On this Youth Day, we remember the fearless students of 1976 who took to the streets of Soweto to demand dignity in education. Their protest was not simply about textbooks or classrooms, it was a protest for voice, identity, and the right to learn in a language that empowered them, not one imposed upon them by a regime of oppression.
YOUTH DAY: THE FIGHT FOR LANGUAGE JUSTICE CONTINUES Read More »
The GOOD Party welcomes home the over 250 members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) returning from deployment in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC).
SANDF RETURNS FROM DRC: A MOMENT TO HONOUR, REFLECT, AND RECOMMIT Read More »
Today, on International Day of Play, the GOOD Party stands in defence of every child’s right to play – safely, freely, and with dignity. Play is not a privilege. It is a right, enshrined in Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which South Africa has ratified. Article 31 explicitly states: “States Parties recognise the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child… and shall encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activity.”
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PLAY: A RIGHT, NOT A PRIVILEGE Read More »
President Ramaphosa’s announcement of a National Convention on 15 August to launch a National Dialogue is a long-overdue step toward renewing South Africa’s social contract. Nearly a year has passed since political parties signed the Statement of Intent of the Government of National Unity (GNU), which explicitly committed to convening a National Dialogue to tackle the country’s deep and urgent challenges. That commitment was made in good faith and in recognition of the need for collective action in the face of crisis. The delay in giving effect to this promise has been frustrating, but the time for talking has finally arrived, and it must now be time for action too.
NATIONAL DIALOGUE LONG OVERDUE Read More »
The capture and deportation of climate activist Greta Thunberg and those aboard the aid yacht “Madleen” may have unintentionally done more to draw global attention to the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza than if they had been allowed to enter.
THUNBERG’S ‘ARREST’ EXPOSES THE WORLD’S SILENCE ON GAZA Read More »
In a country still navigating the painful legacy of racial division, those entrusted with upholding the Constitution must be held to the highest standards of impartiality, professionalism, and respect. It is deeply concerning that Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng, presiding over the high-profile Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, made a racially charged remark live on television. The frustrated judge said “This is what happens in a South Africa run by Blacks. A White advocate will never have the gall to ask me that,” in response to a formal request by Advocate Charles Mnisi, who had advised the court that he would be unavailable on Monday due to participation in Sunday’s Comrades Marathon.
DECORUM IN COURT: SENZO MEYIWA JUDGE OFFSIDES Read More »
Today, a female body was discovered during a community search for missing teenager, Chanelle Plaatjies. Chanelle was reported missing by her mother on May 28. We do not yet have confirmation that the body is hers nor whether there is evidence of any rape, but we do know this – Chanelle is more than a name, more than a photo on a missing poster. She is the face of a growing crisis, one that is swallowing our children, especially our girls, in silence and shadow. Gender-based violence and femicide are a national crisis, and the Western Cape is not immune. The statistics show that girls and women are no safer today, despite the province’s multi-billion-rand safety plan.
As we start Youth Month, running concurrently with Child Protection Week. We need to reflect on the environment our children are growing up in. When rape and murder become a normalised part of childhood in working-class communities, when children go missing and no emergency is declared, that is policy failure.
CHANELLE PLAATJIES IS MORE THAN A NAME: THE WESTERN CAPE’S FAILURE TO PROTECT ITS GIRLS Read More »
US President Donald Trump’s spiritual adviser may just have saved South Africa’s faltering relationship with the Western superpower.
In a statement published while visiting South Africa, today, Pastor Mark Burns, the televangelist and board member of Pastors for Trump, who is widely described as President Donald Trump’s spiritual adviser, firmly debunked claims of a white genocide and suggested that Afrikaner refugees admitted into the US a few weeks ago were opportunists.
He said many of the White people he had engaged with in South Africa viewed Trump as a great President, but believed the President had been misinformed of a genocide “by people who wanted an excuse to leave”.
DONALD TRUMP’S SPIRITUAL ADVISER HAS JUST DEBUNKED CLAIMS OF AFRIKANER GENOCIDE Read More »
George Councillor Chantelle Kyd was the MMC for Planning in a coalition municipal government led by the DA, and the leading advocate in council for transparency around investigations into the collapsed George building, which claimed 34 lives last year.
But when the Council meets to table the first of two (technical and legal) investigations into the disaster tomorrow – confidentially, without media present – the DA caucus in the coalition has decided that it is too risky to allow Kyd to speak. The only members of the coalition allowed to speak are the mayor and deputy mayor, both representing the DA.
The establishment by the President of a commission of inquiry into decades-long delays in investigating and prosecuting apartheid-era cases effectively places the Thabo Mbeki administration and the NPA on trial for miscarriages of justice. Announcing the new commission today, the President said that for many years there had been allegations that “unacceptable delays” were due to interference.
Earlier this year, former President Mbeki strongly denied former head of prosecutions Vusi Pikoli’s claims, on affidavit, of political interference. Mbeki and his then Justice Minister, Bridget Mabandla, are opposing a damages claim launched by victims’ families. If Mbeki and/or Mabandla did not interfere, the only other possible finding available to the commission is that the NPA was controlled by rogue elements with the power to prevent apartheid era political leaders and their functionaries being held accountable for their crimes.
TRC COMMISSION MUST OUT AUTHORS OF MISCARRIAGES OF JUSTICE Read More »