SOUTH AFRICA

Mazzotti: It’s Mrs Malema’s property and she pays rent

Growing revelations make clear how the EFF aligns its politics with its money flows. This week saw Malema’s relationship with tobacco manufacturer and alleged smuggler, Adriano Mazzotti, in the spotlight. A Hyde Park property belonging to Mazzotti is ‘leased’ to Julius Malema’s wife. dailymaverick.co.za/

Workers barred from picketing at Dis-Chem

Four men were arrested when 200 workers demonstrated on Wednesday in front of the Dis-Chem store in Canal Walk, Cape Town. Workers are demanding better wages and working conditions and the recognition of their union. groundup.org.za/

The SOS Coalition and Media Monitoring Africa Statement on the SABC Crisis

The SOS Coalition and Media Monitoring Africa are of the view that today marks the worst crisis faced by the SABC in its democratic history. Cool heads from everyone involved must prevail. soscoalition.org.za/

“Minister Gwede Mantashe`and DMR preparing provocation in Xolobeni on Sunday 9 December”

On 29 November, however, an imibizo at Umgungundlovu Great Place with 500 present decided there is no further need to engage with DMR on the matter of “Xolobeni Mining Project”. This was also communicated today to DMR by our lawyers. Statement by the Amadiba Crisis Committee facebook.com/amadibacrisiscommittee/

DMR Minister Gwede Mantashe withdraws plans for visit in Xolobeni

Council must pay R750 000 for favouring job candidate who failed criteria

Stellenbosch municipality has been ordered to pay a settlement amount of R750 000 to an applicant who was removed from an appointment and replaced by a white candidate who did not meet the criteria. iol.co.za/

Racial insults in the workplace – a rise in racial insults and derogatory remarks

There has been an unsettling rise in the instances of racial slander in the workplace. ex-DJ Sasha Martinengo was fired from his position at Hot 91.9 for calling Julius Malema a “monkey”. Velaphi Khumalo – employee of the Gauteng Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation – made the comment that whites in South Africa need to be dealt with like Hitler handled the Jews in Nazi Germany. labourman.co.za/

INTERNATIONAL

‘We Are In a State of Insurrection’: Deep inequality and Macron’s dedication to elites fuel yellow vest uprising in France

After more than two weeks of protests over high fuel prices and intensifying inequality across France under centrist President Emmanuel Macron, the French government announced Tuesday that it would suspend planned price hikes for gas and electricity. commondreams.org/

The mass protests in France: A new stage in the international class struggle

In France, once again, opposition has emerged completely outside of the framework of the trade unions, closely integrated into the state, whose initial response to the demonstrations was to denounce them. There is a bloc of reaction that extends from the Élysée Palace to the offices of middle-class parties like the New Anticapitalist Party. All are concerned with one thing: How can they bring this movement under control and stop it. wsws.org/

French protests spark media demands for Facebook censorship

What It Means That Hillary Clinton Might Run for President in 2020

What makes the possibility that Hillary Clinton might run for president again more grim is that the corporate allegiances that so disgusted the electorate that voted Trump into office still dominate the Democratic Party leadership. counterpunch.org/

Streaming Class Struggle

Most Democratic politicians follow two tactics when talking about the working class. They either find a single, token worker with a compelling personal story to serve as a prop before turning the spotlight back on themselves, or else they talk about class status as a sort of personal problem to be transcended through hard work. jacobinmag.com/

Shameless Hypocrisy: Lessons of the Great Khashoggi Kill Story

The Jamal Khashoggi kill drama was instructive regarding the shameless imperial hypocrisy of the United States’ media and politics culture. Note the disparity between the huge attention corporate American media gave to Saudi Arabia’s killing of one man and the scant consideration that media granted the Saudi kingdom’s U.S.-funded and U.S.-equipped crucifixion of Yemen. counterpunch.org/

Imperialist in Chief: A Critical History of George H. W. Bush’s War on Iraq

The U.S. media haven’t been shy about lionizing the late President George H. W. Bush in their reflections on his life and legacy. War crimes and genocide would creep into the hagiographies if they had to be honest. counterpunch.org/

ISRAEL-PALESTINE

In U.S. Media, Israel Is Untouchable

You can attack the Palestinians in America uninterrupted, call to expel them and deny their existence. Just don’t dare say a bad word about Israel, the holy of holies. israelpalestinenews.org/

Media Mum as Congress Readies Largest Foreign Military Aid Package in US History

The “aid” package gives $38 billion to Israel over the next ten years, which amounts to $7,230 per minute, or $120 per second, and equals about $23,000 for each Jewish Israeli family of four. mintpressnews.com/

CNN fires contributor Marc Lamont Hill for criticising Israel

Marc Lamont Hill delivered a speech at the United Nations accusing Israel of “state violence and ethnic cleansing” and championed a secular, single-state solution. He was accused of anti-Semitism by the Anti Defamation League, but he says his speech was clearly a call for justice. aljazeera.com/

NEW TECHNOLOGIES / NEW FORMS OF LABOUR

Few Facebook user data requests in Africa

Demands by African governments for information on Facebook users remain low compared to other countries, with the South African government only requesting data on 12 local users over the past six months. itweb.co.za/

New AI Strategy Mimics How Brains Learn to Smell

CULTURE

Everything Must Fall is not Everything

The title of the film invites an expectation that the film covers the full extent of the student protest movement of the period but instead mainly focuses on the struggles at Wits University and their issues with limited exploration of student struggles at other campuses. Excluded from the film are the struggles of historically black universities and others that are attended by predominantly working class students who have been fighting for over a decade against high student fees and access, language policy and for better accommodation and food. wwmp.org.za/

How Slavery, Capitalism, and White Supremacy gave rise to the West: Review of Gerald Horne’s The Apocalypse of Settler Colonialism

Settler colonialism was not the act of ‘rogues’, but rather the story of systemic, brutal oppression that was central to the rise of the West, and to credit its ending to the actions of an enlightened British state is nonsensical. Gerald Horne refutes the white-supremacist view of history for giving no agency to Africans or indigenous peoples who constantly revolted and rebelled. counterfire.org/

ENVIRONMENT

Record-High Carbon Emissions Show ‘We Are Speeding Towards the Precipice of Irrevocable Climate Chaos’