The Annual Ben Turok Memorial Lecture: with Yanis Varoufakis

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 … Read More

Kudos to our Senior Researcher Hibist Kassa

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 … Read More

IFAA Statement on Student Fees Protest

The Institute for African Alternatives (IFAA) notes that the student movement has rallied young people to come together to insist on inclusive, quality education for all. We offer the following points: The protest action on university campuses across the country expresses legitimate concerns and grievances. The issue of fee increases … Read More

Industry Adds Value

Below find Prof. Ben Turok’s letter to Business Day on 17 June 2015. ALLOW me to comment on Songezo Zibi’s latest column (Unembargoed, June 15). He takes a rather pessimistic view on the prospects of industrialisation in SA through building a “bigger heavy industrial sector 
 to fuel infrastructure”. The … Read More

Can our current Transformation efforts learn from Past Struggles?

Prof. Ben Turok (Director) addressed Smuts Hall (UCT) on Thursday 23rd April. His notes are published below.  South Africa under apartheid was a partial democracy for white people and a dictatorship for Africans, Coloureds, and Indians. Our present system is referred to as a constitutional democracy or a parliamentary democracy … Read More

Transformation at UCT: A contribution from IFAA

The Institute for African Alternatives (IFAA) supports the call for transformation at UCT. It is clear that the university needs to embrace change and abandon a physical and academic infrastructure which does not reflect the aspirations of its students and broader society.   Although we are delighted to hear of … Read More

Can our Intellectuals Rise above the Constraints?

Below find Prof. Turok’s presentation to a roundtable on The Role of Intellectuals in the State-Society Nexus. The event was convened by The Mapungubwe Institute (MISTRA) and Liliesleaf on 4th March 2015. I am asked to respond to the paper by Joel Netshitenzhe. This is always a pleasure since he has … Read More

IFAA Monthly Update: March 2015

Please read below for news, updates on our activities and upcoming events.  Partnerships  Partnership with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)  IFAA has confirmed a partnership agreement with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa to conduct policy research on the mineral value chain in South Africa. Our … Read More

A Call for Socially Conscious Engineers

Prof. Turok’s address for the graduation ceremony of the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment (2014). “Engineers must be mindful of the socioeconomic impact of their work.” It is a great honour for me to speak at my old alma mater, particularly to engineering graduates. On my first day as … Read More

The Scope for Domestic Value Addition in a Mining Economy: The South African Case

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 … Read More

Conference: Interface between Mining and Manufacturing

An experts’ consultation on the Interface between Mining and Manufacturing was held at the IDC on 22 August 2013. IFAA co-hosted the forum along with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). The forum also benefitted from the support of the Department of … Read More

BD Letter to Editor: Cape Town Mining Lekgotla

Prof. Turok writes to Business Day regarding the Cape Town Mining Lekgotla.  Sir, The report on the legislative proposals discussed at the Cape Town Mining Lekgotla (11.2.2015) raises many concerns. The mining industry has consistently stuck to its determination to sell minerals in the South African market at import parity prices … Read More

SONA 2015: Fracas in the House

Ben Turok writes on SONA 2015: “Let the good and wise leaders stand up!”  Published in the Sunday Times 22/02/2015.  I was not present in the National Assembly when the EFF was forcible removed but watched the scene on television. The pandemonium was awful, but what also struck me was the … Read More