African Scene Research Articles

Editor’s choice: Infectious disease are still dominating the African scene

Editor’s choice: Infectious disease are still dominating the African scene

The limits of the ‘no limits’ Russian-Chinese partnership: The case of Africa

ABSTRACT Announcing a ‘no limits friendship’ on the sidelines of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Russia and China pledged to establish a close partnership and far-reaching cooperation on the international stage. However, despite these rhetorical commitments, the growing presence of China and Russia in Africa reveals competition rather than robust collaboration. As Russia and China seek to increase their influence on the continent, their partnership is hampered by their respective interests and objectives. Furthermore, their inherently opposing approach to engagement with Africa produces an antagonistic dynamic in which the actions of each undermine the goals pursued by the other. The African scene thus highlights the limits of the Sino-Russian partnership as well as the realities of their national priorities.

Mzansi Magic

Mzansi Magic

Diakonaat en die Afrikaanssprekende AGS van SA

The diaconate and the Afrikaans-speaking Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa. The aim is to discuss the development of the diaconate in the Afrikaans-speaking white Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa (AFM) in order to examine its effectiveness. This is done on the basis of a comparative literature analysis. To understand this development, the church’s early antipathy towards established mainline churches must be understood, born out of the pentecostal movement’s self-definition and experience of rejection and discrimination. One consequence was that all traditional offices were denied, including the office of minister, elder and deacon. Early members were generally poor, like most other Afrikaners. Yet they supported each other and helped where possible. Their assistance excluded people of colour. There was no organised diaconate until the AFM was eventually forced by reality to institutionalise. From this a Welfare Department was born in time which also organised welfare work through Dorcas councils at regional and parish levels. The Welfare Department also established and administered old age and children’s homes. In general, only women served on Dorcas councils while the congregational council (church council) consisted only of men. Still, welfare work was mainly limited to the ‘own people’. In the run-up to unification, the ‘white’ AFM relegated all power to the local level as much as possible to protect their own identity. After unification in 1996, as a result of this process, local congregations were again left on their own to do welfare work. At the same time, many Afrikaans-speaking congregations exclusively use Afrikaans in their worship services, excluding non-Afrikaans speaking people of colour. As a result, their welfare work is mainly limited to white people. The importance of the conclusion is that the church needs to address deficiencies in the diaconate task, which is essential to the church’s mission.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The evaluation of the diaconate in the AFM implies a new welfare strategy and redesign of the diaconate based on the church-historical description, exegesis of relevant Scripture passages and description of the current South African scene marred by social inequality and the occurrence of widespread poverty to relate to the church’s task.

Sino-Africa Relations and Implications for Neo-colonialism: a Case of China’s Involvement in Ghana’s Textiles and Mining Industries and its Implications in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in Ghana

China’s progressive assumption as a major actor on the African scene needs critical academic attention and examination. Although there are undoubtedly varied benefits, there are also concerns about whether China’s win-win rhetoric is sincere or just empty propaganda. This paper contributes to the debate by examining the relationship between China and Africa through the lens of neo-colonialism. In this regard, the paper examines China’s involvement in the tex-tiles and mining industries of Ghana as a case study to argue whether the partnership between China and Africa is one that actually promotes development or engenders a new trend of neo-colonialism. Since this research focuses on areas such as partnership (i.e., between Ghana and China) and illegal mining with its effects, it intersects four of the SDGs (clean water and sanitation [SDG 6]; sustainable cities and com-munities [SDG 11]; life below water [SDG 14]; and partnership for the goals [SDG 17].

Les salles de cinéma en Afrique sud saharienne francophone (1926–1980) / Movie Theaters in French-Speaking Africa South of the Sahara (1926–1980), by Claude Forest: A Welcomed and Essential Historical Work

Following extensive research and at a time when French operators are making a strong comeback on the African scene, Claude Forest fills a void and publishes a history of movie theaters in French-speaking Africa that covers the colonial period and the first twenty years of independence, until the French disengagement. While the importation and distribution of films was profitable and developed within the framework of a duopoly, he shows how the flaws of public policies as well as the narrowness of the market prevented the preservation of existing cinemas and the development of African autonomy in this area, not without highlighting the contradictions of cooperation policies and African demands.

Churchill Show: Transgressing language codes and upsetting stereotypes

Cultural productions on television and/or online platforms are immensely prolific at expressing the peoples’ every day and the historical. They provide platforms on which actors express themselves on their own terms, in their own language codes and styles with little censure. With the proliferation of digital technologies and the advent of the internet and attendant new media, the production, circulation, and consumption of cultural texts on the (Eastern) African scene has radically shifted and continues to grow in ways unimagined before. In Kenya specifically, with an exponential growth of television channels, numerous local cultural productions continue to burgeon, carrying with them a constellation of voices that are representative of the country’s socio-cultural and linguistic diversity. These productions not only entertain, but also explore critical issues in Kenyan society and beyond. Among them is Churchill Show, which through an aesthetics of escapism, (re)narrates quotidian events and recuperates and (re)interprets the country’s historical trajectory. Moreover, the show oftentimes embodies a political aesthetics cloaked in postmodern humour that serves to recalibrate common/sensical perceptions as well as the regimented practices and ways of knowing. Thus, the show transgresses language codes and upsets socio-psychological stereotypes, for which it is often condemned, to shape a new notion of ‘Kenyanness’.

English

The South African education scene is characterised by principals who come from the apartheid era where they manage the school alone in an authoritarian manner. Old approaches to school management have changed because the society has also changed. There is a shift from top-down style of leadership to shared or distributed leadership which requires the empowerment of those in managerial positions in schools. The principal is expected to manage the school together with significant stakeholders. In this study attention was focused on the extent to which principals perform the duties of instructional leadership and how they empower the School Management Team (SMT) to execute instructional leadership. Additionally, the study aimed at finding out impediments that principals experience in the course of empowering the School Management team. The study used a quantitative method involving the use of a questionnaire. The study population consisted of 90 principals and deputy principals and 165 heads of department in Tshwane-West District. Data analysis consisted of descriptive and inferential statistics.  The greatest challenge is the administrative workload experienced by principals. The study also found that rural principals perform the duties of instructional leadership more than the urban principals.  Principals perform their duties well and this is good for the academic performance of learners.   Key words: School management, instructional management, empowerment, culture of teaching and learning, teaching and learning.

The significance and impact of African theological renaissance to orthodox Christianity

The trending African theological discourses in the context of the varied realities which have become the face of Christianity in Africa present a significant theological impact to the nature of orthodox Christianity. The pragmatic nature of the emerging trends in African Christianity cannot go unnoticed in the context of community formation and social development today. The intensity and spontaneity of African Christianity is a clear testimony of theological renaissance at work in the African Church scene. As African Christianity becomes more vibrant and believers become more determined to express their faith; the art of worship has become more and more innovative to the extent that theological discourse has clearly become influenced by pragmatic African values and spirituality thereby resulting in a clear manifestation of a defining paradigm shift in theology. This paper is a qualitative research study in which the theological discourses of the African pragmatic faith expressions are engaged premised on the grounded theoretical framework. This paper, therefore, explores the new conceptual theological thought patterns evolving around the life and work of the Church in Africa by ways and means of analysis to produce explanations and potentially new interpretations. The research concludes by pointing out that the revolutionary wave manifest in the worship life of the Church in Africa has grave political, cultural, and social implications for ‘traditional’ theology since it has the potential to radically change the face of orthodox Christianity for generations to come. Finally, this paper provides a fundamental synopsis of the nature, context and content of African Christianity in an environment where religion has tended to be a pivotal centre for social development and community formation.

Audit committee effectiveness, isomorphic forces, managerial attitude and adoption of international financial reporting standards

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report the results of a study carried out to establish the contribution of audit committee (AC) effectiveness, isomorphic forces and managerial attitude to the adoption of international financial reporting standards (IFRS).Design/methodology/approachThis study is cross-sectional and correlational. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey of 67 MFIs that are members of the Association of Microfinance Institutions of Uganda (AMFIU).FindingsBoth AC effectiveness, isomorphic forces and managerial attitude significantly contribute to the adoption of IFRS. However, the explanatory power of managerial attitude is subsumed in isomorphic forces and AC effectiveness. Results further indicate that AC effectiveness partially mediates the relationship between isomorphic forces and adoption of IFRS. In terms of control variables, ownership and capital structure are not significant predictors of adoption of IFRS.Originality/valueTo the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the contribution of AC effectiveness, isomorphic forces and managerial attitude to the adoption of IFRS in MFIs using evidence from a developing country on the African scene like Uganda. Further, earlier literature has not tested the mediating effect of AC effectiveness in the relationship between isomorphic forces and the adoption of IFRS which has been reported in this paper.

Antecedents of tax compliance of small business enterprises: a developing country perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to investigate the contribution of attitude towards electronic tax system, adoption of electronic tax system and isomorphic forces to tax compliance of small business enterprises (SBEs) in a developing country in a single study.Design/methodology/approachThis study is cross-sectional and correlational. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey of 214 owner-managed SBEs in Uganda through their managers. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences.FindingsAttitude towards electronic tax system, adoption of electronic tax system and isomorphic forces significantly contribute to tax compliance to the extent of 57.4 per cent. Isomorphic forces have a high predictive power of tax compliance as compared with attitude towards electronic tax system. Further, coercive, normative and mimetic isomorphism as constructs of isomorphic forces are significantly associated with tax compliance.Research limitations/implicationsGiven that this study was cross-sectional, monitoring changes in behaviour over time was not possible. The results are useful for policy makers and taxpayers in developing countries. These results can also be generalized to other developing countries especially those in Africa and other continents dominated by developing countries.Originality/valueTo the researchers’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the contribution of attitude towards electronic tax system, adoption of electronic tax system and isomorphic forces to tax compliance of SBEs in a developing country in a single study on the African scene.

Tax compliance of financial services firms: a developing economy perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the contribution of tax morale, compliance costs and tax compliance of financial services firms in Uganda.Design/methodology/approachThis study is cross-sectional and correlational and adopts firm-level data collected using a questionnaire survey of 210 financial services firms in Uganda from which usable questionnaires were received from 152 financial services firms.FindingsTax morale and compliance costs contribute up to 20.6 per cent of the variance in tax compliance of the financial services firms. Tax morale and tax compliance are positively and significantly associated. Results further indicate that compliance costs and tax compliance are positively and significantly associated. National pride and trust in government and its legal systems as dimensions of tax morale independently are significantly associated with tax compliance. Results also indicate that administration costs and specialist costs as dimensions of compliance costs individually are significantly associated with tax compliance.Research limitations/implicationsThis study results should be generalized with caution, as they are limited to the financial services firms in Uganda.Originality/valueWhereas there has been a number of studies on tax compliance in both developed and developing countries, this is the first study on the African scene to examine the contribution of tax morale and compliance costs on tax compliance of financial services firms in a single suite. It is unbelievable that the financial services firms, especially commercial banks which are highly regulated by the central bank in many developing countries, can afford to report tax payables year after year.

‘You Say “Performance Poet”, I Hear “Dance Nigger, Dance”’: Problematizing the Notion of Performance Poetry in South Africa

This article analyzes how the notions of what counts as ‘performance poetry’ and who counts as a ‘performance poet’ differ according to context, and its focus lies on how these terms are postulated and disseminated within the South African literary scene. It offers an analysis of circumstantial factors within the South African literary community, which is explored as a site of epistemic violence. This epistemic violence unfolds through the racial micro-invalidations which are produced each time academia and media use the terms ‘performance poet’ and ‘performance poetry’ in relation to black poets and their work, without being aware of the negative implications of this. This pernicious ignorance is exposed and addressed, and so too is the conceptual system underscoring an approach that sees poetry as synonymous with the written word and which privileges the written over the oral, thereby relegating ‘performance poetry’ to an indefinite space, existing somewhere outside the national written traditions.

The Postcoloniality of Poor African Leadership in Achebe’s Fiction: A Close Reading of Arrow of God and A Man of the People

The paper aims at tracing the genesis of abuse of power and the irresponsibility that goes with it to its full blossoming in Achebe’s fiction through a close reading of Arrow of God and A Man of the People. Disenchantment with leadership in Africa, especially after independence, is not new on the African literary scene. But to Achebe, the problems associated with poor leadership in Africa did not start after independence. Failure in leadership only worsened in most African countries after independence due to the perpetuation of colonial vestiges. By doing a close reading of the two novels and by using the theory of postcoloniality, the researchers compare the traditional world of Ezeulu in Arrow of God to the post-independence setting of Chief Nanga in A Man of the People. The paper concludes that Africa has gone beyond the politics of post-colonialism and is now at the postcoloniality stage. In order for Africans to truly overcome the perennial problem of poor leadership, there is the need for us to first accept our role as a continent in contributing towards the failure of leadership in Africa. There is also the urgency to encourage grass root participation and understanding of modern democracy, to build stronger institutions and to put in place heavier punishments for those who abuse power.

Universality of human rights and cultural diversity: A Perspective

This speech is an attempt to offer á perspective, given the particular circumstances4 that moulded my thinking. I will sketch the background and confine myself to the unfolding South African scene. The problem, which I will not try and resolve today, is that the different regions in the world and some commentators, also in South Africa, hold firm views. Universal human rights imply inclusiveness because it reflects our “common humanity”.6 This is determined and refined through interpretation and application by humankind at particular moments in time and history. Universality is much more than the determination by a majority at a particular moment because universal human rights “are the rights of all persons in the world”.

Some thoughts around developing missional South African congregations based upon the church rediscovering its identity in the grace of God

The UPCSA have established the development of missional congregations as the overarching goal of the denomination. The UPCSA is a reformed church and as such attaches great importance to theology, especially that which originates in the character and nature of God. It is therefore suggested that a contextual practical theology based upon the perfection of the grace of God may enable missional congregations to be developed, as they rediscover their identity in that grace. This then will be the basis for building congregations that are truly missional at heart and not just superficially so. The study will be contextualized to the South African scene and applied to local congregations in order to try to help them rediscover their true identify in Christ, and to provide a basis for understanding “missional” and thus what transformation may entail.

Queering Hip-Hop, Queering the City: Dope Saint Jude’s Transformative Politics

Queering Hip-Hop, Queering the City: Dope Saint Jude’s Transformative Politics

Reframing the Tower of Babel narrative for economic justice within the South African context : original research

The Tower of Babel narrative is profoundly connected to the history of South Africa and its interpretation in the Dutch Reformed Church document entitled Human Relations and the South African Scene in the Light of Scripture (1976), which was used to justify apartheid. In this article, it is argued that this understanding of the narrative is due to racist framing that morally justified the larger apartheid narrative. The Tower of Babel narrative was later reframed for liberation and reconciliation by Desmond Tutu. However, apartheid had an impact not only on the sociopolitical dynamics of South Africa. Submissions to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission by business and labour highlight the impact of apartheid on the economy and specifically black labour. These revelations are responsible for new questions regarding the economics of the narrative that arise and may enrich the understanding of the Tower of Babel narrative. This focus on the economic aspect of the narrative is also supported by historical research on the Tower of Babel narrative that reveals that the dispersion of the people on the plain of Shinar may refer to the demise of the Sumerian empire, which was among other influences brought about by a labour revolt. In this regard, the narrative is a theological reflection on the demise of an unjust economic system that exploited workers. The purpose of this article is to critically explore this economic justice aspect embedded in the narrative in order to determine whether this reframing of the narrative is plausible. This is particularly important within the post-apartheid context and the increase of economic problems such as unemployment, poverty and economic inequality.

Reframing the Tower of Babel narrative for economic justice within the South African context

The Tower of Babel narrative is profoundly connected to the history of South Africa and its interpretation in the Dutch Reformed Church document entitled Human Relations and the South African Scene in the Light of Scripture (1976), which was used to justify apartheid. In this article, it is argued that this understanding of the narrative is due to racist framing that morally justified the larger apartheid narrative. The Tower of Babel narrative was later reframed for liberation and reconciliation by Desmond Tutu. However, apartheid had an impact not only on the sociopolitical dynamics of South Africa. Submissions to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission by business and labour highlight the impact of apartheid on the economy and specifically black labour. These revelations are responsible for new questions regarding the economics of the narrative that arise and may enrich the understanding of the Tower of Babel narrative. This focus on the economic aspect of the narrative is also supported by historical research on the Tower of Babel narrative that reveals that the dispersion of the people on the plain of Shinar may refer to the demise of the Sumerian empire, which was among other influences brought about by a labour revolt. In this regard, the narrative is a theological reflection on the demise of an unjust economic system that exploited workers. The purpose of this article is to critically explore this economic justice aspect embedded in the narrative in order to determine whether this reframing of the narrative is plausible. This is particularly important within the post-apartheid context and the increase of economic problems such as unemployment, poverty and economic inequality.

DeGruchy, John W.I Have Come a Long Way. Cape Town: Lux Verbi2015.

DeGruchy, John W.I Have Come a Long Way. Cape Town: Lux Verbi2015.