Demonstrations in Cape Town and Johannesburg commemorated the Marikana massacre on Thursday. In Cape Town about 50 ex-miners and their supporters marched to demand unpaid benefits and access to their provident and pension funds. In Johannesburg, about 50 people from civil society organisations lit candles on Nelson Mandela bridge and strung photos across the bridge and sang struggle songs. groundup.org.za/
Details of events jointly organised in Johannesburg by the Marikana Support Campaign, Right2Know and the Socio Economic Rights Institute to mark the sixth anniversary of the Marikana massacre. wwmp.org.za/
NUMSA press statement, 16 August 2018 – The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa salutes these martyrs of the mining industry. We shall never forget them or the price they paid for a better life. The anniversary of the Marikana Massacre is an opportunity to remind us that for the working class majority who are black and African in South Africa, freedom and genuine equality remain an illusion. wwmp.org.za
On the 21st April 2015 the Magistrate’s Court in Sebokeng sentenced 4 community activists from Boiketlong, to a total of 16 years in prison. There is now an opportunity for a mediated process that may assist in a process of early release. There is an urgent need to cover the costs of mediation which we estimate could come to about R40,000. anarkismo.net/
United National Transport Union and the Federation of Unions of South Africa reached a wage agreement with the Gautrain’s operating company, Bombela, putting an end to the two-week strike on Monday. groundup.org.za/
When the history of the cruel early years of the 21st Century comes to be written, it will be found that South Africans, especially our politicians and policy-makers, were a nation of ditherers. We held conference after conference about the plight of the poor, in fact making an industry out of it. dailymaverick.co.za/
“All Mining Ministers: Buyelwa Sonjica, Susan Shabangu, Msebenzi Zwane have promised our land to the Australians and their black capitalist partners. Gwede himself now gives more time for the mining lobby to push their agenda.” aidc.org.za/
Over the years when discussing occupational health and safety, we normally focus on overt physical impacts of work on workers such as accidents that cause death or injury or other factors such as hazardous chemicals or repetitive work strain. It seems that a neglected side of occupational health is workplace stress that often has far-reaching and long-term negative consequences for individual workers, workplaces, the economy and society. In today’s show we take a close look at workplace stress – its causes and consequences. wwmp.org.za/
The author, Terry Crawford-Browne, is the South Africa Coordinator for World Beyond War and a member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. He delivered these remarks at a symposium, “The Congo: Natural Resources, Hidden Silent Holocaust”. worldbeyondwar.org/
British companies still dominate the African mining landscape. Despite the fact that most British colonies gained independence more than 50 years ago, the influence of London-listed companies on African economies is considerable. At least 101 such mining companies control a staggering US$1.05-trillion worth of resources in Africa in just five commodities: oil, gold, diamonds, coal and platinum. miningafricaonline.co.za/
Rana Ayyub is an Indian investigative journalist whose self-published book, Gujarat Files: Anatomy of a Cover Up, exposes the complicity of the Indian state in the Gujarat riots of 2002. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was highlighted as the main culprit. dailymaverick.co.za/
A California jury on Friday found Monsanto liable in a lawsuit filed by a man who alleged the company’s glyphosate-based weedkillers, including Roundup, caused him cancer and ordered the company to pay $289-million in damages. commondreams.org/
Automation and Artificial Intelligence are clearly the major game changer in the world economy today, and society, and the labour market in particular, have to take precautions to manage the challenges, rather than to try to bring back manufacturing jobs, which themselves are facing a gloomy future. doc-research.org/
“The fact that the richest club in the world doesn’t pay its staff – including caterers, cleaners and stewards – a wage they can live on is embarrassing. Everyone is entitled to a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.” telegraph.co.uk/
The problem with UNRWA, from the perspective of the Israelis and Americans who want it dismantled, isn’t that it funds aid to the needy. The problem is that the organization’s decades of existence is a Palestinian political achievement, reflecting an international consensus that Palestinian refugees are in a different category than other refugees. haaretz.com/
Local news from Khayelitsha, East London, Port Elizabeth, Alexandra and Orange Farm in English and isiXhosa
Gig-economy companies like Uber and Instacart are on the verge of overtaking the traditional economy. And the only people who understand the threat are the ones enabling it. vanityfair.com/
Egyptian-French leftist thinker Samir Amin died in Paris this week. Amin was one of the world’s leading Marxist intellectuals, and his views on the “Third World” saw him attract a wide and passionate following in Africa and the Middle East. John Bellamy Foster wrote this tribute to Amin in 2011. monthlyreview.org/
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This newsletter is intended as a special and alternative news, information and knowledge source for all who are interested in issues relevant to promoting political, social and economic equality and the eradication of poverty. The articles contained herein are obtained from various electronic media platforms and do not necessarily reflect the views of WWMP.
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On the 21st April 2015 the Magistrate’s Court in Sebokeng sentenced 4 community activists from Boiketlong, to a total of 16 years in prison. There is now an opportunity for a mediated process that may assist in a process of early release. There is an urgent need to cover the costs of mediation which we estimate could come to about R40,000. 
