Live SA: The State of SA youth: Am I xenophobic?

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Between April and May 2015, South Africa’s troubles with xenophobic violence gripped the world, the rest of the continent and broader South African society. In the ensuing tension, headlines such as those of Emmanuel Sithole’s murder and – sometimes inaccurate – social media commentary compounded the confusion and anxiety – ...

LiveMagSA: Understanding government’s plan to give ten-year-olds condoms

By Kgorula Bitterhout

The Department of Basic Education has recently come under fire for its plans to provide school kids with condoms. The plan, which is part of the department’s Draft National Policy on HIV, STI’s and TB, could see children as young as ten receive condoms. This has drawn ...

The Week ahead: Legislation & budget debates dominate

This is a week for detailed law-making, with issues ranging from maintenance, to freedom of expression, to land expropriation, to trade union accountability and decriminalising consensual sex between children of certain ages.

Beyond this, the legislature’s budget vote season doesn’t show any sign of slowing down as most days are ...

Infographic: Breakdown of debt owed by and to municipalities

This week the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Portfolio Committee tackled the contentious issue of municipal debt owed to Eskom and water boards. National Treasury was present on Tuesday, 12 May 2015, to defend its decision to withhold Equitable Share (ES) from municipalities that have not prioritised paying their ...

Ms Phumzile van Damme - DA

P Van Damme

Political background: Growing up, I was involved in politics in one form or another. My earliest memory of political activity was leading a strike in Grade 5 because our teacher would not allow us to go out for break.

At university I majored in Political Science and Law, and the ...

Electoral system favours ANC winning local polls

By Steven Friedman

If you want to know why the African National Congress (ANC) will do better in next year’s local government elections than we are told, look at last week’s British elections. They will also tell you why those who call for changes to our electoral system may be ...

The Week Ahead: Packed plenary programme and committee corridor

Parliament has scheduled a broad and busy programme in the main chambers as well as in the committee corridor.

The President’s oral question session in the NCOP (on Thursday) is the main plenary event. His responses to questions on the recent xenophobic attacks and the Report on Farlam Commission of ...

Another try at revamping customary law

By Nolundi Luwaya

Earlier attempts to introduce a legal system that empowered chiefs to administer justice were fiercely opposed as provisions of the Traditional Courts Bill were deemed unconstitutional. Now a revised bill addressing rural issues is in the pipeline, writes Nolundi Luwaya.

Cape Town - The government is preparing ...

Courts remedy for badly written laws

It is common cause that Parliament has become increasingly dysfunctional in recent years, but the media focus has tended to be on high-profile events such as the disruptive activities of the Economic Freedom Fighters, censorship of media coverage, railroading by the African National Congress (ANC) and walkouts by the Democratic ...

LiveMagSA: Government and artists should work together to help grow our music industry

By Jamie Petersen

There’s little to no assistance from government to help record labels or artists export local music. This is one of the main issues stifling the growth of South Africa’s music industry. This is according to Sipho Dlamini, the CEO of the South African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO), ...