Socialism from Below

21/03/2025

South Africa continues to face a serious challenge: Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs) like Terbufos, banned in the European Union for their harmful effects, are still widely used here. The EU exports these chemicals to us despite prohibiting them on their own soil, leaving South African farm workers and communities to bear the burden.

Research and campaigns, like the Women on Farms Project’s Double Standards Pesticides Campaign launched in 2019, highlight how these pesticides—linked to respiratory issues, skin irritations, genetic mutations, cancer, and even death—disproportionately harm workers and rural dwellers. In 2022, the Department of Agriculture promised to phase out some HHPs by June 2024, yet many remain in use.

Last year, the tragic deaths of six children in Soweto were tied to Terbufos exposure, prompting the African Centre for Biodiversity and allies to demand an immediate ban in December 2024. The Minister of Agriculture, Steenhuisen, has until February 28, 2025, to respond, or legal action will follow. On February 4, 2025, the South African Human Rights Commission raised these concerns in parliament, noting that safer alternatives could allow for an immediate ban. This isn’t just about policy—it’s about the right to life, health, and dignity for tens of thousands of farm workers often left without protective gear or choice.

We at Keep Left - Socialism from Below believe South Africa shouldn’t be a dumping ground for what others reject. Please join us in supporting these communities by signing the petition to push for a ban on all EU-banned HHPs. Together, we can protect the working people of this land.

https://awethu.amandla.mobi/petitions/end-the-double-standards-ban-deadly-pesticides-already-banned-in-europe?source=rawlink&utm_source=rawlink&share=241a9a3c-02e7-47a6-98bf-6ccf8a9edede

31/01/2025

A strategy to defeat imperialism and the imperialist watch dog in the Middle East (Israel) lies, crucially, on the Middle Eastern working class in surrounding countries.

23/01/2025

A strategy to defeat imperialism and the imperialist watch dog in the Middle East (Israel) lies, crucially, on the Middle Eastern working class in surrounding countries.

A strategy to defeat imperialism and the imperialist watch dog in the Middle East (Israel) lies, crucially, on the Middle Eastern working class in surrounding countries.

22/01/2025

1.We welcome the fall of the regime of in Syria. We congratulate the Syrian people for the final defeat of a dictatorship that had misruled them for over 50 years, killed hundreds of thousands of people, impoverished and displaced millions, and torn the country apart.

1.We welcome the fall of the regime of in Syria. We congratulate the Syrian people for the final defeat of a dictatorship that had misruled them for over 50 years, killed hundreds of thousands of people, impoverished and displaced millions, and torn the country apart. The democratic and popular revo...

18/06/2024

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Hague, normally a reliable echo chamber of Western interests, ruled that Israel had a case to answer on the charges of genocide laid against it by South Africa. It also ordered it to restrain its operations in Gaza and to make regular progress reports.

International Court ruling on Israel is a boost but international law is a tool of imperialism Last October the New Left Review published a very timely article by its premier writer, Perry Anderson. It was a critique of international law as, throughout its history, a tool of Western imperialism. And...

03/09/2023

The South African socialist group Keep Left told Socialist Worker, “The authorities have been quick to jump on the bandwagon of blaming the poor for the horror.

Picture: EFF Gauteng, Twitter.

31/08/2023

Blame government not the homeless for fatal fire in Johannesburg

At least 73 people are dead and 52 injured after a raging fire in a five-storey building in Johannesburg city centre in South Africa.

30/08/2023

People have joined major protests across Syria against poverty and calling for the downfall of the governing regime.

Committees organising grassroots struggles are springing up and spreading. People have joined major protests across Syria against poverty and calling for the downfall of the governing regime. The Revolutionary Left Current in Syria writes for Socialist Worker about the significance of the revolt, af...

12/03/2023

This strike is the fault of the government, not the workers. Workers are ensuring that the public receives a basic level of service while being on strike. Workers continue to provide emergency services in places like hospitals.

The government hasn’t raised wages for public workers in a while. They should receive a decent pay increase for their significant job. Public workers keep society running. They run home affairs, hospitals, schools, and many more. If there’s money for politicians who do nothing except fight among...

28/02/2023

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13/02/2023

https://keepleft.org.za/2023/02/13/ist-statement-on-earthquakes-in-turkey-and-syria/

We declare our solidarity with all the victims of the terrible earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday 6 February. This is a huge human catastrophe. The death toll has already reached over 33,000, but insurance companies are assuming as many as 200,000 deaths. But this is not a ‘natural disaster’. Earthquakes are inevitable in regions such as this where they have been taking place since antiquity. The terrible death toll, however, is a consequence of human action and inaction, shaped by a capitalist system based on exploitation and driven by the competitive accumulation of capital.https://keepleft.org.za/2023/02/13/ist-statement-on-earthquakes-in-turkey-and-syria/

Sunday 12th February 2023 . We declare our solidarity with all the victims of the terrible earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday 6 February. This is a huge human catastrophe. The death toll has already reached over 33,000, but insurance companies are assuming as many as 200,000 deaths....

04/10/2022

On September 26–29, 2022, COSATU convened its 14th National Congress. This congress happened during a period in which the working class was facing multiple attacks from the ANC Government and the capitalists. Amongst these attacks include the austerity budget, job losses, non-payment of wages (e.g., Denel, and several municipalities), low wage increases, failure to uphold collective bargaining agreements, high cost of living, load-shedding, and many more.

On September 26–29, 2022, COSATU convened its 14th National Congress. This congress happened during a period in which the working class was facing multiple attacks from the ANC Government and the capitalists. Amongst these attacks include the austerity budget, job losses, non-payment of wages (e.g...