2017 Articles

The Commercial Stevedore Agricultural and Allied Workers Union (CSAAWU) has promised to extend its footprint to beyond the Western Cape as a critical step towards protecting the more than 700 000 farm workers in South Africa. “In the past decade over 1 million workers were displaced and evicted from farms around the country. In provinces … Read more CSAAWU Promises to go national

Hundreds Unemployed People’s Movement (UPM) members have marched through the streets of Grahamstown to demand action on a range of issues including corruption, housing allocations, poor sanitation and frequent water outages. The protesters, mainly women and youth, converged on the City Hall where they were addressed by several community leaders and where a memorandum of … Read more Unemployed Movement demands urgent action in Makana Government

Operation Phakisa: Ocean Extractivism has no place for traditional fishers In 2014 President Zuma launched Operation Phakisa.  Phakisa means ‘hurry up’ in Sesotho and with this multi-sectoral programme, the government aims to fast-track the exploitation of what they refer to as the ‘ocean economy’.  Operation Phakisa is linked to the National Development Plan’s goals of … Read more Ocean Extractivism has no place for traditional fishers

Small-scale fishers and coastal communities took to the streets of East London on World Fisheries Day, November 21, to voice their concerns about the extractive emphasis in Operation Phakisa, which is squeezing them further and further out of the ocean and coastal space.  Many traditional fishers and coastal communities in recent years have been systematically … Read more Coastal Links leads fishers march in East London

Rural coastal communities in South Africa are being hit by a tsunami called Operation Phakisa, and the Eastern Cape is the current epicentre. Under threat are the livelihoods of subsistence fishers as well as our very coastline. Fishing communities have for years faced dispossession of their lands and access to the coast, as coastal towns … Read more Fishing communities under attack

how unsafe is it to be born in a woman’s body? By Marilu João The question of the woman’s body as an unsafe place to belong was the main point of reflection for several hundred women when they gathered for a special session during the Rural Women’s Assembly gathering at the 2017 SADC People’s Summit. … Read more How unsafe is it to be born in a woman’s body?

Rural women from nine Southern African countries have heavily criticised the Farmer Input Subsidy Programmes (FISPs), which are being rolled out in several countries in the region. The women came together as the the Rural Women’s Assembly during the annual SADC People’s Summit that was held this year in Johannesburg.  Rural woman gave testimony about … Read more Women lambaste farmer input subsidies

We bring you here several articles from the annual SADC People’s Summit that was held in Johannesburg this year. Festival of the oppressed – This article gives an overview of various activities at the summit, including the People’s Tribunal. Read more Rampant corporate greed threatens food systems and more – In this article, we report on the 2nd … Read more SPECIAL ISSUE SADC People’s Summit