A New Dream of Politics – Ben Okri

In response to the rise to leadership of the Labour Party of Jeremy Corbyn, Ben Okri published the following poem in The Guardian on Monday 12 October 2015. As always, Okri captures the spirit of the moment: They say there is only one way for politics. That it looks...

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wins the Best of the Best

Wow, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wins the Best of the Best award for her novel about the biafran war (Half of a Yellow Sun) – she’s a Nigerian novelist who sparkles with all the optimism and power of the generation that is reshaping Africa’s future...

WTO rules against India’s solar industry

WTO rules that Indians are not allowed to build their own solar panels to meet their energy needs in a low carbon way because this will harm the import into India of American-made solar panels. So herewith clear and irrefutable proof that short-term profits are more...

The sheer stupidity of investing in nuclear!

The madness of allocating R200 million for nuclear preparedness – remember how much we wasted in the now shut down PBMR technology? The crowding out of the job-creating energy generating non-corruped renewable energy sector in factor of mega-projects that are...

Campus Mass Protests and Political Transformation

Link to video of protest at parliament:https://www.facebook.com/mark.swilling/videos/10153651402076226/ In a decade or so we will look back on the Marikana massacre and say ‘that was where it all started’. We will be trying to explain either the further...

Engaging with the Brazilians

Spent the morning with a group of Brazilians from various professional backgrounds, mainly talking about the global polycrisis and the dynamics of transition (tomorrow South Africa and cities). Their visit was organized Shima, a Brazilian who did our Masters degree,...