Borders Of Africa Research Articles

Endangered Scholars Worldwide

Endangered Scholars Worldwide GOOD NEWS We are delighted to announce some good news: ► m o h a m m e d m a l e c k i and k i a n t a j b a k s h , Iranian scholars who were featured in our Summer 2009 issue, have been recently released on bail from Evin prison in Tehran, b i j a n k h a j e p o u r , also featured in the Summer 2009 issue, was released in Fall 2009. ►On January 19,2010, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton rescinded the ban prohibiting scholars a d a m h a b i b and t a r iq .Ra m a d a n from traveling to the United States. In all these cases we believe international support was crucial to the success of their campaigns for justice. CURRENT CASES CAMEROON On Septem ber 3, 2009, j u s t i c e m . m b u h , a lecturer at th e N ational Polytechnic Bam bui in Bam enda, Cam eroon, was arrested on charges o f “treason.” The charges appear to be based on docum ents found in his possession relating to th e independence o f th e A m bazonia region o f C am eroon (form erly British Southern Cameroon). Justice is a specialist in C am eroonian politics and has published a num ber of books, including Inside Contemporary Cameroun Politics (2005) and International Law and Conflicts: Resolving Border and Sovereignty Disputes in Africa (2004). He rem ains in prison aw aiting sentence. Please send appeals to: Information current, to the best ofour knowledge, as ofMarch 25, 2010. Endangered Scholars W orldw ide v His Excellency Paul Biya President ofthe Republic of Cameroon Yaounde, Cameroon Fax: (237) 22 20 33 06 Email: cellcom@prc.cm Salutation: Your Excellency IRAN In spite of the recent releases of m o h a m m e d m a l e c ic i and k i a n t a j b a k s h , the situation for students and scholars in Iran has worsened in recent m onths. A general clim ate of fear has intensified w ith the m urder by car bomb of physics professor m a s o u d a l i m o h a m m a d i on January 12, 2010; the continuing unw arranted arrests of many citizens; and the threatening comments, on March 4, 2010, by Iranian Minister of Science Kamran Daneshjoo, that professors critical of the regime would be expelled from their posts. On December 28, 2009, e m a d e d d i n b a g h i (featured in our Spring 2008 issue) was rearrested, along w ith hundreds of people suspected of being pro-reform, following wide­ spread protests in Tehran and other cities m arking the Shi’a religious observance ofAshoura. Also arrested was d r . n o o s h i n e b a d i , a profes­ sor of m edicine and the sister of Nobel Prize-winning reform activist s h i r i n e b a d i . They join countless students and activists who are still languishing in prison in the wake of the waves of arrests that followed the contested election last June. Among them is student leader m a j i d t a v a k k o i i , who was arrested December 7, 2009, after giving a speech at Amir Kamir University. Majid, who had previously spent 15 m onths in jail for his student activism, was sentenced in January to eight and half years in prison. His charges include insulting the Supreme Leader, insulting the president, and spreading propaganda against the regime. Amnesty International has warned that he, along w ith all other impris­ oned activists in Iran, is at risk of torture. Scholars featured in previous issues who rem ain in prison in Iran include: s a e e d l a y l a z , a professor of economics sentenced in December 2009 to nine years in prison (reduced to six...

Evaluation of the Polyphenol Composition and Antioxidant Activity of African Variety ofDacryodes edulis(G.Don) H.J Lam Fruit

Polyphenols are abundant micronutrients in our diet that have been credited with chemoprevention of diseases associated with oxidative stress. In this study, we investigated the whole ripened fruit of Dacryodes edulis (G.Don) H.J Lam, a multipurpose tree growing in West and Central Africa and other countries bordering the Gulf of Guinea, for polyphenol content as well as its antioxidant/radical scavenging capacity. Analysis of the methanol extract of the fruit by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to an ultraviolet dual-array detector and mass-selective detector revealed the presence of catechol (9.27 mg/kg), gallate (10.40 mg/kg), methylgallate (0.88 mg/kg), ellagic acid (3.10 mg/kg), quercetin (0.21 mg/kg), and quercetin rhamnoside (0.76 mg/kg). The extract showed very high antioxidant potential (50% inhibitory concentration [IC(50)] = 14 microL), but a rather weak radical scavenging activity (IC(50) = 357 microL), when tested in vitro with the xanthine oxidase and 2-deoxyguanosine assay model systems, respectively. These results suggest that consumption of D. edulis could contribute to prevention of diseases that are related to oxidative stress.

First report of Blanford's semaphore gecko, Pristurus rupestris (Blanford 1874) (Sauria: Gekkonidae) in Fars Province, Iran

Pristurus Ruppel, 1835 is a gekkonine genus having many adaptations in common with the New World sphaerodactyline gecko, viz., diurnal habits, sexual dichromatism, round pupil, eyelid formed by circumorbital ring of tissue, simple undilated digits as in Gonatodes, small adult size, lack of preanal pores, lack of cloacal sacs and bones, and loss of splenial (Kluge, 1967; 1983). Its distribution is on islands and coastal regions of eastern Africa, Arabia, and Southeast Asia bordering the Red Sea, Gulf of Oman, and the Persian Gulf (Anderson, 1999). This genus comprises about 22 species, 14 inhabiting the Western Palearctic (Sindaco and Jeremcenko, 2008). Blanford's semaphore gecko, Pristurus rupestris was reported for the first time by Blanford in 1874 in Muscat, Oman (Leviton et al., 1992; Anderson, 1999). This species is distributed in the Arabian Peninsula (north to southwest Jordan), the Persian Gulf coast of Iran, Eritrea, Djibouti, and north of Somalia (including the border with Ethiopia) (Sindaco and Jeremcenko, 2008). Anderson (1999) reported this species in nine localities including Bandar-eLengeh, Bushehr, Cheh Mossulum, Tangistan, Jask, Minab, the Genu protected region, Chah Bahar, Khark Island, and Qeshm Island. Reports of Rastegar Pouyani et al. (2006) expanded the distribution of this species to Sistan and Baluchistan province. In summer and winter of 2007 and spring 2008, 4 specimens of this species were collected: two in Demaghah-IGora in southwest Fars Province, southwest Iran (27o 28'N, 53o 2'E; 421 m) (Fig. 1), about 1 km northwest of Varavi town, 25 km from the city of Lamerd, and two specimens in the northeast of it on the wall of a house on a mountainside). These specimens were captured on the limestone rock surfaces of mountains, the stone walls of palm groves (Fig. 2), and on the cement wall of a house adjacent to the mountain. Hence the distribution of this species expands into Fars Province. This locality is about 200 km from the nearest previously published record.

Management of mental health services in Malawi

Malawi is a country in sub-Saharan Africa bordering Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia. It has an area of approximately 118 000 km2 and is divided into northern, central and southern regions. It has an estimated population of 13 million, 47% of whom are under 15 years of age and just 5% over 60 years. Its economy is largely based on agriculture, with tobacco being the main export. The projected growth in gross domestic product (GDP) for 2007 was 8.8%; GDP per capita was $284 per annum.

Discovering Resilient Pathways for South African Water Management: Two Frameworks for a Vision

Factors that constitute resilience can themselves change over time in social-ecological systems. This poses a major challenge for understanding resilience and suggests greater investigation is needed of how social-ecological systems evolve through time and how to manage along more resilient pathways given continuous change. Resilient pathways account for the changing context of social- ecological systems, such as changing management discourses and their societal inclusiveness, changing system boundaries and external connections, and lingering consequences of past management actions. In this paper I use two well-known conceptual frameworks to explore change in social-ecological systems and associated resilience in the case of water management in South Africa, which is undergoing a major transformation: (1) the conceptual framework of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) and (2) the adaptive cycle described by Holling and others. Both frameworks, with minor adaptations, illustrate the system's shift from a centralized command-and-control style bureaucracy to a decentralized system guided by new legislation and a vision to balance efficiency, equity, and sustainability. During the former era, water managers attempted to maintain system stability and productivity through institutional and technical means that favored certain sectors of society, but resilience of the water management system declined as a result of increasingly unpopular policies and loss of ecosystem services. In using both frameworks, it becomes clear that the water management system contains two distinct social subsystems, representing South Africa's previously advantaged and disadvantaged populations, and that these do not progress through the phases of the MA framework and adaptive cycle uniformly. This implies particular challenges for achieving the water management vision: (1) the potential for management discourses to be manipulated by powerful groups, (2) equity issues that reflect new system boundaries that extend beyond South Africa's borders, and (3) past overallocation and poor management of water that make the previous level of privileges unattainable today. The South African water sector is a compelling case because of its dramatic transformation with as-yet unknown outcomes, but it presents challenges that are common among many large-scale social-ecological systems. With great international interest in operationalizing resilience definitions and frameworks, this exercise suggests the need to revisit definitions, continue applying these frameworks, and adapting them to capture variations in social-ecological systems.

Setting up the Nelson Mandela centre of memory and commemoration

Stories about Mr. Mandela's life and work are scattered around the world. They are to be found in institutions holding collections of archival material, in archival collections in the custody of individuals, in the organizations that Mr. Mandela belongs to or has been closely associated with, and in the interactions that Mr. Mandela has had with countless numbers of people, for instance, as a family member, friend, colleague, anti-apartheid leader, political prisoner, chief negotiator, international statesperson and first democratically elected President of South Africa. Equally significant are the largely untapped stories of ordinary individuals, both from within and outside of South Africa's borders. On 21 September 2004, the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory and Commemoration Project was launched by the Nelson Mandela Foundation. The Project is planning to invest a significant amount of time and resources into conducting both South African and international audits of Mandela-related materials, with the aim of creating a single web-based portal to the widely scattered “Mandela Archive.” This article aims to outline the process of the audits, highlight the issues involved in the development of the web archive, as well as provide details on the development of the database architecture. Keywords : centre of memory and commemoration, Constitution Hill Heritage Site, Nelson Mandela Foundation, South Africa ESARBICA Journal Vol. 24 2005: 109-115

NEPAD AND CIVIL SOCIETY IN SOUTH AFRICA

The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) is widely regarded in South Africa as the signature tune of Thabo Mbeki’s presidency. As such, it has been criticised and lauded from various quarters of civil society. But it has seldom been interrogated outside of the overheated context of national politics. This paper argues that NEPAD offers, if nothing else, at least the opportunity for South African civil society organisations to collaborate with like-minded groups across borders in Africa, thereby increasing their political leverage as a democratic counterweight to African governments. It is this process – rather than uncritical selling or outright dismissal of the NEPAD brandname – which will contribute towards better governance in Africa, with all its benefits for human security and development.

Relict sorted patterned ground in Lesotho

AbstractRelict sorted patterned ground is described from an upland interfluve on the Lesotho‐South Africa border at an elevation of 3280 m a.s.l. The site comprises 2–4° slope angles. Frost penetration through the regolith is inferred to have been to 1 m depth during pattern formation. Sorting is thought to have resulted from deep seasonal freezing during the depressed temperatures of the Late‐Pleistocene Last Glacial Maximum (∼18 000 years B.P.). No direct evidence for permafrost is documented. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Supercontinents, superplumes and continental growth: the Neoproterozoic record

Abstract Between 1300 and 500 Ma the Neoproterozoic supercontinent Rodinia aggregated (1300–950 Ma), broke up (850–600 Ma) and a new supercontinent, Pannotia-Gondwana, formed (680–550 Ma). Only c. 11% of the preserved continental crust was produced during this 800 Ma time interval and most of this crust formed as arcs, chiefly continental margin arcs. At least 50% of juvenile continental crust produced between 750 and 550 Ma is in the Arabian-Nubian Shield and in other terranes that formed along the northern border of Amazonia and West Africa. An additional 20% occurs in Pan-African orogens within Amazonia, and c. 16% in the Adamastor and West African orogens. The growth rate of continental crust between 1350 and 500 Ma was similar or less than the average rate of continental growth during the Phanerozoic of 1 km 3 /a, and this low rate characterizes both formation and breakup stages of the supercontinents. The low rates of continental growth during the Neoproterozoic may be due to the absence of a superplume event associated with either Rodinia or Pannotia-Gondwana. If supercontinent breakup is required to produce a superplume event, perhaps by initiating catastrophic collapse of lithospheric slabs at the 660 km seismic discontinuity, the absence of a Meso-proterozoic-Neoproterozoic superplume event may mean that a Palaeoproterozoic supercontinent did not fully breakup prior to aggregation of Rodinia.

Globalization and the South African Transformation: The Impact on Social Policy

In analyzing the ANC's postapartheid macroeconomic and industrial policies alongside ideologies about the role of states and markets in fostering developmental goals, this paper argues that globalization has had a profound impact on the social policies adopted by the postapartheid state. The impact of globalization has occurred not simply at the level of macroeconomic policy, but also at the level of ideology. When the postapartheid state introduced industrial and macroeconomic reforms designed to attract investment from outside of South Africa's borders, it adopted a way of conceptualizing the relationship between the state, the market, and the global economy that reinforces the hegemony of capitalist globalization. These reforms threaten to entrench apartheid's bitter economic legacy of white development and black underdevelopment.

Holocene landscape history and palaeohydrology evidenced by stable carbon isotope ( δ13C) analysis of alluvial sediments in the Mbari valley (5°N/23°E), Central African Republic

Pleistocene to Holocene as well as recent trends in climate have an influence on the composition of savanna–forest vegetation fringes in Africa, dominated mainly by savanna (C 4) and mainly forest (C 3) groups of plants. The modified vegetation cover plays an important role on the runoff processes and on the discharge of the draining river systems. Because the majority of forest–savanna borders in Central Africa is situated on geologically old planation surfaces, the main sources of palaeoenvironmental information are alluvial sediments of rivers. Therefore, this study focuses on the examination of alluvial soils and the determination of stable carbon isotopes ( δ 13C) of organic sediments on the Mbomou plateau and in the Mbari valley in the southeast of the Central African Republic (CAR). It has been shown that there is some evidence for an ongoing increase in C 3-dominated forest plants, reducing the recent extension of savannas in the study area. The most important reasons for this trend are sufficient amount of annual rainfall (>1500 mm), decrease in bushfire frequency, and negative migration processes of the rural population due to the economic crisis in Central Africa. δ 13C values in fossil soil horizons show that a greater extent of forest on the Mbomou plateau occurred around 7–7.5 ka and between 2.5 and 3 ka. Drier, savanna-dominated vegetation patterns were found at 5 ka and from 1 ka to the present. The more humid and arid climate periods during the Holocene partly correspond with high and low lake levels of Lake Chad. The findings also seem to be confirmed by other studies neighbouring Central African regions as Cameroon, Gabon and Congo–Brazzaville (Batéké Plateau), which indicate a more general validity of the findings from the Mbomou plateau, especially for the period since 3 ka.

THE AU PLAN ON TERRORISM

At a senior officials' meeting held in Algiers from 11–14 September 2002, the African Union proved ready and able to provide the political cohesion and sense of purpose needed for Africa to combat terrorism. While member states inevitably played to a global gallery in demonstrating their commitment to the ‘war on terrorism’, the practical counter-terrorist proposals adopted at the meeting substantially address Africa's security challenges. The resulting Plan of Action on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism focuses on state building and inter-governmental co-operation, to literally and figuratively close Africa's borders to terrorist activities. Implementing the plan will be a tough challenge for many African governments, especially to ensure that their counter-terrorist measures adhere to international and regional human rights accords.

Globalization and the South African Transformation: The Impact on Social Policy

In analyzing the ANC's postapartheid macroeconomic and industrial policies alongside ideologies about the role of states and markets in fostering developmental goals, this paper argues that globalization has had a profound impact on the social policies adopted by the postapartheid state. The impact of globalization has occurred not simply at the level of macroeconomic policy, but also at the level of ideology. When the postapartheid state introduced industrial and macroeconomic reforms designed to attract investment from outside of South Africa's borders, it adopted a way of conceptualizing the relationship between the state, the market, and the global economy that reinforces the hegemony of capitalist globalization. These reforms threaten to entrench apartheid's bitter economic legacy of white development and black underdevelopment.

Grenzen vor Ort

The changing perception and reality of the boundaries of rule in Western Europe are outlined on the basis of current scholarly research and discourse. State control over the drawing of boundaries implied changes that had a substantial impact on the powers of local entities. Instead of an interactive local demarcation of boundaries, they came to be determined as an act of sovereignty by neighbouring states. Yet the populations living near the borders made their mark, appropriating them creatively according to their own perception and reality of state and nation. The tendency to regard the drawing of boundaries as an exclusive attribute of state sovereignty had an enormous effect on relations with non-European societies. Yet even in colonial contexts non-Europeans were not helpless in their dealings with European officials and authorities. The Moslem subjects of France in eastern Algeria, for instance, instrumentalised colonial surveys as a tool to be used against their Tunisian neighbours. In many places along the colonial borders of West Africa, closely linked markets were formed. The boundaries drew the population into cross-border trading networks that exploited the discrepancies in fiscal burdens. Border regions formed their own “third spaces” to whose specific requirements European officials and authorities had to adapt.

Africa Research Central: A clearing house of African primary sources

Research in the African humanities and social sciences presupposes an organised infrastructure of primary source materials - a network of archives, libraries, and museums where the raw materials of research are housed, ordered and safeguarded. For a variety of historical and contemporary reasons, the research infrastructure that scholars take for granted in northern countries is often weak and sometimes non-existent in Africa. Unequal north/south power relationships during and after colonialism have resulted in the scattering of a sizable portion of the African documentary and cultural heritage in collections beyond the borders of Africa. For the rich resources remaining in Africa, contemporary African development needs have sometimes put the creation and maintenance of an adequate institutional infrastructure toward the bottom of the list of national priorities. Africa Research Central is the response of two concerned academics to what we perceive as a worsening crisis.

Anopheles funestus resistant to pyrethroid insecticides in South Africa.

Northern Kwazulu/Natal (KZN) Province of South Africa borders on southern Mozambique, between Swaziland and the Indian Ocean. To control malaria vectors in KZN, houses were sprayed annually with residual DDT 2 g/ m2 until 1996 when the treatment changed to deltamethrin 20-25 mg/m2. At Ndumu (27 degrees 02'S, 32 degrees 19'E) the recorded malaria incidence increased more than six-fold between 1995 and 1999. Entomological surveys during late 1999 found mosquitoes of the Anopheles funestus group (Diptera: Culicidae) resting in sprayed houses in some sectors of Ndumu area. This very endophilic-vector of malaria had been eliminated from South Africa by DDT spraying in the 1950s, leaving the less endophilic An. arabiensis Patton as the only vector of known importance in KZN. Deltamethrin-sprayed houses at Ndumu were checked for insecticide efficacy by bioassay using susceptible An. arabiensis (laboratory-reared) that demonstrated 100% mortality. Members of the An. funestus group from Ndumu houses (29 males, 116 females) were identified by the rDNA PCR method and four species were found: 74 An. funestus Giles sensu stricto, 34 An. parensis Gillies, seven An. rivulorum Leeson and one An. leesoni Evans. Among An. funestus s.s. females, 5.4% (4/74) were positive for Plasmodium falciparum by ELISA and PCR tests. To test for pyrethroid resistance, mosquito adults were exposed to permethrin discriminating dosage and mortality scored 24h post-exposure: survival rates of wild-caught healthy males were 5/10 An. funestus, 1/9 An. rivulorum and 0/2 An. parensis; survival rates of laboratory-reared adult progeny from 19 An. funestus females averaged 14% (after 1h exposure to 1% permethrin 25:75cis:trans on papers in WHO test kits) and 27% (after 30 min in a bottle with 25 microg permethrin 40:60cis:trans). Anopheles funestus families showing >20% survival in these two resistance test procedures numbered 5/19 and 12/19, respectively. Progeny from 15 of the families were tested on 4% DDT impregnated papers and gave 100% mortality. Finding these proportions of pyrethroid-resistant An. funestus, associated with a malaria upsurge at Ndumu, has serious implications for malaria vector control operations in southern Africa.

Genetic enhancement of pearl millet and sorghum for the semi-arid tropics of Asia and Africa

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.), ranking fifth and sixth in global cereal hectarage, respectively, are the most important coarse-grain cereals in the semi-arid tropical regions of Asia and Africa. Pearl millet displays better adaptation to and is grown in relatively more marginal environments than sorghum. Under subsistence farming conditions, both crops have low grain yields (0.5-0.7 t·ha-1 for pearl millet and 0.7-0.9 t·ha-1 for sorghum), although improved hybrid cultivars give 3-4 t·ha-1 of realizable grain yields in better-endowed environments. African germplasm, especially Zera Zera sorghums from the Sudan-Ethiopian border in eastern Africa and Iniari pearl millets from the Togo - Ghana - Benin - Burkina Faso region of western Africa, has proved most useful for the genetic improvement of these crops. The greatest impact of improved cultivars (mostly hybrids) has occurred in India, where the area under high-yielding varieties (HYVs) increased from 6% for pearl millet and 3% for sorghum in the triennium 1968-1970 to 53% for pearl millet and 54% for sorghum in the triennium 1992-1994. During the same period, productivity of both crops increased by 59%, which is attributable to both genetic improvement and management factors. HYVs have now started to be adopted in some of the African countries as well (e.g., Chad, Cameroon, Botswana, and Zimbabwe for sorghum; Chad, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe for pearl millet). The availability of vast untapped genetic resources and continuing yield gains indicate that there are good prospects for future genetic improvement in the productivity of these crops, which can be accelerated with the application of biotechnological tools. Sorghum and pearl millet will continue to be important food crops in their traditional semi-arid tropical areas. Sorghum is already an important feed crop in the developed world and pearl millet has the potential to become an even better feed crop, as it has higher protein content and a better amino acid profile than sorghum. The nutritional value of both crops for food and feed use can be further improved by breeding. Also, through genetic enhancement, there exist opportunities for the development of sorghum and pearl millet cultivars suitable for alternative uses in the bakery and beverage industries.Key words: sorghum, Sorghum bicolor, pearl millet, Pennisetum glaucum, genetic enhancement, semi-arid tropics, Asia, Africa, cultivars, impact.

A vida longa das linhas retas: cinco mitos sobre as fronteiras na África Negra

Este trabalho estuda as fronteiras políticas na África Negra nas suas dimensões históricas e atuais. Discutindo e criticando as suposições estereotipadas no discurso popular e acadêmico sobre as fronteiras na África, visa explicar porque elas exibiram, apesar de todas as suas imperfeições e defeitos, tanta resistência a mudanças.

Electronic communication in Africa — the promotion of animal health information dissemination

There are few veterinary libraries or information centres in sub‐Saharan Africa, on average one to two per country. This scarcity makes cooperation all the more vital. For successful cooperation, effective communication structures are a prerequisite. These structures are not only necessary for library staff but for the faculty members they serve as well, in their communication with colleagues in related research fields or veterinary extension projects. (1) The steps taken by the Veterinary Science Library of the University of Pretoria to promote electronic communication in particular, in order to render a more effective information service to its clients and others beyond South Africa's borders are described namely: — the use of the Internet listserv VETLIB‐L; — the use of the non‐university networks SANGONET and HealthLink mainly for community outreach projects; — making the University of Pretoria Academic Information Service's own network, ROMINFO, available to non‐university persons via dial‐in facilities; — the creation of a unique electronic forum facility by the Faculty of Veterinary Science and the Library in conjunction with the CSIR's NIBS, called VETAFRICA, mainly for practising veterinarians needing information. (2) Veterinary lecturer involvement in teaching and research is increasingly dependent on Veterinary Computer‐Mediated Communications (VC‐MC), in Africa and globally. A sampling of some of the dynamically expanding information sources globally available to online veterinary teams and animal health workers, as well as a starter list of contact details of currently available online veterinary faculties, libraries and institutions in Southern Africa, is provided.

Building democracy in the new South Africa: civil society, citizenship and political ideology

This consideration of the task of building a ‘non‐racial, non‐sexist democracy’ in South Africa combines historical experience, political theory and survey results to which an organisational participation, democratic commitment, party allegiance and a sense of citizenship exist together in forms able to support a process of democratisation. In consequence, the author suggests that there are serious hazards inherent in either the liberal or Gramscian models of democratic development. On the one hand, Gramsci's idea of a ‘regulated society’ in which the state progressively recedes in favour of an increasingly complex and articulated civil society makes too little provision for those elements of civil society that remain neutral or even hostile towards the prevailing political order. On the other hand, liberal democracy, in its various forms, is inherently elitist, depoiiticised and fundamentally alienated. The survey findings confirm that both these problems are fundamental to South Africa's new political society. As an alternative, the article proposes a strategy drawn from recent work on Latin America ‐ a ‘politicised civil society’ which will link the concerns of individual citizens more closely to the more formal processes of state and party politics. ROAPE considers this argument to be important beyond South Africa's borders and hopes that this article will initiate a discussion on the problems of extending democracy in Africa far beyond the parliamentary circulation of elites where it is presently confined.