The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question: How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question: How do we make democracy work for the poor?
Saliem Fakir -
The mention of green jobs salivates the eager tongues of politicians seeking quick answers for dismal economic prospects. Green jobs have become the new panacea for joblessness and a ‘pathway out of poverty’.
Statistics dazzle and sometimes flail the timid heart. Countries that have used the recession to kick-start a new industrial opportunity have seized on the idea of the green sector as a strategic choice. It has also helped them save jobs given the rapidity with which other...
Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen -
"Give us massive price increases or the lights will once again go out," is the nub of the message from Eskom to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA). This simple and powerful posture by Eskom however hides the emergence of what might be called a "policy juggernaut." The term "policy juggernaut" has been coined by South African sociologist Karl von Holdt who defines it as a dense cluster of institutional, personal and economic interests, which...
America's General Motors filed for bankruptcy on 1 June 2009, and will be bailed out by the federal government, making the government a 60% shareholder in the company. The bailout is valued at US$30bn. The company is to be remodeled and emerge as a "new GM," which will be smaller. Thousands of GM jobs are on the line. Somewhat disappointingly, President Obama announced that "the federal government will refrain from exercising its rights as a shareholder in all but the most...
Saliem Fakir -
There is no better illustration of how muddled the implementation of national energy policy is than the recent gaffe by the Department of Minerals and Energy Affairs (DME) when it put out regulations calling for a tender process to beef-up renewable energy supply.
This was diametrically opposed to the feed-in-tariff (FiT) process set in motion by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA), which is going through another round of consultation and finalisation. It seems like the...
Michelle Pressend -
More than 80 percent of the population is still dependent on biomass for energy in the Southern African region, particularly, wood, cow dung and coal. It is mainly women and children in rural areas that bear the brunt of the lack of access to modern, safe and affordable energy. They are the ones that collect wood and search for coal in and around operating and abandoned mines.
As a consequence of no access to modern, safe, clean and affordable energy -- such as electricity -- many...
Saliem Fakir -
We live in interesting times that promise both peril and opportunity. Things have changed so fast within the span of just a year that it's putting a strain on our ability to adapt.
It took five years from 2002-2007 for the oil price to go up by $60/barrel; but in the last 12 months, the price of oil surged by an additional $70/barrel.
The surge in oil prices is making life for everybody uncomfortable, as its ripple effects are being felt throughout the global and South African economies. It...
