Chaos reigned and tempers flared yesterday as thousands marched in protest against the soaring cost of living.
Chaos reigned and tempers flared yesterday as thousands marched in protest against the soaring cost of living.
The series of rolling protests against the devastating combination of high food and energy prices, plus skyrocketing interest rates, is expected to culminate in a potentially crippling outpouring of anger in a national strike next month.
It is about time.
The government has alienated millions with its conservative economic policies disguised as fiscal prudence.
Millions are despairing daily as they lose even their only homes to the high interest-rate juggernaut.
This, in a country governed by a supposedly leftist government that is allegedly committed to the eradication of poverty and homelessness.
Perhaps the marches will jolt the collective memory of the former liberation movement, alerting it to its promises of a better life for all.
The protests would have been worth the enormous inconvenience even if all they gained were to extract commitment from the government to be a bit more imaginative in the way it responds to challenges posed by high prices and inflationary pressures.
Surely President Thabo Mbeki's government can be a bit more creative than the Reserve Bank, which simply hikes interest rates to fight inflation.
Outpouring of anger
Chaos reigned and tempers flared yesterday as thousands marched in protest against the soaring cost of living.
Chaos reigned and tempers flared yesterday as thousands marched in protest against the soaring cost of living.
The series of rolling protests against the devastating combination of high food and energy prices, plus skyrocketing interest rates, is expected to culminate in a potentially crippling outpouring of anger in a national strike next month.
It is about time.
The government has alienated millions with its conservative economic policies disguised as fiscal prudence.
Millions are despairing daily as they lose even their only homes to the high interest-rate juggernaut.
This, in a country governed by a supposedly leftist government that is allegedly committed to the eradication of poverty and homelessness.
Perhaps the marches will jolt the collective memory of the former liberation movement, alerting it to its promises of a better life for all.
The protests would have been worth the enormous inconvenience even if all they gained were to extract commitment from the government to be a bit more imaginative in the way it responds to challenges posed by high prices and inflationary pressures.
Surely President Thabo Mbeki's government can be a bit more creative than the Reserve Bank, which simply hikes interest rates to fight inflation.