Too much power in one person’s hands
Questions are being increasingly asked about whether there are any aspects of South Africa’s model constitution, adopted in 1996, that ought to be amended to…
Citizens & Leaders
Democracies cannot be healthy and flourish without active citizens who participate in society, who solve problems their communities face, who are informed and skilled in participation.
This applies to both citizens and citizen representatives or politicians. If political leaders do not espouse democratic principals and ethics and don’t have the required skills-set or theoretical framework democracy cannot grow.
Democracy Works Foundation, therefore, offers several innovative trainings that are targeted at the following beneficiaries:
- political leaders, whether established or youthful;
- citizen and community leaders;
- civil society activists and change-makers.
South Africa must confront the roots of its xenophobic violence
The wave of deadly xenophobic attacks against foreigners of African descent that has shamed South Africa, and the astonishingly tardy response by the government,…
The End of the Rainbow Nation Myth
If you ask South Africans of my generation to name the most important political event of their lives, many will cite the assassination of…
Churches ruthlessly exploit insecurities
Failures by mainstream churches to find answers to the causes of African angst have pushed people into the hands of avaricious charismatic churches. Charismatic…
The backlash against African women
A few weeks ago, as I was leaving my office, I stopped at a traffic light and watched a young woman cross the street…
Policy Brief 1: an Economic Indaba for South Africa
South Africa’s perfect storm of structural crises South Africa is experiencing a perfect storm of a number of simultaneously deep-rooted structural crises: political, economic…
Mulder and Mantashe: ‘Whites’ vs ‘Africans’
Christi van der Westhuizen examines the operations of ‘whiteness’ and claims of ‘Africanness’ in recent comments by Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Mulder and ANC…
Race: The DA’s elephant in the policy room
Can the Democratic Alliance chart a way forward for liberalism and rid itself of a pernicious form of whiteness, asks Christi van der Westhuizen….
The problem with whiteness
White people still accrue benefits from their whiteness, even if they claim victimhood. A few years ago at a discussion on race and redress,…
Pulpits used to fight ANC factional battles
As the country appears to plod along aimlessly with moral decay, rampant corruption and public service delivery failures, the church must be a voice…