Redundancies, cuts in benefits, growing youth unemployment, insecure jobs, tax rises for the low paid as well as pension and welfare cuts for each and everyone. In the supposedly so "advanced" capitalist countries the solution to the crisis is the same everywhere. Many suspect that the worst is yet to come and even parts of the ruling class say it straight out.

On 19th September the striking miners at Marikana platinum mine accepted a revised pay offer from the mine owner Lonmin. The miners were offered a bonus of R2000 (£150) and pay increases of between 11% and 22% depending on their grade. The deal was negotiated by the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration, (CCMA) with help from the South African Council of Churches.

The South African bourgeoisie have been long-sighted and smart. In order to guarantee the economic development of one of the richest mining countries in the world, racial segregation and the tensions which it generated were seen as no longer fit for purpose. It was better to change everything: the constitution, the old President of the Republic (and substitute him for the icon of Nelson Mandela)...

Workfare (1) is a brilliant scheme, if you’re an employer. It allows you to take on staff without paying them under the guise that you’re ‘training’ them back into the world of work. And there are lots of schemes to choose from; five in all. You can benefit from Mandatory Work Activity where you can get someone to work for you free for four weeks if you can persuade the government you’ve got...