High Court judges have now had to step into the breach to protect the rights of residents to water and electricity. Cilliers Brink MP, DA Shadow Minister of Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs 19 December 2020 The Democratic Alliance (DA) takes note of the judgment of the North West High Court that contemplates the transfer of […]
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Eskom Nedlac agreement is a betrayal of workers and the public
Bailout by Stealth Geordin Hill-Lewis, DA Shadow Minister of Finance – 8 December 2020 The agreement signed today at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) between labour, business and government, initially proposed by Cosatu, amounts to a betrayal of workers and the public at large, who will end up paying when government can […]
The ANC has an Achilles heel, its broken branch structure
Keith Gottschalk, Political Scientist, University of the Western Cape – 25 November 2020 Democracies are precarious endeavours, as events around the world are showing. In most, political parties hold sway over whether the system delivers the will of the people, or doesn’t. So how political parties are organised plays a big role in the health, […]
Malema inciting violence AGAIN
Police Minister Bheki Cele says he is disgusted at EFF leader Julius Malema. “He has really crossed the line. You are not going to threaten the police and think the police are going to fold their arms and sit back.” Sihle Ngobese via Daily Friend – 24 November 2020 The leader of the third largest political […]
COVID-19 vaccines were developed in record time – but are these game-changers safe?
“To produce an mRNA vaccine, scientists produce a synthetic version of the mRNA that a virus uses to build its infectious proteins. This mRNA is delivered into the human body, whose cells read it as instructions to build that viral protein, and therefore create some of the virus’s molecules themselves. These proteins are solitary, so […]
Moderna follows Pfizer with vaccine news – interpreting these developments
There are many who do not buy into this ‘good news’ – MORE Simon Kolstoe, Senior Lecturer in Evidence-Based Healthcare and University Ethics Advisor, University of Portsmouth – 16 November 2020 It is very exciting to hear another positive story about vaccine trial results – a good vaccine is the most likely way of […]
90% efficacy for Pfizer’s COVID-19 mRNA vaccine is striking, but wait for the full data
Harry Al-Wassiti, Bioengineer and Research Fellow, Monash University; Colin Pouton, Professor of Pharmaceutical Biology, Monash University, and Kylie Quinn, Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellow, School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University – 10 November 2020 German biotech company BioNTech and US pharmaceutical Pfizer announced on Monday promising early results from their phase 3 clinical trial for […]
Understanding violent protest in South Africa and the difficult choice facing leaders
Adam Habib, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, University of the Witwatersrand Protests and social mobilisation are the lifeblood of democracy. They enable the discontent of citizens to be communicated to political elites between elections, and when intra-institutional processes have lost their efficacy. But most protests never lead to sustainable change. They peter out because of one or […]
South Africa has another go at the expropriation law – an explanation
Elmien du Plessis, Associate Professor of Law, North-West University When South Africa officially became a constitutional democracy in South Africa on 4 February 1997 it heralded profound change in the way the country is governed. Once a racially oppressive pariah state, it became one based on freedom, human rights and the rule of law. All […]
Mboweni’s budget update builds castles in the sky
Right now, government is borrowing at a rate of R2.1 billion per day. Mike van der Westhuizen, Portfolio Manager, Citadel – 28 October 2020 The June Supplementary Budget had already made it clear that South Africa was in a dire financial state. So, from that perspective, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s Medium Term Budget Policy […]