Prisons should not become a death sentence, but a platform where those who have been found to have offended are rehabilitated so they could later be integrated and play a meaningful role in our society.

Europe has come face to face with the world it created, having actively participated in the military destruction of other nations. The fate of the refugees now fleeing their ruined nations is not unlike that of millions of black people in South Africa rendered hopeless by apartheid and its successor ANC regime.

An intelligence document has surfaced claiming that the white establishment through the private sector has a huge influence in the running of the National Treasury and that the history of this influence dates back to the early 1990s when the ANC and the white, apartheid-founding National Party were in negotiations. The white establishment felt it was too risky to leave the running of the government solely in the hands of the ANC.

The deafening silence of political, traditional and cultural leaders, who have in the past positioned themselves as the guardians of African culture, on the atrocities arising from circumcision, is surprising.

Although apartheid is a crime against humanity under international law, no one has been prosecuted for it. That means criminals who perpetrated this evil system are still free. It is a problem that South Africa – and the world - needs to address, according to a new book.

South Africa is failing, as a direct result of the neoliberalism embraced by the ruling Black elite working in cahoots with the white class since the formal end of apartheid 20 years ago. A true transition of power to the people is need.

Glebelands with its neatly constructed family units is one of the very few hostels that the government proudly parades as proof of its commitment to the eradication of apartheid’s social engineering. It is therefore shameful that this same government has permitted the persistent and excessive violence which has left over 30 people dead.

More than 150 Marxists met in Johannesburg to ponder some 70 papers at the World Association for Political Economy forum, where 82-year-old Egyptian Marxist Samir Amin was named winner of WAPE’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Despite the diversity of viewpoints, there seemed to be concurrence that a convincing, unifying intellectual critique of both local and world-scale capital is needed.

South African democracy spans two very different worlds. In one, people complain loudly but enjoy full democratic rights – in the other, most remain unheard and battle for the right to speak. In both, life is difficult for those who do not conform.

More than 130 civil society organisations have written to the African Union urging the continental body to call upon the South African government to take concrete steps to end attacks against foreigners, prosecute perpetrators and protect migrants and refugees living in the country from violations of their human rights.

Like the richer countries of the North that are adopting tougher controls to stem the migration of people from the more impoverished, conflict-ridden South, South Africa is employing similar tactics. But this approach is futile, unsustainable and anti-people.

The ruling party vocally supports the struggle for freedom and justice of the Palestinian people. But South African Jews – in flagrant violation of the law – have enlisted in the Israeli armed forces that have committed wanton crimes against humanity in Palestine.

In the land that ended apartheid two decades ago, violence against other Africans has been on the rise. What has gone wrong and what is to be done?

All those years when South African freedom fighters crisscrossed the continent in search of support for the anti-apartheid struggle, they received only unstinting hospitality and solidarity. Have South Africans forgotten this? What do they teach their children about Africa?

Health difficulties did not deter Blaauw from pursuing basic rights for all fishers. Despite his persistent efforts to advance the fishers’ struggle, Blaauw himself was a struggling fisherman at the time of his death.

South African universities are a microcosm of the society. Recent events at these institutions are symptomatic of a wider social malaise deriving from failure of social transformation and incomplete reconciliation and restorative post-apartheid justice.

Is the end of global capitalism starting from South Africa? With its high rates of protest and record strike levels by global standards over the past decade, South Africa is a weak link in the global capitalist chain. A national organisation to harness this revolutionary fervour could change the world.

Unions must link with people and organisations beyond the formal workplace to become the voice of the excluded.

The danger of focusing solely on Zuma, and seeing all of the scandals as simply being linked to his clearly flawed personality, is that it runs the risk of missing the point that the events surrounding him are symptoms of much deeper problems.

Talk of affirmative action is now being replaced by “diversity.” This vague concept of diversity paves the way for an increase in the daily use of institutional racism, not only by employers but by other white people in powerful positions.