South Africa’s Democratic Governance and “the Crisis of Stateness

abstractWomen’s movement activism has formed significant conduits through which the advancement of gender transformation policies is enacted in South Africa (SA). Through their experiences – strongly rooted in women’s movement activism and its advocacy for gender equity and women’s empowerment – women activists arguably help push the transformation agenda in gender transformation policies, including gender mainstreaming (GM) and Employment Equity (EE). A qualitative study conducted in 2017 with women leaders in SA’s democratic national Government found a link between women’s movements and democratic governments’ recognition of gender transformation policies. Based on state feminist theoretical thinking, this article views and analyses the impact of women’s movement activism experiences in enabling women in leadership positions and in helping them to push the gender transformation agenda in policy formulation policies. It thus argues that women’s movements’ activism in SA has contributed to and had some positive impacts on the sexist and patriarchal political, economic and social institutions, gradually engendering the recognition of women and promoting their participation in these institutions.However, the authors also contend that social environments in government structures are marred with barriers that impede women leaders with activism experiences, who actively and continually push for feminist agendas with substantive gender transformation outcomes. Although transformation policies are prioritised in democratic SA, gendered discourses still mainly disadvantage women across racial identities, gender orientations and (dis)abilities, to name a few. Even so, women’s movements’ activism still provides women with the experience of being agents of gender emancipation in their respective spaces in SA and Africa at large.

The subject of South Africa‐Israel relations has always been a considerable scholarly topic that is amongst the ongoing academic and policy makers' debates. This is because of the uncertainties and confusion that exists in South Africa's foreign policy stance on Israel in the contemporary period. In this secondary data‐based research article, the author analyses the historical relations between South Africa and Israel with Palestine in question. The central aim is to analyse the consistencies and inconsistencies historically and contemporarily shown by South Africa's foreign policy towards Israel. The article looked at the pre‐and post‐apartheid governments' foreign policy positions. The author argued that there is no gainsaying that South Africa had good relations with Israel during apartheid. These relations only became unstable when South Africa adopted democracy, but scholars still observe a lot of uncertainties on South Africa's Israeli foreign policy stance, particularly in the context of Palestine in question. This is especially in economic and political links which still exist between the two countries. Afrocentricity as a theoretical lens has been adopted. The results show that whilst the pre‐democratic apartheid government enjoyed good relations with Israel; the new democratic government has continuously had unstable relations with Israel. The article concluded that whilst the African National Congress (ANC) government is policy conflicted on relations with Israel; it though enjoys economic engagement with their so‐called internationally condemned apartheid Israel. The initial recommendation made was that the new democratic ANC government should make a firm policy stance on Israel to clear any policy confusion.

The embodiment of inequality: AIDS as a social condition and the historical experience in South Africa

IntroductionThe idea of South Africa acting as a gateway to Africa goes back to the 1950s. The new Afrikaner government went all out to convince the western world that despite its internal apartheid policies South Africa way the only beacon of hope on the impoverished continent and should be regarded as a conduit for external development aid and programs for the rest of the continent (Miti, 2002). For then and now the idea of South Africa as a gateway to Africa was based on two main factors. First of all South Africa has always presented itself as an integral part of the continent despite the existence of a large white population whose development ideals were tied to the west. As part of the continent it claimed to have a better understanding of Africa and its people. It thus deserved an intermediary role between the west and the rest of the continent. The international community should therefore channel aid, trade and investments through the country. In short South Africa should act as a bridge between the West and Africa. Second South Africa has the most developed economy on the continent with first rate economic infrastructure. The country is therefore best placed to act as a springboard to those wanting to invest on the continent. Furthermore, South Africa is set to act as a development catalyst for the poverty stricken continent (Blumenfeld, 2010; South Africa Foreign Policy Monitor, 2008; The South African Foundation, 2004).The new democratic government that took over power in 1994 retained the same assumptions and saw the end of apartheid as making it possible for South Africa to assume its rightful role as not only the Saviour of the continent but also as a bridge builder between the west and the continent. The African renaissance which has seen blacks in South Africa overcome the formidable apartheid system should act as a spur to Africa's revival and prosperity. The new government took upon itself a messianic mantel to save the continent (Vale and Maseko, 1998; Solomon, 2010).This article looks at how the ANC government has pursued its messianic role of bridge builder between the west and the continent and of catalyst and Savior of the dark and impoverished continent. There are currently a lot of misgivings that South Africa might be losing its gateway status to others (Games, 2010, 2011; Sunday Times, 2011; The Star, 2011). The government is accused of not doing enough to promote South Africa Inc or Team South Africa1 in the rest of the continent given the arrival of non western players - the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). The government is therefore called upon to increase its competitiveness on the continent in the face of the aggressive entry of the BRIC players that have ushered in a new struggle for the continent's resources. But can South Africa compete with the BRIC club to which it has been recently invited to join? This leads us to the second part of this article that is, looking at the reality of South Africa's trade and investments on the continent. On the basis of its existing trade and investments, can South Africa be seen as a development catalyst on the continent? Can it indeed act as a gateway to Africa? The last section of this article offers some suggestions on South Africa's continued engagement with the rest of the continent. South Africa's future development needs the rest of Africa both as a market and an investment destination given the size of its population and the very limited purchasing power of the large part of this population (constituted by unemployed youth and poor black population). This has remained a major constraint on domestic growth and is likely to remain so for a very long time. This means that South Africa's economic growth will depend on how fast its immediate neighbours and the rest of the continent will grow (Globbelaar, 2008).The African National Congress's (ANC) African AgendaAt the centre of the ANC government's foreign policy is what has been broadly termed the 'African Agenda'. …

This chapter interrogates the notion of government of national unity (GNU) as an emerging model for democratic and coalition governance in Africa. Considering Africa's dismal record of governance, coupled with socio-economic developmental challenges, coalition governance is imperative. African countries such as Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, and Zimbabwe were selected as case studies to demonstrate the opportunities and challenges of government of national unity or coalition governance. GNU is a co-governance mechanism often adopted over contested election results between the incumbent and opposition parties. Amongst the countries under study, only Kenya showcases a semi-successful story of how a coalition can be formed, maintained, and sustained to the next elections. Other governments of national unity, such as those in South Africa, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe, formed coalitions with opposition parties to unset the dominant parties. In the case of Zimbabwe, Malawi, South Africa, and Lesotho, GNU was adopted as both a democratic governance and conflict resolution strategy to govern better and ensure peace and stability over contested election results and simmering political violence. This chapter argues that the dominance of the ruling parties and weak opposition parties undermines coalition formation to challenge the incumbent parties through electoral democracy. The chapter concludes that GNU in these countries not only showed dismal evidence of being notoriously tyrannical in creating pseudo-space but was also a pace-setter for bad and undemocratic governance in Africa. Data for this chapter was collected through secondary sources.

Social welfare services provision has become a common feature of modern democracies, with a huge burden on the public purse. Amid shrinking revenues to feed the over-stretched public purse, modern democracies continue to embark on a plethora of social welfare reforms for the benefit of those demonstrating economic need. Here, the provision of social welfare services and their associated reforms have raised ethical issues: Are modern democracies responsible for the wellbeing of their poor citizens? If so, at what cost and to what degree are they morally bound to act? Using South Africa as a case in point, the chapter explores ethics of social welfare in modern democracies. In so doing, it argues that South Africa provides a unique case for the ethical basis of social welfare. It also contends that South Africa offers an answer to the question of why social welfare is a vital aspect of modern democracies. It further states that South Africa presents a case as to why social welfare is couched in rights-based ethics. It is based on secondary data from available literature against the South African post-1994 efforts towards building itself as a welfarist state responsive to the economic needs of its poverty-stricken citizenry.

Even after 20 years of democracy in South Africa access to archives is still facing many challenges and continuously going through process of transformation. This article concentrates on the present state of accessibility of archives in South Africa. It also exposes the limitations of this process caused by the government’s control over them whilst only serving the state in the apartheid era. The exclusion of the general public as users during this time was one of them. The article makes an attempt to compare the specifics of accessing archives between two important chapters of South African history, prior and post-1994. A short description of the impact of the new legislation developed and implemented after 1994 on the functioning of archives in the new environment is provided. It also presents the significant changes in the role of archival institutions in the new era of democracy in South Africa from the role of traditional records keepers to the more user friendly places more easily accessible to the public. Despite, the great improvement in the accessibility of the archives in South Africa, these institutions still face many daily challenges which impact on their proper functioning. The major issues are: lack of resources, shortage of professional skills, lack of interest and support from the government. They need urgent attention and implementation of some strategies to eliminate those problems. There is still much work to be done in this sector which requires the involvement and cooperation of all country wide archival institutions and plenty of support from the South African government. The contents of the article are based on an extensive literature review. However, the author’s personal professional experience in the archival field has also substantially contributed to the process.

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the dynamics of democratic governance in South Africa and Ethiopia within the framework of Africa Agenda 2063 (AA2063), including how political polarisation and populism shape the democratisation process.Design/methodology/approachA mixed-methods approach integrates quantitative analysis using the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) data set with qualitative case studies from South Africa and Ethiopia. Cohort analysis, comparative analysis and descriptive statistics revealed patterns and trends in democratic transformation, how groups evolve over time and the momentum needed for both countries to achieve the goals of AA2063.FindingsThis study found that the political landscapes of South Africa and Ethiopia are significantly shaped by the emergence of democracy, political polarisation and populist parties. Considering the 10-year expected outcomes outlined in AA2063, the findings show that South Africa achieved 84% of its 10-year democratic governance policy goals, whereas Ethiopia reached only 25%. South Africa, despite demonstrating a strong commitment to clean elections, has experienced significant political polarisation and the rise of populist movements. In Ethiopia, the shift towards one-man governance has significantly diverted the country’s trajectory from liberal democratic aspirations to undemocratic practices.Practical implicationsThe findings provide actionable policy recommendations aimed at building resilient democracy against political polarisation and populism.Social implicationsThis study highlights the vital role of informed citizens in safeguarding democratic practices.Originality/valueThis study makes a significant contribution through a rigorous comparison of democratic practices in South Africa and Ethiopia by elucidating the critical factors that shape their differing levels of democratic maturity. The analysis uncovers the impact of political polarisation and populism on governance by employing a comprehensive array of democratic indicators to provide a nuanced understanding of these dynamics.

South Africa: A Science Lesson

As the state of South Africa transitioned from Apartheid and into democracy in 1994, many speculated whether South Africa’s democratic experiment would last beyond the initial presidency of then-President Nelson Mandela; fortunately democracy has appeared to have taken rather resilient roots since its inception. However such a development begs the question as to how can South African democratic successes is explained. In this analysis the theory of republican liberalism is introduced, with its propositions regarding the balancing of foreign and domestic interests, as well as the “locking-in” of democratic regimes via international institutions. This paper will explain South African democratization within the purview of republican liberalism, and illustrate not only the explanatory ability of republican liberalism towards the transitioning state of South Africa in 1994, but also exhibit the ability of republican liberalism to be applied in future democratic-theory research. Key words: South Africa, democratization, apartheid, republican liberalism, institutionalism.

Governing through Crime in South Africa: The Politics of Race and Class in Neoliberalizing Regimes. By Gail Super. Dorchester: Ashgate, 2013. 182 pp. $98.96, cloth.In ways more similar than different, crime policies in South Africa after end of formal apartheid play out in a field where poor are not well represented and indeed where punitive penal policies absurdly reinforce inequality of society. So argues Gail Super in Governing through Crime in South Africa. Super's raw material in this well-researched book comes from her focus on official criminology-state discourses about crime and criminality (pp. 6-7). These discourses are a form of communication and are themselves performative. Using this material, Super shows how politics of race and class in post-apartheid South Africa under conditions of neo-liberalism have led to a place where criminal justice and prisons policy appear to exhibit more continuity than change-despite new democratic government led for more than twenty years now by former liberation movement, African National Congress (ANC).As a historical case study spanning late apartheid, transition, and post-apartheid South Africa, Super's work perhaps is inherently inclined toward examining continuities of new with old. While this fits with much of best recent scholarship on crime and policing in South Africa (Altbeker 2005; Hornberger 2013), others call for an emphasis on discontinuity (Steinberg 2014). In any case, Super's analysis is nuanced and careful. It is not simply old wine in new bottles. Working at messy and fertile intersection of crime and governance, Super refreshes and complicates simple distinction that sees apartheid as bad and post-apartheid as better (or perhaps just not-sobad).As even a casual reader of major newspapers in South Africa would be aware, crime and its management have become a central issue in governance of post-apartheid South Africa. Productively drawing on Foucauldian themes, one chapter follows directly on Super's previously published work on spectacle of crime in post-apartheid South Africa (Super 2010). She details how relationship between crime and politics changed as African National Congress went from a liberation movement to a ruling party. Likewise, relationship between crime and race changed as blacks moved from oppressed to governing majority-Super has less to say about gender. In new South Africa, crime has become subjected to more intensive measurement techniques but simultaneously has become an object through which governing occurs. Thus halt to publication of crime statistics directed by ANC Minister of Safety and Security in 2000 justifies Super's contention that the ANC government used denial and refusal to divulge information as a tactic of rule-just as NP [National Party] government had done before it (p. 39).Continuity also figures in discussion in Governing through Crime in South Africa about country's shift to neoliberal macroeconomic policies. Super dates start of neoliberal policies in South Africa to early 1980s, under white National Party government: a shift from racial Fordism to privatization (p. 9). Post-apartheid, Super describes how new democratic government has unexpectedly taken stances in favor of imprisonment and without mention of or attention to structural causes of crime. In this engagement with neoliberalism and its effects, Super follows Jonathan Simon in seeing not only repressive side of crime control but also its softer and enabling effects (Simon 2007).Indeed, for Super, continuities continue. Where others have depicted a shift from early post-apartheid days of community based crime prevention to a later (from late 1990s or 2000) era of getting tough, she emphasizes linkages and points of intersection in both language about criminals and in penal complex. …

A consensus on South Africa's transition from apartheid is crystallising. According to it, the African National Congress (ANC) and the National Party (NP), which initially opened negotiations reluctantly and suspiciously, were subsequently transformed by the experience. They are said to have developed mutual trust, discounted questions of political power, and agreed to a constitution allowing the new democratic government — predictably headed by the ANC — to commence instituting its political programme. This piece takes exception to this on several scores. It maintains that considerations of power, which vanish from the conventional story, were central to the eventual settlement, and stresses two significant constraints on South Africa's new democracy. The government, as was anticipated by the NP, is exposed to relentless pressure to adopt policies preferred by capital, which exerts steady conservative influence on the ANC. Moreover, the terms negotiated in the interim constitution specifically protect the integrity of established bureaucracies, doubly constraining the democratic government. Conservative state interests fortify conservative economic interests, offsetting the social and economic radicalism of the ANC. The thesis presented here is that the political bargain in South Africa provides significant protections for interests associated with the NP and blunts the powers of the ANC. As a result, the ANC is struggling to satisfy promises of social transformation and is tempted to shift its political base from popular organisations to state bureaucracies. Thus, South Africa's political bargain is democratic in form, but is incipiently statist and conservative in substance.

This study explores the intricate relationship between South Africa's democratic political system, its commitment to human and private rights, and the development of its cybersecurity framework, strategy, and response to cyber threats. Given the country's robust constitutional commitment to human rights, this research explores how these democratic principles are integrated into and influence cybersecurity policies and practices. Through a comprehensive analysis of legislative documents, policy frameworks, this study identifies the extent to which democratic values and human rights considerations shape South Africa's approach to cybersecurity. The findings reveal that South Africa's cybersecurity strategy is deeply influenced by its democratic ethos, with a strong emphasis on protecting individual rights while ensuring national security. The study highlights how laws such as the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and the Cybercrimes Act balance the need for security with the protection of privacy and freedom of expression. Furthermore, it explores the multi-stakeholder approach adopted by South Africa, emphasizing public participation, transparency, and accountability in developing and implementing cybersecurity measures. This research also explores the challenges and tensions that arise from striving to protect human rights within the cybersecurity domain, such as ensuring privacy and freedom of information in the face of increasing cyber threats. The study provides insights into how South Africa navigates these challenges, including the mechanisms put in place to ensure oversight and accountability in the surveillance and data collection practices by state security agencies.

What is Christian leadership and what does it look like in the workplace environment? This special edition of Koers - Bulletin for Christian Scholarship focuses on these questions as they play themselves out in the South African context. Currently, South Africa is celebrating the 20th anniversary of moving into an all-inclusive democracy. This transition has also seen a shift in political orientation, so that South Africa is now recognised as being a secular constitutional democracy. Secular democracies do not favour any specific religion above another and thus Christianity has had to re-evaluate its position and responsibility in the public sphere, especially when it speaks of its leadership contribution. Christian leadership in present-day South Africa must be understood differently from Christian leadership under the apartheid regime - which, coincidentally, itself had a very specific understanding of what it meant to exercise Christian leadership.

The transition to a democratic, elected, non-racial government, which set in motion in early 1990, stirred a debate on the course of economic policies to accomplish sustained economic growth, while at the same time remedying the poverty, and other socio economic discrepancies generated by apartheid government. These include inequality and unemployment (particularly in the black South Africans), corruption, rash in conflict and the most horrible – high rate of crime. This paper examines and compares the level of crimes in the ‘two phases’ (Apartheid and Post Apartheid periods- ‘1994-2005’), and their implications, especially on the socio-economic development in South Africa. The paper further elicits comparative evidence on other socio-economic issues (poverty and inequality, political corruption and conflict) in the two phases and argues that the consolidation of democracy has ameliorated these problems. However, the paper concludes that there are still much improvements needed, particularly on crime. The paper calls on some other African countries to copy a leaf from South Africa’s practical democracy, rather than democracy in principle as the cases in many countries in the continent. Key words: Democracy, poverty, conflict, political corruption, crime, economic development.