Patrick Bond, author of Politics of Climate Justice, has written a column for the Daily Maverick on the Infrastructure Development Bill, which is currently under discussion in parliament.
Bond writes that, “A genuine people’s Parliament would have an easy time rewriting this bill. It would make our economy far less vulnerable to globalisation by stressing local connectivities. The mandate would be revised, to first and foremost meet basic human needs.” He goes on to say that we can reliably predict that none of these suggestions will be seriously considered, however.
What we academics often term South Africa’s ‘Minerals-Energy Complex‘ (MEC) keeps getting away with murder, including economic strangulation. As just one example, in spite of a recent trade surplus, the balance of payments is going into extreme deficit largely because MEC multinational mining houses – especially BHP Billiton, Anglo, DeBeers, Lonmin and Glencore – vacuum out profits to their London and Melbourne financial headquarters. This leaves SA basking not in BRICS prosperity but instead leading the slide of the ‘Fragile Five’: big emerging markets suffering vast capital outflows.
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- Politics of Climate Justice: Paralysis Above, Movement Below by Patrick Bond
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EAN: 9781869142216
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