End Of Apartheid Research Articles

Integrated development plan strategies for service delivery in Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality

Background: Following the end of apartheid in 1994, the democratic government recognised the importance of local government as a key vehicle for service delivery.Aim: This article examined the effectiveness of the integrated development plan (IDP) strategies of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality (NMMM) as a public service delivery tool.Setting: In South Africa, poor service delivery has remained a challenge. This has been attributed to the challenge of transparency and accountability. Thus, the lack of access to basic needs is more profound at the local government level. While urban centres have access to certain basic facilities, rural communities such as Walmer and Motherwell townships remain underdeveloped.Methods: The study used a qualitative research design for data collection and analysis. Thirty participants were purposively selected among municipal officials, ward councillors and community members for semi-structured interviews. Thematic data analysis was used for the analysis of data.Results: Despite the IDP’s well-structured strategic framework, various challenges, such as insufficient community participation, inadequate resource allocation and a lack of essential planning skills among officials hindered its effective implementation.Conclusion: The study concluded that for the IDP to achieve its aims, its implementation should be evidence-based and responsive to community needs. Effective service delivery requires a fundamental transformation in municipal leadership and public participation.Contribution: The article presents the challenge of public service delivery within the context of the IDP strategies in a specific municipality. It serves as a signpost for understanding the implementation of the IDP as a public service delivery strategy.

Talent management and employee retention in the South African Higher education landscape

This study explored talent management and employee retention in South Africa's higher education sector, focusing on Institution X. Post-apartheid, South African higher education has faced numerous challenges, including attracting, managing, and retaining new academics essential for societal transformation. The study aimed to assess the relationship between talent management practices (recruitment, career management, rewards, management style, and talent development) and employee retention in this sector.The study's objectives were to examine the strategic orientation of talent management at Institution X, determine its contribution to employee retention, investigate challenges faced in talent management, and propose strategies to enhance retention. A quantitative research design was used, employing a self-administered structured questionnaire. The sample included 65 academic staff members, such as professors, lecturers, and junior lecturers, with data analyzed using SPSS. Findings indicated that talent management is neither a strategic element nor fully implemented within the higher education sector. This highlights a significant challenge in managing and retaining qualified academics, an issue prevalent since the end of apartheid. The study underscores the importance of understanding and improving talent management strategies to ensure the sustainability and quality of higher education institutions. Recommendations were made for reviewing and enhancing talent management practices for academic staff in the sector.

Delegation of environmental regulation and perceived corruption in South Africa

I study the drivers of a reduction in the discretionary power of environmental inspectors and the impact that such reduction has on firms’ perceptions. I examine the transition from the Air Pollution Protection Act of 1965 to the Air Quality Act of 2005 (AQA), a change from full to partial delegation of regulation in South Africa. By constructing a principal–agent model, I propose a theoretical explanation for why a society would restrict environmental inspectors’ discretionary power. I then use my theoretical model to discuss the air quality regulation transition in South Africa. I suggest that the transition might have occurred because of increases in inspectors’ rent-seeking motivation and capacity of appropriating rents after the end of Apartheid. Using microdata, I run difference-in-differences models in a two-period panel with 191 South African firms to show that the implementation of the AQA decreases affected firms’ perceived corruption, but does not change perceptions on obtaining licences and on the functioning of courts. My work indicates that national governments in developing countries should consider the characteristics of the agents who are implementing regulation, and the system they are embedded in, when designing environmental regulation.

‘A cultivated leader and sensible spokesman for black African views’1: Britain's Courting of KaNgwane Chief Minister Enos J. Mabuza

AbstractThis article analyses British policymakers’ efforts to court Enos John Mabuza, Chief Minister of the self‐governing South African homeland of KaNgwane, in the final years of apartheid. It contends that despite taking place nearly 30 years apart, there were striking similarities between British policy at the end of apartheid and in the era of decolonisation, particularly the efforts to build relations with moderate nationalists in an effort to maintain long‐term influence. While KaNgwane was a small territory lacking in material resources, Mabuza, as a moderate Black leader working within the law to challenge apartheid, took on greater importance in the minds of British policymakers seeking a peaceful transfer of power in South Africa. This was helped by Mabuza's ability to maintain relations with a diverse range of important political actors including the South African government, KwaZulu Chief Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi, and the African National Congress in exile. Additionally, KaNgwane's close proximity to Mozambique, which at the time was in the midst of a civil war, also gave the territory greater prominence. This article will highlight how Mabuza used these interconnecting factors to demonstrate his value as an important ‘interlocutor’ for Britain, which in turn saw him extract important resources for both the KaNgwane people and his own family, as well as a degree of protection from interference by the South African government.

Social restitution: tools and actions to rehumanise and transform injustice

Restitution has predominantly been described as a legal rather than a social action in international law, as well as in South Africa’s history of truth, reconciliation and redress policies after the end of apartheid. Introducing the concept of ‘social restitution’ this paper argues for a reimagined and wider understanding of restitution to address the need for social justice in the spaces between the law court and individual acts of charity, and between policies for redress and personal antipathy against these. Social restitution can be defined as intentional voluntary actions and attitudes developed through dialogue based on a sense of moral obligation aimed at addressing the damage done to individuals and communities by unjust actions and legacies of the past. Drawing on international debates about and understandings of the meaning of restitution, social restitution is shown to be both continuous with legal restitution and distinguished from it through its voluntary nature, its potential to be forward-looking rather than punitive, generative rather than accusatory, and offering everyday opportunities to bridge the gap between ‘knowing’ about injustice and ‘acting’ to repair it. Following this discussion, the latter part of the paper outlines the need for new categories of actors in contexts of injustice beyond those of victim, perpetrator and bystander (the Hilberg triangle of actors), introducing the ideas of beneficiaries and resisters; argues for the potential social restitution has as a mechanism for rehumanising all actors; and offers recommendations for how engaged action-oriented dialogues might contribute to achieving this aim, while noting the limits and dangers of dialogue. It draws on an empirical study on the meaning and actions of restitution conducted with black and white adult South Africans in making some of its arguments.

Eliminating racial discrimination of employees: An assessment of the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, as amended

The Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, as amended, was enacted inter alia to "achieve equity in the workplace by promoting equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through the elimination of unfair discrimination". In terms of the Act, no person may discriminate against an employee unfairly, but research shows that racial discrimination of black employees persists, despite the promulgation of the Act. The objective of this article is to determine whether the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, as amended is the appropriate vehicle to eliminate racial discrimination of black employees. This is undertaken through the lens of critical race theory, which analyses the ways in which ignoring the importance of race perpetuates oppression. Although critical race theory was developed in the United States, it is relevant to South Africa given that black employees are still subjected to racial discrimination even many years after the end of apartheid. The tenets of critical race theory include structural determinism; the critique of liberalism; social science insights, historical analysis and multidisciplinary thinking; intersectionality; storytelling, narrative, and naming one's reality; and anti-essentialism. This article examines each tenet and shows how they relate to the Act. The contention is that the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, as amended is not the most appropriate vehicle for eliminating racial discrimination of black employees in South Africa.

Youth as Death

Since the end of apartheid, life in South Africa has been marked by an epidemic of death among the youth—people between the ages of fifteen and thirty-five. First as a result of HIV/AIDS and political violence, and more recently as a result of “these diseases,” a broad group of illnesses that affect the youth, homicide and suicide, this epidemic is in part a consequence of ongoing processes of settler colonialism and racial capitalism in South Africa. This epidemic of death can also be understood as an example of necropolitics—the failure of the postapartheid state. At the same time, as the stories in this article reveal, no one or two analytical approach(es) can fully make sense of what it means to live in a place where the youth are dying at such a high rate. Drawing inspiration from work in Black studies, and Black feminisms more specifically, and driven by the stories of those living through loss in South Africa, this article sketches what it means to live in a place where youth is defined by death.

Financing Local Governments in South Africa

The intergovernmental fiscal architecture for local governments in South Africa is a product of the negotiations in the late 1990ties to end apartheid, a thorough consideration at the time of what funding system for local government would serve a democratic South Africa the best, and the many developments that the system has undergone since its inception around the turn of the century. The architecture reflects South Africa’s integrated system of multilevel government. The national government has a virtual monopoly on all taxes, and provinces almost rely almost entirely on transfers. Municipalities fund their budgets with own revenue, complemented by an equitable share of national revenue and conditional grants. This contribution sets out the considerations that influenced the system of financing local government, designed to usher in democracy at local level. It then examines the framework for own revenue generation by municipalities as well as the system for determining intergovernmental transfers. It considers practical challenges with the implementation of this framework, the extent to which the assumptions that underpin the architecture are still valid, and the system’s capacity to respond to changing circumstances.

Micro-analysis of earnings and its determinants in eastern cape province of South Africa

Earnings disparities in South Africa, and specifically the Eastern Cape region are influenced by a complex interplay of historical, socio-economic, and demographic factors. Despite significant progress since the end of apartheid, persistent disparities in earnings continue to raise questions about the effectiveness of policies aimed at reducing inequality and promoting equitable social system. Individual-level dataset from the 2021 South African general household survey were subjected to exploratory analysis, while Heckman selection model was used to investigate the determinants of earnings disparities in the study area. The results showed that majority of the population are not working for a wage, commission or salary, which also pointed to the gravity of unemployment situation in the area of study. Most of the working population (both male and female) are lowest earners (R ≤ 10,000), and this also cuts across all age-group categories. Majority of working population have no formal education, are drop out, or have less than grade-12 certificate, and very few working populations with higher education status were found in the moderate and relatively high earnings categories. While many of the working population are engaged in the informal sector, those in the formal sector are in the lowest earners group. Compared to any other race, the Black African group constituted the majority of non-wage earners, and most in this group were found in the lowest earners group. Some of the working population who were beneficiaries of social grants and medical aids scheme were found in the lowest, low, and moderate earnings categories. The findings significantly isolated the earnings-effect of age, marital status, gender, race, education, geographic indicators, employment sector, and index of health conditions and disabilities. The study recommends interventions addressing racial, gender, and geographic wage gaps, while also emphasizing the importance of equitable access to education, health infrastructure, and skills development.

Towards decolonisation of primary school education in South Africa

Background: Despite the end of apartheid in South Africa in 1994, most black schools in the country still embrace coloniality through policies and practices. This leads to disempowerment, loss of identity, inequalities and inferiority in the learners, which are nurtured till their adulthood. It is therefore important to decolonise the inherited curriculum and recognise African identity, culture and system as valuable for Africans.Aim: This article aims to explore coloniality within the primary school education system in South Africa and aims to motivate curriculum transformation that will divest coloniality in Africa.Setting: This article centres around South African Primary schools.Methods: This article employs a desktop approach and a systematic literature review. To collect the data, the study selected articles from different search engines such as EBSCO, Science Direct and Google Scholar. This enables the synthetisation of previous works to provide knowledge on the topic. The decoloniality theory underpins the study.Results: Primary school education in South Africa is influenced by coloniality; hence, there is a need for transformation.Conclusion: The primary school curriculum in South Africa needs to be revised in a decolonised manner to suit a multi-racial or ethnic South Africa for the realisation of an equitable and just future for Africans.Contribution: This article provides knowledge about coloniality within the context of primary schools in South Africa and further recommends curriculum transformation to a truly African manner. It thus aligns with the journal’s theme and scope, which is the interrogation of coloniality in South African primary schools.

Reflecting on the Rise and Decline of the South African Defence Industry

The South African Defence Industry has undergone several significant changes during the past six decades, with its current state being deemed unfavourable for continued survivability. To develop a robust understanding of the industry, a review of the scientific literature (and government policies) has been undertaken to chart the trends in the industry through the decades. South African political ideologies in the sixties and seventies resulted in a need for self-sufficiency in defence. By the late eighties, increased military spending resulted in a powerful and capable defence industry, but the end of apartheid and regional conflicts saw an expected sharp drop in the defence budget. The Strategic Defence Package offered some respite in terms of exports, but this has declined in the recent past. The defence budget has remained at a steady low value for two decades, with no real possibility of an increase. To maintain relevance and ensure organisational resilience, the remnants of the South African Defence Industry should use the Defence Industry Strategy as a baseline to develop robust local relationships to drive innovation and foster economic growth, while also strengthening international market share by strengthening unique South African technologies.

Behind the Love and Stories: Rural Learners’ Reasons and Motivations for Learning Mathematics

Research on learners within rural areas and rural schools in South Africa has been consistently overlooked by researchers in the field of mathematics education. If the education landscape in rural areas differs from that of urban areas, which has been extensively researched since the end of apartheid. In that case, it becomes evident that the research on mathematics education in South Africa has not adequately addressed issues of social justice. To address the lack of research on mathematics education in rural contexts in South Africa, this study focuses on exploring the experiences and attitudes of Grade 10 rural mathematics learners. A qualitative multiple case study design was used, involving 12 learners from two different school sites. Data was collected through semi-structured individual interviews and unstructured classroom observations. Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis, in conjunction with Anderson's concept of imagination, was employed to analyse the data. The findings revealed that learners anticipate and aspire for mathematics to enhance their opportunities for post-secondary education and employment, which instils a sense of hopefulness and motivates them to better understand mathematical concepts.

Palestinian diplomacy and communication in latin america case Brazil

Diplomacy and soft power relations with worldwide countries have been and continue to be ambitious for an official Palestinian institution. Political and diplomatic outreach, media communication, and opening relations and embassies with countries and regimes increase legitimacy and convey the message to decision-makers. In Latin America, before the digital connectivity boom, letters and speeches helped build public opinion in favor of the recognition of the Palestinian State. Today, Palestinians are increasingly seeking diplomatic and media communication with the international community to gain support for their full sovereignty, the end of apartheid, settlements, and the recovery of rights. Along with institutional relations, new technologies—although under the control of large corporations—have been exploited by Palestinians to break the siege and allow communication as an extension of diplomatic efforts. This article intends to highlight the role of Palestinian diplomatic relations and media communication between them and the Brazilian government, aiming for political recognition of Palestine. To this end, the research adopts two methodological procedures: literature review and content analysis, based on in-depth interviews. Seven people who worked in the Palestinian diplomatic corps in Brazil were interviewed, including ambassadors and media figures who contributed to diplomatic communication and appeared in the Brazilian media to gain recognition.

Queering the Postcolonial Auto/biography: Doubleness and Unspeakability in J. M. Coetzee’s Boyhood and Jamaica Kincaid’s My Brother

Examining representations of queer subjectivities as minor subjectivities, this essay compares J. M. Coetzee’s Boyhood and Jamaica Kincaid’s My Brother to investigate the emergence of queer postcolonial auto/biography in the late 1990s. The two texts use a similar hybridized form (a blurring of autobiography and third-person biography) to represent marginalized queer subjectivities in the postcolonial contexts of South Africa and Antigua, respectively. In doing so, they redefine the notion of the minor as an anti-colonial poetics and a non-normative lived experience. Both narratives, published in the same year (1997) and composed in the midst of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and after the end of Apartheid, engage with related themes of doubleness, secrecy, and unspeakability to reveal the double consciousness of queer figures silenced and rendered minor as a result of internalized shame through the taboo on non-heteronormative desires. This essay analyses the intersections between postcolonial and queer dimensions of minor subjectivities in order to understand how the minor position of the queer subject in postcolonial societies is pluralized through strikingly similar literary strategies. Coetzee and Kincaid offer new possibilities for world literature through the publication of queer postcolonial auto/biographies which celebrate, facilitate, and complicate the plurality of minor identities and narrative viewpoints – especially the minor subjectivities and poetics surrounding queer postcolonial lives.

Fostering social cohesion through Kwame Nkrumah’s philosophical consciencism: The South African case

Since apartheid was formally abolished in 1994, South Africa has had a complicated social environment. Even though the end of apartheid was a great achievement, this country is now facing a number of societal issues that affect social cohesiveness. These issues include high unemployment rates, racial conflicts, economic inequality, and land reform-related problems. In addition, South Africa has problems with crime, corruption, and service delivery, all of which erode public confidence in institutions and exacerbate social unrest. Rainbowism is one tactic employed to promote social cohesion; however, much debate exists about its capacity to deliver. Therefore, this study proposes Kwame Nkrumah’s philosophical consciencism as a means of promoting social cohesion in South Africa.

ЭТНОПОЛИТИЧЕСКИЙ КОНФЛИКТ В ЮАР КАК УГРОЗА ЕДИНСТВУ СТРАНЫ

The ethnopolitical conflict in the of South African Republic (RSA) is one of the most complex and multifaceted problems of our time, threatening the unity and stability of the country. This conflict has its roots in deep history, Apartheid not only entrenched racial inequality in legislation, but also created persistent social and economic gaps between the various ethnic groups of South African Republic. The key moment in South Africa's history was 1994, when apartheid was officially abolished and the African National Congress (ANC) came to power under the leadership of Nelson Mandela. However, even after two decades since the end of apartheid, South African Republic continues to face serious ethnopolitical challenges related to conflicts among various African peoples, as well as with the white population of Afrikaners and descendants of the British. In recent years, there has been a tendency in the African National Congress (ANC) to strengthen leftist nationalism, which has become the subject of serious discussion and analysis in the political context of the Republic of South African Republic. The situation of discrimination against the white population is aggravated in the context of the policy of the African National Congress (ANC) aimed at supporting the black majority. In general, South African Republic has a complex and multifaceted pattern of discriminatory practices that affects various segments of society. These practices are causing serious concerns and debate among the public, politicians and activists. An essential role in the search for balance and sustainable development of the country is played by the opposition, in particular the Democratic Alliance, which offers alternative views on the governance of the country and supports democratic institutions.

“Students find corporate reforms absurd”: Bryn Mawr Student’s Mobilization for Divestment from Apartheid South Africa

In 1986, Bryn Mawr College’s endowment held $8 million or 8.33% of its $96 million endowment in investments tied to Apartheid in South Africa. In line with other major US institutions who believed they must act moral in the face of violent and exploitative system of racial discrimination, the Board of Trustees, the governing body that oversees college operations and finances, proposed a plan in 1985 to divest from subsidiaries of their stock in South Africa if Apartheid was still in place 24 months later in 1987. This came at the tail end of the international movement to oppose and end Apartheid through economic pressures. Bryn Mawr students would reject this plan, occupying buildings and mobilizing campus to disrupt Board meetings. Students said they would not rest until full divestment. Their movement held a shared commitment to ending Apartheid in South Africa and to ending racism in the United States. This paper narrates how the social and economic movements against Apartheid panned out at Bryn Mawr College in the 1980s. Based on my original primary source research at Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges’ special collections, I uncover the tactics and frameworks of the student movement to divest as well as the college’s response. Inevitably, the administration took partial measures to accommodate some of the demands of the student movement for divestment. The nexus between the student movement for divestment and the college administration took new heights in 1986. In this year, the students rejected the college’s newly presented plan for divestment, as they understood it as a mere palliative measure in the face of the violence and racism of Apartheid. To understand the student zeitgeist at the time , I illuminate the historical context of the movement against Apartheid by situating it in relation to the preceding anti-War and Civil Rights movements. The later era of activism precipitated into the New Left movement, which was a radical student movement grounded in ideas of political and economic democracy. I provide readers with a primer on the foundations of ethical investment in South Africa. The college’s plan embodied the corporate responsibility ethos of the 80s, which sought to maintain capitalism and pacify very popular alternatives through modest reforms. These principles undergirded Bryn Mawr College’s eventual divestment strategy, which sought to maintain profit and to make a statement about their opposition to the political system of Apartheid. To make this argument, I draw on archival discussions of corporate responsibility politics and the theory of change they espouse which forwarded reform through pressuring the companies they held stock in. I engage in an analysis of discourses emerging from a school-sponsored trip to South Africa in the winter of 1986, which was dubbed a “Peace Mission Fact Finding Trip.” This analysis is essential to understanding student and faculty perspectives, as there was not a consensus on the subject. In the end, Bryn Mawr adopted a divestment plan that was in the name of corporate responsibility. They wrote letters to the corporations they held stock in who had subsidiaries in South Africa, and asked what they were going to do to end Apartheid. The school sold $651,558 in 1986 of stock from the 5 companies, a mere 0.67% of the total endowment.

The multidimensional role of the principal in post-apartheid-South-Africa

The end of apartheid in 1994 brought about radical changes in the South African education system, especially for school principals to manage their own affairs as promulgated in the South African Schools Act. These developments have changed the principal's position irrevocably. However, these changes did not result in the expected outcome in the majority of schools for a number of reasons. Teachers are frequently unsure whether the anticipated changes will have the desired impact in schools. Moreover, principals and teachers have different views on how these changes will affect schools and their work. This paper adopts a conceptual approach that draws on various theories and concepts from the literature on school leadership and management. Understanding the challenges of the school principal's job after apartheid was the aim of the research. The Standards for School Principalship (2015) provided the theoretical framework and basis for this conceptual paper. It should be noted that principals are the most crucial persons in education since they serve as managers and major delivery agents in the educational system. They are the driving force behind improved educational outcomes in South Africa after apartheid. However, it is increasingly uncommon for principals to carry out their multifaceted tasks alone because of how significantly their positions have altered since 1994. All the parties concerned with running a school should receive training and orientation in this respect. The main findings of this paper are that, since the end of apartheid, principals face various challenges in their role, such as lack of resources, support, autonomy, accountability, collaboration, diversity, equity, quality, innovation, and professionalism.

Stories of Challenge in South Africa: changes in the enabling environment for nutrition among young children (1994–2021)

Despite important nutrition-related policy and programmatic improvements in South Africa, rates of stunting among young children remain unacceptably high, while rates of overweight and obesity in this same population group are simultaneously on the rise. This study sought to examine the changes in the enabling environment for nutrition aimed at young children in South Africa by drawing on a literature review, policy mapping, and stakeholder interviews, for the time period from the end of apartheid in 1994 to 2021. The study focuses on changes and drivers of change at national level but also in three provinces: Western Cape, North West, and KwaZulu-Natal. The study ultimately seeks to better understand the changes and challenges with regards to policy and commitment to nutrition, coordination structures at various levels, and how these led to or did not lead to implementation and impact in these provinces. The study ends with reflections on what these findings mean for food and nutrition security in South Africa going forward, as well as what they might mean for other countries with similar contexts.

CanIqabaPossess Ontological Legitimacy?

ABSTRACTIn this article I think through the recognition of the “ontological legitimacy” of iqaba—a concept that is found in South Africa, owing to the ontological split among Blackness/Indigeneity that was promulgated by colonial incursion. I do so using the question: “How will black people, long accustomed to dispossession and deprivation, adjust to a new condition of not being racial victims,” which was initially posed by Zoë Wicomb in the early 1990s. It is a question inspired by the end of apartheid and the looming promise of democracy. I juxtapose this question with a close reading of Samuel Edward Krune Mqhayi’s “Intshayelelo: Imbali.”Simply, the thesis of this article holds that iqaba possesses ontological legitimacy, iff [sic] they take heed of the instructions outlined in Mqhayi’s propositions of the importance of historical self-knowledge. Moreover, ontological legitimacy and an inclusive national identity are two sides of the same coin of recognition.