Pambazuka News is produced by a pan-African community of some 2,600 citizens and organisations - academics, policy makers, social activists, women's organisations, civil society organisations, writers, artists, poets, bloggers, and commentators who together produce insightful, sharp and thoughtful analyses and make it one of the largest and most innovative and influential web forums for social justice in Africa. 
poverty
Riots, royal weddings and recession
Lara Pawson
2011-08-18, Issue 545
cc F WIn their highly misguided and at times absurd responses to the UK’s recent rioting, we may well ask if Britain’s elites ‘are living in a time warp’, writes Lara Pawson.
No easy path through the embers
Richard Pithouse
2011-08-03, Issue 543
© abahlali.orgThe recent acquittal of members of a leading South African social movement showed up the undemocratic tendencies of the ANC. Those committed to democracy will have to stand firm, writes Richard Pithouse.
Famine by man not drought
Africa Answerman
2011-08-04, Issue 543
cc A EThe famine spreading across the Horn of Africa is ‘not principally the result of drought’, it’s ‘due to political and social circumstances that if left unaddressed will begin one terrible unending famine capable of wiping out entire populations and massively stressing global resources’, writes Africa Answerman.
Fighting the minerals-petroleum-coal complex’s wealth
Patrick Bond and Khadija Sharife
2011-07-20, Issue 540
cc C BProcrastination, paralysis, pollution and profit. These are the keywords for the UN climate conference slated for Durban, South Africa, in December. But, write Patrick Bond and Khadija Sharife
, the spirit of those who face down the powerful minerals-energy complex will shine through.
If they come for you, who will speak out?
Jane Duncan
2011-07-20, Issue 540
© abahlali.orgAs part of a broad climate of political intolerance, incidents of torture of both activists and criminals in South Africa appear to be on a disturbing rise, writes Jane Duncan.
Cry woman cry, cry beloved Zimbabwe!
Grace Kwinjeh
2011-07-07, Issue 538
cc V VWhen Zimbabwe’s political temperature rises, women and children are the most vulnerable, writes Grace Kwinjeh.
Land 'investment' deals in Africa: Say ‘no way!’
Anuradha Mittal, Jeff Furman, Frederic Mousseau
Oakland Institute
2011-06-30, Issue 537
cc T RFood insecurity, loss of food sovereignty, the displacement of small farmers, conflict, environmental devastation, water loss, and the further impoverishment and political instability of African nations – these are among the consequences of large-scale investments in land in Africa, a special investigation by the Oakland Institute has revealed. Pambazuka News spoke to Anuradha Mittal, Jeff Furman and Frederic Mousseau about what prompted their research and what they discovered.
Why the AU is wrong to hold its summit in Equatorial Guinea
While Equatorial Guinea blows money on the AU summit, it's people live in poverty
Geoffrey Njora
2011-06-23, Issue 536
cc UN multimediaThe 17th African Union Summit takes place from 23 June to 1 July in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. Will the African Union violate its own Constitutive Act and policy standards by hosting the summit in Equatorial Guinea? asks Geoffrey Njora.
Living on the Coke side of life in Swaziland
Peter Kenworthy
2011-06-22, Issue 536
cc D GNext time you crack open a Coke to quench your thirst, spare a thought for the sugar cane workers in Swaziland. Peter Kenworthy investigates the operations of the Coca-Cola Company in the repressive monarchy.
South Africa: Bring back the truth and dignity from 1976
Abahlali baseMjondolo Youth League
2011-06-16, Issue 535
© abahlali.org‘On 16 June 1976, the youth died for Freedom, yet today while we are told that we are free it is clear that we are not free,’ writes South African shackdwellers movement Abahlali base Mjondolo, as the country marks both Youth Day and the 35th anniversary of the Soweto uprising. ‘We are struggling for a freedom that everyone can experience for themselves in their every day lives. That means decent education, decent work, a decent guaranteed income for those without work and a decent place to stay for everyone. It also means the freedom to organize as we want and to say what we want in safety.’
A better life for all: a dream for poor and unemployed
Ayanda Kota
UPM
2011-06-16, Issue 535
© abahlali.orgThe ‘old woman stopped for a moment, looked at me, a smile crawling out of her mouth. Yet I could see the tears making the way through the corners of the eyelids. I then stopped and stared at her. She made a sound, trying to remove a lump in her throat and finally broke the silence. She said “Vote ANC, Vote for Better Life, Vote for Heaven and Vote for Jesus. Better life in heaven indeed not under ANC”.’
Haiti: The right to housing
2011-06-08, Issue 534
cc LCMSA number of organisations in Haiti representing social organisations, grassroots movements and people displaced in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake came together over the period 19–21 May 2011 to discuss the country’s housing crisis.
The struggles of Zimbabwean immigrants in South Africa
‘It’s dangerous out there.’
Khadija Sharife
2011-06-02, Issue 532
cc G SFor Zimbabweans who cross into South Africa in search of work, the risk of robbery, rape and extortion at the border is just the beginning of their problems. Khadija Sharife meets a ‘rightless’ underclass who are both exploited and scapegoated, simply for wanting to feed their children.
Put your shoes into my shoes
From the poor man to the rich man to conciliate the grounds of where we come from
Sharon and Conway Payn
2011-05-25, Issue 531
Sharon and Conway Payn from the Symphony Way pavement dwellers discuss the unkept promises the South African government made about housing and their experiences on Symphony Way.
Breaking Borders: Extraordinary stories of migrants
Deborah Walter
2011-05-25, Issue 531
© CMFDLaunched on Africa Day (25 May), a new five-part series of radio documentaries chronicling the lives, challenges, dreams and positive contributions of migrants living in South Africa is hitting the airwaves. In ‘Breaking Borders’, five migrants tell their stories of where they came from, what life is like for them in their new home and what their goals are for the future. Keep on reading to find out more and listen to the documentaries online.
South Africa: Framing the Hangberg Uprising
Aryan Kaganof
2011-05-26, Issue 531
cc C TA documentary made by South African film-makers Dylan Valley and Aryan Kaganof tried to piece together the real story of what happened to the residents of Hangberg, Hout Bay, when police attacked the community and destroyed their homes in a forced eviction in September 2010. But when a magazine interviewed Kaganof about what he discovered, he found that the media still shies from talking truth to power.
Can youth show the way?
Zodwa Nsibande
2011-05-19, Issue 530
© abahlali.orgThe fall of apartheid in South Africa has not yielded genuine representation and opportunities for the country’s poor majority, writes Zodwa Nsibande. With political parties happy to remain ‘anti-poor’, it falls upon South Africa’s youth to revolutionise wider society in the struggle for equality and opportunities for all, Nsibande stresses.
South Africa: Not yet Uhuru
Ayanda Kota
Unemployed People’s Movement (UPM)
2011-05-05, Issue 527
© abahlali.org'We have no freedom to celebrate today. We live in a radically unjust society…Until everyone’s voice counts equally we cannot say that we are free’, the Unemployed People’s Movement writes from Grahamstown, in a statement to mark South Africa’s ‘Freedom Day’ on 27 April.
We export food to import food
Nebiyu Eyassu
2011-04-20, Issue 526
cc IRRINebiyu Eyassu cuts through the supposed benefits of foreign agricultural investments - so-called land grabs - for a country like Ethiopia. Far from boosting employment and local food security, land grabs are likely to prop up a discredited government and increase hunger.
South Africa: On the murder of Andries Tatane
Richard Pithouse
2011-04-21, Issue 526
© Abahlali.org
© Abahlali.org
© Abahlali.orgIf decisive action is not taken to persuade South Africa’s police that their job is to facilitate rather than repress the right to protest, we may have to add more names to those of Solomon Madonsela, murdered by the police in Ermelo in February, and Andries Tatane, murdered by the police in Ficksburg last week, writes Richard Pithouse.
No Land! No House! No Vote!
Voices from Symphony Way
Raj Patel
2011-04-06, Issue 524
© abahlali.orgA haunting new anthology of life stories told by South African pavement dwellers is ‘both testimony and poetry’, writes Raj Patel, opening ‘the door to a world of compassion, of fellow-suffering, that holds you firm.’ There’s ‘too much at stake to shy from truth, and the writers here have the courage to face it directly, even if the results are brutal.’
Everyone matters, everyone is human
The fight for justice in rural KwaZulu-Natal
David Ntseng with Mark Butler
2011-03-03, Issue 519
cc J JDavid Ntseng reflects on his visit to villages in KwaZulu Natal at the invitation of a Rural Network militant, to see how the communities lived and 'connect their struggles to their daily experiences'. Unless there is 'commitment to organising and mobilising in numbers', efforts to dismantle the forces that condemn people to poverty 'will be in vain', notes Ntseng.
The flames of Phaphamani
South Africa’s ‘untouchables’ demand to be heard
2011-02-24, Issue 518
cc J BSouth Africa’s poor ‘are steadily getting angrier and they are preparing for something.' They have little to lose, except the hope that drives their movements, informed by desire for justice for those 'systematically dehumanised in our country today', writes Pedro Alexis Tabensky.
Gabon’s Lords of Poverty
Khadija Sharife
2011-01-26, Issue 514
cc B B MA multi-billion dollar iron ore deal involving lifetime dictators and a system of power through patronage makes for a toxic mix that is bad for the people of Gabon, writes Khadija Sharife.
Egypt’s fragile stability
Hany Besada
2011-01-06, Issue 511
cc B SEgypt’s political stability hangs in the balance following recent parliamentary elections that are widely thought to have reversed any political reforms achieved over the past three decades, writes Hany Besada.
Tunisia's economic medicine, poverty and unemployment
Basel Saleh
2011-01-06, Issue 511
cc M CConfronted with corruption and high unemployment, the Tunisian people have taken to the streets in protest. In this article from the Centre for Research on Globalisation Basel Saleh notes the contradictions between a regime considered to be an economic success story and the reality on the ground.
Unpacking the hot air industry
Khadija Sharife
2010-12-16, Issue 510
cc S BThe first priority for developing countries when it comes to climate change mitigation should be reducing poverty, but the market-based approach of carbon trading is doing little to alleviate imbalances in the system, writes Khadija Sharife.
Protest politics and attacks on foreign nationals in South Africa
Makhosini Lucky Kunene
2010-12-15, Issue 510
cc W AMakhosini Lucky Kunene explores South Africa’s post-apartheid landscape of violent service delivery protests, with a special focus on how foreign nationals have become targets in these attacks.
South Africa: Structural oppression and the future of democracy
Pedro Alexis Tabensky
2010-12-16, Issue 510
cc I G NFollowing the ANC Youth League disruption of a UPM-convened public meeting to discuss the water crisis affecting poorer areas of an Eastern Cape municipality, Pedro Alexis Tabensky observes that ‘sadly for our democracy, this sort of oppressive behaviour in the name of the ANC seems to be part of a general trend of violence exerted against social movements’ .
Youth, leadership and nonviolence
A global education imperative
Steve Sharra
2010-12-09, Issue 509
cc M v BFearful of a return to the days when ‘party youths went wild beating up opposition politicians with impunity’, Steve Sharra asks what can be done to ‘tame’ and ‘redirect’ Malawi's young people ‘toward peaceful, nonviolent expressions of their views and beliefs’. A discussion with a group of secondary school students provides him with some inspiration.