Creator
Richard Pithouse
Richard Pithouse writes about politics, music and poetry.
Xenophobia debases us all
Xenophobia is festering across the world. In South Africa it carries a dangerous legitimacy, cloaked in the language of liberation, and now embodied in open fascism of Operation…
Political gangsterism is a clear and present danger
In collaboration with crooks, political mafias have emerged in which private fortunes are being built on plundered public wealth
Springsteen crosses over into Mexico
In an America awash with leering cruelty, Inyo, a beautiful record by an extraordinary musician, is finally heard after two decades in the vault
Shivambu’s predatory politics
Floyd Shivambu’s new political project masks its predatory character in the language of liberation
We need to rebuild the idea of the public
South Africa is in crisis and the intra-elite battles about how to move forward do not offer any viable path towards a just way resolution
Migrant labour in the digital age exploited
Brazil and India are starting to win gains for ‘platform’ workers such as delivery riders. Unions in South African must support similar struggles
Refuse Trump’s return to open racism
As the US president rapidly escalates pressure on South Africa in the name of white citizens, we must stand up for reason and principle
Liberal collusion with Trump’s racism
As the US president turns on South Africa it is time to take a wider view of domestic complicity with his racism
From Brazil to South Africa: The power and perils of political charisma
A compelling new biography of Brazil’s Lula da Silva offers a sharp contrast to the dispiriting state of South Africa’s politics
Is our Trumpian moment coming?
Donald Trump’s return to power is a disaster for America, but we should be mindful that South Africa may risk a similar fate
How ‘shantytown’ priest Gustavo Gutiérrez changed the world
He developed liberation theology, rooted in the lived experience of the oppressed, and committed to transforming unjust social and political structures
New book reignites Rick Turner’s radical democratic ideas and legacy
A new publication sustains the discussion of the ideas of a creative and courageous radical for a new generation
Imagining a better digital public sphere
X, Facebook and Instagram exercise ordinate and often pernicious power, which must be contested and socially enriching alternatives developed
Gayton must go if GNU is to be credible
The toxic xenophobic politics pushed by Gayton McKenzie and the Patriotic Alliance debases us all
Blue lies: Police killings must always be carefully interrogated
South Africa is a terrifyingly violent country, but giving the police licence to kill can only make things worse