South Africa

Marikana miners' strike defies police brutality and the bosses

28 August 2012
South African police followed their massacre of striking miners with beatings in prison, while bosses have threatened strikers with the sack—yet the struggle continues, writes Ken Olende

Marikana: Political crisis breaks out inside the ruling ANC

28 August 2012
Platinum miners at Marikana last week reoccupied the hill that, just days earlier, had been the scene of the police massacre that killed 34 strikers.

Letters

28 August 2012
Marikana massacre reminds me of apartheid | Atos | The tragedy of drowning refugees

Marikana: Workers fighting back deserve our support

21 August 2012
The massacre of striking workers in South Africa is not simply a human tragedy. It shows what can happen when the logic of capitalism remains, even in a society that has emerged out of momentous uprisings from below.

How police planned and carried out the massacre at Marikana

21 August 2012
Thapelo Lekgowa, Botsang Mmope and Peter Alexander investigate the scene of the killing

The brutal history of South Africa's platinum industry

21 August 2012
Gavin Capps looks at how platinum has taken centre stage in South Africa’s mining industry—and how workers have paid the cost

The truth behind the Marikana Massacre

21 August 2012
34 South African miners shot down by police in cold blood

South Africa's dashed hopes of liberation

21 August 2012
In the misty early morning of 27 April 1994 I stood in a township near the city of Johannesburg to watch an extraordinary event. Black people, oppressed and spurned for decades, were lining up to vote for the first time.

London protest against massacre of strikers in South Africa

18 August 2012
Some 70 people gathered in central London to protest at the massacre of at least 34 striking miners in South Africa

Slaughter at South Africa's Marikana mine: the bloody politics of platinum

17 August 2012
Striking South African mineworkers were gunned down by police on Thursday. Charlie Kimber looks at events leading up to the massacre—and the business interests behind it

London Recruits: Thrilling tale of students who battled apartheid

24 April 2012
In 1967 a little-known chapter in the history of the anti-apartheid movement began. Radical students from London universities, mostly socialists, travelled to South Africa to take part in illegal activities against the regime.

Durban climate conference: a bitter disappointment

15 December 2011
The United Nations climate talks in Durban, South Africa, have ended. Evil has been done on a scale that is hard to grasp.

Thousands march in Durban against climate Cop-out

06 December 2011
The UN climate negotiations—the Conference of Parties, or ‘the Cop'—in Durban, South Africa, are deciding to do nothing about climate change for many years to come.

Tories’ hot air on climate

28 November 2011
The latest UN climate change conference began in Durban, South Africa, on Monday of this week. But the Tories don’t seem too concerned.

Rulers’ plans will let planet burn

22 November 2011
There will be mass demonstrations outside the United Nations (UN) climate summit in Durban, South Africa, next month.

Dave Randall interviewed about 'Freedom for Palestine' single

14 June 2011
Freedom for Palestine is performed by a specially assembled group, One World. It features Maxi Jazz from Faithless, Jamie Cato, FSK and the Durban Gospel Choir from South Africa.

Car workers bring industry to a halt in South Africa

14 September 2010
A strike by some 70,000 South African car component workers has brought car manufacturing plants in South Africa to a standstill. The firms hit include Nissan, Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen, BMW, General Motors and Mercedes Benz.

South Africa: action suspended, but it’s not over yet

07 September 2010
A strike by over a million South African public sector workers that had lasted three weeks was suspended by union leaders on Monday.

Mass strike continues in South Africa as workers reject new offer

02 September 2010
The overwhelming majority of South Africa’s 1.3 million public sector workers have rejected the government’s latest pay offer as their strike enters its 15th day.