Upcoming Events

Cork | Anti-Capitalism

no events match your query!

New Events

Cork

no events posted in last week

Blog Feeds

Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

offsite link Waiting for SIPO Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Indymedia Ireland is a volunteer-run non-commercial open publishing website for local and international news, opinion & analysis, press releases and events. Its main objective is to enable the public to participate in reporting and analysis of the news and other important events and aspects of our daily lives and thereby give a voice to people.

offsite link Julian Assange is finally free ! Tue Jun 25, 2024 21:11 | indy

offsite link Stand With Palestine: Workplace Day of Action on Naksa Day Thu May 30, 2024 21:55 | indy

offsite link It is Chemtrails Month and Time to Visit this Topic Thu May 30, 2024 00:01 | indy

offsite link Hamburg 14.05. "Rote" Flora Reoccupied By Internationalists Wed May 15, 2024 15:49 | Internationalist left

offsite link Eddie Hobbs Breaks the Silence Exposing the Hidden Agenda Behind the WHO Treaty Sat May 11, 2024 22:41 | indy

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link Victorian Laws Against Priests Meddling in Politics Are Now Needed More Than Ever ? To Prevent Imams... Sat Jul 27, 2024 11:46 | Steven Tucker
The Muslim Vote wants Labour to abolish Victorian ?spiritual influence? laws that prevent religious leaders from swaying voters, but Steven Tucker argues that in cities like Leicester these laws are more vital than ever.
The post Victorian Laws Against Priests Meddling in Politics Are Now Needed More Than Ever ? To Prevent Imams Doing the Same appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Live and Let D.E.I. Sat Jul 27, 2024 09:00 | Dr James Allan
Law professor James Allan has had a bet on Donald Trump to win the Presidency for two years. He's even more confident of winning now that Kamala Harris has become the Democratic nominee.
The post Live and Let D.E.I. appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Three Generations of Waughfare: Alexander Waugh (1963-2024) Sat Jul 27, 2024 07:00 | James Alexander
Politics professor James Alexander pays tribute to Alexander Waugh, the grandson of Evelyn Waugh and master of non-fiction prose who died aged 60 last week.
The post Three Generations of Waughfare: Alexander Waugh (1963-2024) appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link News Round-Up Sat Jul 27, 2024 01:48 | Toby Young
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Judges Told to Avoid Saying ?Asylum Seekers? and ?Immigrants? Fri Jul 26, 2024 17:00 | Toby Young
A new edition of the Equal Treatment Bench Book instructs judges to avoid terms such as 'asylum seekers', 'immigrant' and 'gays', which it says can be 'dehumanising'.
The post Judges Told to Avoid Saying ?Asylum Seekers? and ?Immigrants? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Netanyahu soon to appear before the US Congress? It will be decisive for the suc... Thu Jul 04, 2024 04:44 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N°93 Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:49 | en

offsite link Will Israel succeed in attacking Lebanon and pushing the United States to nuke I... Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:40 | en

offsite link Will Netanyahu launch tactical nuclear bombs (sic) against Hezbollah, with US su... Thu Jun 27, 2024 12:09 | en

offsite link Will Israel provoke a cataclysm?, by Thierry Meyssan Tue Jun 25, 2024 06:59 | en

Voltaire Network >>

South African anarchist speaks in Cork

category cork | anti-capitalism | news report author Wednesday October 28, 2009 19:43author by Cathal - Workers Solidarity Movement, WSM Report this post to the editors

Yesterday evening the Cork branch of the Worker’s Solidarity Movement hosted a talk by South African anarchist and ZABALAZA Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF) member, Jonathan. The ZACF is an organisation of anarchist individuals from South Africa who identify with the communist tradition within Anarchism. The front is organised around the principles of theoretical and tactical unity, collective responsibility and federalism. Their activities include study and theoretical development, anarchist agitation and propaganda, and participation within the class struggle.

As most of us know, the soccer world cup is going to be held in South Africa next summer. Hotels will be full and the elite will become even richer. For the poor of the country however, it means gentrification and large scale evictions. The ANC government that pretends to represent their interests sees them as an eye-sore that is bad for tourism. These actions may not tally with the radical rhetoric they used in the past – before they got power – however, the ANC rule using the IMF playbook, and South Africa’s working class suffers.

Jonathan started the talk with a quick history of the left in South Africa. I learned that the South African Communist Party (SACP) is aligned with the ANC (African National Congress, majority party in the country) despite its neo-liberal capitalist policies. Before apartheid this was justified by the party leadership with, what is to me, a very dubious Marxist stages theory. For stage one it was necessary to set up a bourgeois democracy; the struggle for a socialist revolution would come after. And 15 years after the start of bourgeois democracy, they still aren’t ready for stage two.

The present social struggles that Jonathan discussed include anti-privatisation campaigns, shack-dweller organising and direct action campaigns to reconnect people to electricity. We were told of the recent Kennedy Road incident, when a shack-dweller movement meeting was brutally attacked by armed men who killed 3 attendees. The police arrived the next day and arrested members of the social movement for murder. Jonathan said it seems fairly certain that the ANC were behind it. Other times, meetings of social groups are criminalised under apartheid-era legislation called the illegal gatherings act. For 15 people to meet up in South Africa permission must be obtained from the government.

Jonathan also talked about the relatively progressive 1994 South African constitution that made gay marriage and abortion guaranteed rights. However, this is under threat from the new homophobic, chauvinistic, right-wing, Zulu-nationalist president, Jacob Zuma. It is feared that if the ANC get a two thirds majority at the next election they will write these gains out of the constitution.

But many are beginning to see through the ANC’s “liberator” gloss and are organising. A recent victory occurred when, after a long non-payment and reconnection campaign, slum-dwellers had their debts to the electricity company cancelled.

The WSM would like to thank Jonathan for his very interesting talk and all those who attended.

More information about the ZACF can be found at www.zabalaza.net and about the WSM on www.wsm.ie

Photos to follow as soon as I get my head around some upload problems.

Related Link: http://www.wsm.ie

 #   Title   Author   Date 
   Photos     Cathal    Wed Oct 28, 2009 21:24 
   Plus ça change     Nelson    Wed Oct 28, 2009 23:34 
   Fado Fado.     21st Century Person.    Thu Oct 29, 2009 16:30 
   Update on Kennedy road     Andrew    Tue Nov 03, 2009 14:25 
   Audio from Dublin talk     Andrew    Thu Nov 12, 2009 15:02 


 
© 2001-2024 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy