A low wage is not immoral; forbidding it is
The National Minimum Wage Commission will soon determine next year’s mandatory wage levels. The exercise rests on a persuasive but perverse moral claim.
DIRCO’s ICJ claims give a false impression of a ruling that hasn’t been made
The recent submission by South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) of dossiers to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), alleging Israel’s non-compliance with the Court’s provisional measures orders, creates the misleading impression that the Court’s proceedings have been concluded and that final verdicts have already been issued, but are being disregarded by one of the parties.
A local government design that is fit for purpose
Although largely absent from public conversation, the proposals contained in a recent white paper on local government could herald the most far-reaching set of changes in South African governance since the 1990s. Published in May, it is largely a response to the dysfunctional realities confronting the country’s local sphere.
We have the taps, but we don’t have the water
For the past two decades, South Africa has made significant progress in improving access to water. Data from the recently published Living Conditions chapter of the Socio-Economic Survey of South Africa from the Centre for Risk Analysis indicates that in year 2002, about 8.9 million households in South Africa had access to piped water. That number has since increased to 17.6 million.
Is bigger always better?
Africa is much bigger than the Mercator projection makes it look. Correcting that makes sense. Turning the size of a continent on a map into a question of dignity and justice is another matter.
“Durban V” versus moving beyond racial politics
Just as “war is politics by other means,” racial politics can offer paths to power via coercive means.
Franz Kafka lives on in Hong Kong and Washington
In Franz Kafka’s 1925 novel, The Trial, Prague bank clerk Joseph K is arrested but not told why. He was informed neither of the nature of the purported crime nor the names of the accusers. He is left to speculate about what was going on.
Who are the Boks?
To appreciate who the Springboks are, it helps to look back in time to who they were.
Johannesburg will turn 150 in 2036
There is a danger that this will be treated as little more than another anniversary to be marked by a municipal programme, a commemorative logo and a series of speeches. That would be a profound waste of the occasion.
Is religion good for us?
Atheists and progressives routinely predict the demise of religion and traditional ways of living. Not only do they predict it, but they have also actively worked for that outcome ever since humankind first realised there were alternatives.