Fourteen years ago, our freely elected representatives adopted the Constitution – in part – to “free the potential of each person”, “[h]eal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights”. So it is strange that Jimmy Manyi – president of the Black Management Forum (BMF) and Director-General of Labour – asks why it seems “that the Constitution does not support the transformation agenda of this country”. On the contrary, transformation lies at the heart of the constitution, and is its raison d’être.
Screw the poor? How deep is our commitment to equality?
In recent weeks President Cyril Ramaphosa has made two speeches in which he has made far-reaching promises and stated plainly his commitment to use the crisis to rapidly accelerate efforts to build an equal and fair society out of the ruins of the economy left by Covid-19 and the lockdown.
Overlooking the missing millions – another ‘stain on our national conscience’
In the last few weeks it has often been said that SARS-Cov-2 is a virus that knows no boundaries – be they national, socio-economic, class, race or ethnicity. Although Covid-19 the disease has malicious preferences for the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions, the virus itself doesn’t discriminate in its infectiousness. If you are a human being, you are at risk. It’s a great leveller of artificial denominators based on class, gender and colour.
Protect and Serve (Food), in Happiness Valley on Freedom Day
On Monday, 27 April 2020, at an informal settlement called Happiness Valley, SANDF Major Andre Meisner told Maverick Citizen, ‘we are not at war with the community’ and invited the writer to participate in a military mission where no blood was shed and where only bread and not bullets were fired. It felt like one of those days that could only happen in South Africa.
I Ride What I Like – Thoughts from a bicycle on State(s) of Nation
In a world without Covid-19, Thursday would have seen the start of the annual joberg2c mountain bike race but, like many sporting events, it has been cancelled. The field on the outskirts of Heidelberg, where hundreds of nervous men, women and their bikes usually gather for the start, was empty this year.
A People’s Doctor to the End – Dr Victor Bernard Holland (28 March 1943 – 19 April 2020)
Dr Victor Holland, who died on 19th April, was born and grew up in the years just before the advent of National Party rule and apartheid. His life and profession as a doctor was blighted by racism and inequality but it also forged a life-long approach to equality in medicine and health.
South Africa’s greatest strength is its people
South Africa’s last great viral epidemic started in the early 1980s and is still with us today. But with HIV, unlike with SARS-CoV-2, we wasted 20 years before we found consensus on the need and means to fight HIV. We faced a government, under President Thabo Mbeki, that sought to disable the response and throw into question the science.
A Time of Reckoning
This morning (Monday, April 20) the Cabinet will gather for what may be one of the most important Cabinet meetings in the history of democratic South Africa. Difficult decisions, with profound consequences, need to be taken and then quickly conveyed to an increasingly restless and desperate public.
April is the Cruellest Month: Can we begin to breed lilacs of equality in a dead land?
During lockdown, I work from a room on top of a hill. I have two views. One is outward, over the northern suburbs of Johannesburg, above an urban forest and the rooftops of spacious and secure homes. The pollution has lifted and the vista extends all the way to the Magaliesberg mountains whose outlines are crisp and clear. There’s a calmness in the air. Clouds dance, form playful shapes, undisturbed by perpetual air traffic and the heat generated by the busy city.
Who is blocking emergency relief for the poorest households?
On Monday Maverick Citizen reported on an important letter sent to President Ramaphosa by an influential group of children’s rights organisations, academics and international bodies, including UNICEF, calling for the Child Support Grant to be increased by R500 for the next six months.