At over six-foot tall (with heels) and a body to rival any Hollywood starlet, Leigh cuts an impressive figure. Her jet-black hair and thick eyeliner give her an almost brooding and feline quality. She looks directly at you with a friendly smile and moves with finesse.
Jonathan Dockney
Opinion | 11 September 2013
In April 2012, the Eastern Cape Department of Health (ECDoH) put in place a moratorium on the appointment of healthcare workers to vacant posts at facilities throughout the province. This moratorium was instituted in an attempt to control the chronic overspending that was pushing the department deeper into financial crisis each year.
Daygan Eagar
Opinion | 11 September 2013
The failing healthcare system in the Eastern Cape affects everyone: urban communities, migrants from Gauteng and Cape Town too sick to work anymore or returning home to retire, and healthcare workers who donāt have the medicines, equipment and a functioning referral system, to offer the care their patients need.
Marije Versteeg
Opinion | 11 September 2013
Drug abuse harms the individual, their family, community and country. As the drug trade increased globally, to save people from themselves, in 1970, US president Richard Nixon launched the āwar on drugsā.
JP van Niekerk
Opinion | 9 September 2013
Oscar Pistoriusā bail application apparently showed how the justice system works when someone is arrested. But actually his hearing and release on bail were exceptional.
Nathan Geffen
Opinion | 5 September 2013
A demonstration framed āas a silent protest against racismā held at Wits University on 28 August turned out to be anything but an embodiment of the principles of the anti-racism it espoused when a small group of the protesters sang ādubula e judaā (shoot the Jew).
Heidi-Jane Esakov
Opinion | 4 September 2013
Critical elements of the long-awaited and debated survey of the attitudes of Cosatu shop stewards were finally made public in Johannesburg last night. And they are likely to cause a considerable stir within labour and political circles, especially about the possible future launch of a union-backed labour party.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 2 September 2013
āOne is workersā unity and evermore shall be so.ā So goes an old labour movement song summarising the prime goal of trade unionism. It is also captured in the slogan: An injury to one is an injury to all. Equally, however, a disruption to one usually means a disruption to all.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 26 August 2013
Shaul and Yuli Novak are two Israeli Defence Force veterans with the organisation Breaking the Silence. They are currently visiting South Africa, giving talks and promoting a book. Breaking the Silence publishes testimonies by Israeli soldiers of their actions, many of them human rights violations, in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).
Nathan Geffen
Opinion | 22 August 2013
I enjoy lawyer jokes, but in my time with the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) the lawyers I worked with didn't fit the stereotype. They often represented TAC pro bono or at reduced fees. They put money aside to fight for justice, especially for poor people. They were also modest. In our high profile cases, the TAC's lawyers were not the centre of attention. Nevertheless, TAC won most of its cases and all the key ones. We were very ably represented.
Nathan Geffen
Opinion | 21 August 2013
FunDza Literacy Trust is an NGO that aims to popularize reading amongst young South Africans. FunDza's goals are to encourage youngsters to read for pleasure and to help students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to become effectively literate.
Fergus Turner
Opinion | 20 August 2013
Four days after the bloodletting that has become known as the Marikana massacre, this column supported the call for a comprehensive and independent inquiry. And it noted, reflecting a widespread view within the labour movement: āThe Lonmin tragedy is a wake-up call that South Africa will ignore at its peril.ā
Terry Bell
Opinion | 20 August 2013
Teenage pregnancy and the stigmatisation that accompanies it continue to expose deep seated prejudices that exist in our society. Given the prevailing attitude of vilifying pregnant girls it should come with little surprise that many schools opt for a punitive response by banishing pregnant girls from school.
Lisa Andrews and Lisa Draga
Opinion | 14 August 2013
Patenting of genes incentivises research and the discovery of new treatments, tests and drugs. But does the exclusive ownership of biological material stop the sharing of information and prevent treatment getting to the people that need it?
Kerry Gordon
Opinion | 12 August 2013
Vuyiseka Dubulaās opinion piece published in GroundUp raises some important issues concerning the promotion of breastfeeding in South Africa. Vuyiseka is correct: breastfeeding is much safer than formula feeding.
David Sanders, Tanya Doherty, Debra Jackson, Ameena Goga
Opinion | 12 August 2013
Today the fuel price goes up 32 cents per litre. This means diesel, which drives our big trucks that distribute food and other goods across the country, will be over R13 a litre. Commuter transport will become more expensive as will the price of paraffin used by by the poor for cooking and lighting.
Jack Lewis
Opinion | 7 August 2013