In trying to set up a new alliance and workers’ party, it seems the union has taken on too much.
No paper, the writer argues, has kept the ruling party on its toes as the M&G has done.
The never-ending political scandals are ultimately killing the hopes of the poor majority.
The secretary general must take some blame for the spectacular rise of Amcu and the EFF.
The battles for higher wages by angry striking miners must be chosen carefully to avoid setbacks for the workers, writes Ebrahim Harvey.
In this extract from ‘Kgalema Motlanthe: A Political Biography’, we learn that he didn’t expect the new leadership to do things it accused Mbeki of.
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/ 19 February 2010
It often does not seem that the ANC fully appreciates the working-class and poor profile of the coloured population in the Western Cape .
"Unhappy the land that is in need of heroes" — it’s a priceless line spoken by Galileo after he has recanted to avoid torture.
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/ 11 December 2008
Where did the ANCYL get the power and audacity to attack Motlanthe, the judiciary and so much more with impunity?
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/ 11 October 2008
A split from the ANC? Forget it. The time is not right for a split and any new initiative will fail.
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/ 20 September 2008
It is because I hold the <i>M&G</i> in high regard that I find its views of the controversial Zapiro cartoon to be blatantly wrong and unfair.
"I have interviewed African National Congress deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe seven times between 1999 and 2008, and I have watched him change. Yes, he has been buffeted by the winds of neo-liberalism, but in my last interview with him, I see a far more forthright socialist emerging," writes Ebrahim Harvey.
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/ 29 September 2007
The moment is ripe to look to Brazil and form our own mass workers party along the lines of the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT). The left should exploit the deepening political crisis in the ruling ANC alliance and the accompanying social crisis as is evident from the rate of community protests.
We celebrate National Women’s Day, as we rightly should, every year. But how do we deal with the fact that every day the bodies, minds and dignity of thousands of women are violated at the hands of their partners, in their own homes? Domestic violence has risen dramatically in post-apartheid South Africa, and by all accounts we are one of the most violent societies in the world.
"We must encourage the growth of a cadre of black intellectuals who can produce discourses to rigorously engage with the transformation of our society. Alongside the decline of civil society we have seen the decline in black intellectual production. There is a resulting dearth of independent and committed black intellectuals," writes Ebrahim Harvey.
"Blade Nzimande, general secretary of the South African Communist Party, is a strange communist leader of a strange communist party. His online attack last week in the journal <i>Umsebenzi</i>, on some of the left (outside the tripartite alliance) who stood in the elections or who advocated a boycott is unbecoming," writes Ebrahim Harvey.
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/ 17 February 2006
Social movements need to capitalise on grassroots discontent with the ruling party, argues <b>Ebrahim Harvey</b>.
"Yes, we may at times be battered, but we are determined to strengthen our role in the alliance. There are different social and class forces in the ANC contesting its political and policy direction. These battles are far from over, contrary to what many critics think." On the eve of the tripartite alliance summit, Ebrahim Harvey quizzes Cosatu president Willie Madisha about jobs, growth and the future of the alliance.
I wish it were possible to storm the gates of neo-liberal state power in this country, dominated by the ruling African National Congress, and declare a workers’ socialist republic. But I know with certainty that at least for the next decade there will be no such prospect. The ANC is still deeply rooted among the majority black working class and it will take a long time to uproot this support.
Is suicide bombing a gruesome but necessary method of struggle? The real question is not whether Israeli aggression against Palestinians justifies a relentless and revolutionary fight against it, but whether suicide bombings advance and strengthen this struggle or are counterproductive. A related question is whether it is possible to support a great cause but have reservations about this gruesome practice.