sociology at New York University ZM: You have been to South African several times now. Do you see or hear anything different with this…

Alternative approaches to economic development are gaining popularity in many countries. Co-ops may not be considered an alternative approach because they’ve been around for several decades and probably precede the onset of capitalism. In this article IFAA Student and Youth coordinator Rekang Jankie looks at the status of co- ops in…

  This is the second part of an extensive interview Gill Marcus gave Ben Turok one month before she finished her term as governor of the South African Reserve Bank. The first part appeared in our previous issue (No. 56, 4:2014), and is available here. Here, Marcus discusses the Bank’s extensive engagement with…

  by Ben Turok Gill Marcus stepped down as governor of the South African Reserve Bank when her term ended in November 2014. Ben Turok had an extensive interview with her on 3 October 2014. This first part deals with changes in central banking, outside influence, and the Bank’s mandate…

By Ben Turok,  The author is an economist, former ANC member of parliament and the editor of New Agenda. This article originally appeared in New Agenda: South African Journal of Social and Economic Policy, Issue 66.     State capture may have dominated the headlines this past year but the…

ABSTRACT In this paper Professor Ben Turok (director) examines the constraints on beneficiation in South Africa. He calls for a negotiated compromise on domestic prices, perhaps for a fixed period, with suitable provisions for improved infrastructure services, and step-by-step measures to enhance local value addition and beneficiation by local manufacturers and…

IFAA writes an agenda for action inviting all interested parties, mining and manufacturing companies, government, international agencies, research organisations, universities and experts to cooperate with us in advancing knowledge about mineral value chains and how they might benefit the people of Africa. 22nd January 2015  The Institute For African Alternatives (IFAA)…

Prof. Ben Turok (director) writes on import parity pricing as an obstacle for beneficiation.  Published in Business Day 12/02/2015 The report on the legislative proposals discussed at the Mining Indaba (Minister goes back on mining agreement, February 11) raises many concerns. The mining industry has consistently stuck to its determination…

Ben Turok (director)…