Entering CPUT Bellville, you immediately got the impression that the situation was abnormal. On Wednesday the campus gates were guarded by eight armed men, dressed in full military attire. The armed men are from private security company Vetus Schola, the firm CPUT has hired, allegedly for millions of rands. thedailyvox.co.za/
On a day of the announcement of the seventh Minister of Communications in as many years, it would truly take a lot to not only lift our spirits but indeed make us jubilant. Such is the nature of our country that this is indeed the case. wwmp.org.za/
Today, 19 October, marks 40 years since the apartheid state tried to crush Black Consciousness Movements on what is now known as the Black Wednesday. In the wake of the murder of Steve Bantu Biko in detention, the apartheid regime banned The World and Weekend World newspapers, and the church publication Pro Veritate, and moved to shut down 18 Black Consciousness organisations and arrested their leaders.r2k.org.za/
Support the Shoprite 8 – Boycott Shoprite Pelican Park Pamphlet produced and distributed by the Shoprite 8 Support Committee
Recently 8 cashiers were dismissed by Shoprite at their Pelican Park store. The workers were accused of theft after accepting tips from customers. Even though there was no money missing from their tills and tips have been allowed for several years, the Shoprite manager, Mr Bardien, handcuffed the workers (all women) and called the SAPS to arrest them. They were handcuffed standing for four hours and while using the toilet as if they were common criminals. One worker was pregnant. They were then taken in full view of the public in an SAPS van, charged and are appearing in court for theft of company money for amounts ranging from R20–R30. This was their money that they got from customers as tips.
Shoprite’s Low Wages and bad working conditions Shoprite employs most of their cashiers and packers on a casual basis at very low wages of R2,400 per month or less than R100 per day – the lowest of all the supermarket chains. Many of them work for several years as casuals and have no hope of becoming “permanent”. The workers are also treated badly, often forced to work overtime and the company does not provide transport home. Most workers are females, who have to risk their lives every day to and from work.
On the other hand Shoprite bosses like Christo Wiese and Whitey Basson are billionaires by exploiting their workers and treating them like slaves. Whitey Basson who was the previous CEO of Shoprite used to earn over R100-million every year. In 2016 Shoprite’s top managers together earned R130-million in bonuses.
Shoprite-Checkers is abusing its workers all over Southern Africa as well, like Namibia, Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique.
JOIN US TO DEMAND:
The dropping of all charges against the 8 workers
The immediate reinstatement of all workers with full back-pay
A public apology by Shoprite-Checkers and Pelican Park store manager Mr Bardien
Mr Bardien to be dismissed
Compensation for wrongful arrest, suffering and violation of dignity of the Shoprite 8
We demand decent work for all at a living wage and job security. End casualization of work!
We call on all Shoprite and other retail workers to support the Shoprite 8 and their demands. The bosses in the retail sector are pressuring workers to make more profits. Pick n Pay is already replacing cashiers with machines.
WE CALL ON THE COMMUNITY TO BOYCOTT SHOPRITE PELICAN PARK! JOIN THE PROTESTS on FRIDAY 20 OCTOBER at WYNBERG COURT 08.30a.m. at SHOPRITE PELICAN PARK at 2p.m.
Local news from Khayelitsha, East London, Port Elizabeth, Alexandra and Orange Farm in English and isiXhosa
Install the Elitsha app on your phone: androidiphone
INTERNATIONAL Why is the US at war in West Africa? The October 4 killings of four US Green Berets in Niger has provided a rare glimpse into the far-reaching American military operations throughout the African continent which have been conducted almost entirely in secret. wsws.org/
It was reported that the US ‘allowed the Indonesian genocide of 1965–66 to continue. However, this is not the case; rather, it actively supported the massacres, which were applauded at the time by the New York Times. fair.org/
In November 1917, British foreign secretary Lord Arthur Balfour declared his government’s support for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”; in December, Jerusalem fell to British troops. mondoweiss.net/
November 7, 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution and the establishment of the world’s first socialist state. To commemorate the occasion, People’s World is presenting a series of articles that present wide-angled assessments of the revolution’s legacy, the Soviet Union and world communist movement which were born out of it, and the revolution’s relevance to radical politics today. peoplesworld.org/
The Russian Revolution of 1917 was not only a political revolution – the overthrowing of the Tsarist regime by Lenin’s Bolshevik party – it was an unprecedented thought experiment, a revolution in ideas. bbc.co.uk/
If you’re worried about the power of Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft, just look at how IBM, Hewlett-Packard or monopoly-era Microsoft fell to earth. They were all victims of “creative destruction.” nytimes.com/
Women’s economic empowerment is key to the realisation of women’s rights, and to achieving a truly gender equal world. It is about far more than women’s ability to participate equally in existing markets or their contribution to economic growth. awid.org/
James is generally acknowledged to have been one of the most original Marxist thinkers to emerge from the Western hemisphere, yet essential aspects of his identity came from the other side of the Atlantic, from Europe and Africa. As he explained to one African-American scholar, “I am a Black European, that is my training and outlook.” mronline.org/
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