Tag: Capitalism

MEA CULPA: THE ABDICATION AND CO-OPTION OF THE BLACK MIDDLE CLASS

South Africa has more Black leaders in powerful institutions than ever before. Yet the distance between the Black middle class and the communities that shaped it continues to widen. This essay reflects on the quiet abdication and co-option of that class—and the responsibility that now confronts it. There comes a moment when confession must move […]

SACP’S CONDOLENCES TO FAMILY OF MOSIUOA ‘TERROR’ LEKOTA

The South African Communist Party (SACP) conveys its message of condolences to the family of Mosiuoa Patrick Lekota, the founding member and president of the Congress of the People (COPE) political party. The SACP also conveys its condolences to his party as well as the people of South Africa for the loss. Affectionately known as […]

AMERICA’S “KILL LINE” MAKES A MOCKERY OF LIVING THE DREAM

“Kill line”, the relatively new American catchphrase that has come to describe people who have fallen on hard times, has lit the torch on the vulnerability to fall into the quicksand of poverty. The phrase “kill line” originates from video games, where it refers to a “health threshold below which a character can be instantly […]

BCMU CONDEMNS SYSTEMIC CORRUPTION, CALLS FOR WORKING-CLASS ACTION

The Black Consciousness Movement United (BCMU) notes with grave concern the recent revelations by Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi regarding corruption within the criminal justice system and alleged links between public officials and criminal syndicates. While many have expressed shock, BCMU is neither surprised nor astonished by these allegations, as they point to a deeper crisis […]

“ABSURD FOR ANYONE IN ANC TO EQUATE SACP’S ELECTION CONTESTATION TO THE MKP – A PARTY FOUNDED ON ETHNIC MOBILIZATION AND CHAUVINISM” – SAMBATHA

A few days ago, I read with distraught an article in one of the country’s leading newspapers titled: “Consider the implications’: ANC officials warn SACP against contesting elections”. The opening sequence of the article goes further proclaiming the following: “The ANC’s national officials have warned the SACP it could suffer the same fate as former […]

THE DAY THE STRUGGLE WENT CORPORATE

There was no drumroll. No grand announcement. No whisper even. But it happened — quietly, suddenly, and irrevocably. Somewhere between the last exile’s return and the first BEE deal signed, the South African liberation struggle changed outfits. It swapped khaki fatigues and wood-handled AKs for navy-blue suits, Montblanc pens, and private equity portfolios. That day, […]

ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION ORIENTED BUDGETING AND TAXATION

Value Added Tax (VAT) began as General Sales Tax (GST) under the apartheid regime to cope with the crisis of falling state revenues and as a result of the anti-apartheid sanctions campaign. The apartheid economy was by design intended to service a white minority and to exclude the black majority. After 1994, VAT was sustained […]