Parties In South Africa Research Articles

Assessing Analogical Acceleration in Public Discourse: The Case of the Buthelezi–Savimbi Comparison and South Africa’s Transition

Politicians often deploy analogies to shape public discourse. If picked up by the media, these references to the past can powerfully shape how political events are perceived. This article examines why some analogies became popular through an exploration of the creation and development of the analogy comparing Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party in South Africa, to Jonas Savimbi, the leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, during South Africa’s transition. Tracing the evolution of the Buthelezi–Savimbi comparison through an analysis of media reports indicates that analogies that possess predictive power are likely to gain traction in public discourse and become effective tools for policy advocacy.

Press and Politics: Contributions of Sol Plaatje to South African Journalism

The article looks into the journalism of Solomon Thekisho Plaatje (popularly known as Sol Plaatje) and his contributions to the early South African black press and politics. Sol Plaatje remains one of South Africa’s most important political and literary figures. He was a pioneer of black press in South Africa. He was a spokesman of his people and an opinion leader among them. He was the first Secretary of the South African Native National Congress (SANNC) which later became the African National Congress (ANC), the current ruling political party in South Africa. His services to war correspondents as secretary, typist or interpreter and ‘liaison officer’ (to war correspondent Vere Stent) laid the foundation for his careers in journalism and writing. Plaatje edited/published a number of Setswana/English newspapers such as Koranta ea Becoana ( Bechuana Gazette), Tsala ea Becoana ( Bechuana Friend) which later became Tsala ea Batho ( Friend of the People) and Our Heritage. He also wrote regularly for English language newspapers such as Star, Pretoria News, Cape Times, Cape Argus and Diamond Fields Advertiser. The study seeks to find out the interplay between Sol Plaatje’s journalism and politics and his contributions to South African journalism as a pioneer of the black press. The study adopts the historical research method. Data gathered for the study were qualitatively analysed. Sol Plaatje’s kind of journalism was developmental as it was geared towards defending his people and re-orientating them to better ideals while at the same time trying to build cohesion with the white populace. The study is a contribution to the reconstruction of media history in the post-apartheid South Africa.

The presentation of South African politicians in The Times newspaper column “On the Contrary”: 2012-2017

This paper examined South African politicians' (re)presentation in Tony Leon’s regular column, On the contrary, which appeared in The Times newspaper from 2012 to 2017. This period in South African politics is made interesting by the fact that it coincides with the time when there was mounting pressure for the then president, Jacob Zuma, of the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), to step down, especially between 7 January 2015 and 21 March 2017. Tony Leon, who also once served as a councilor for the Democratic Party (DA), one of the major opposition parties in South Africa is the columnist who at the time authors the on the contrary column. This creates interesting research on how the columnist and the newspaper are able or not to maintain ethical journalism. In conducting the study, this article employs the framing theory and critical discourse analysis (CDA) as research tools to assess the columnists’ objectivity and bias in his depiction of the then president and several prominent politicians during the examined period. Data analysis constitutes six newspaper articles which were purposively selected to obtain a representative sample. The results indicated that these articles were well-researched in respect of the information they presented. At the same time, biased tendencies were noted in favor of the political party aligned to the columnist.

Religion and Political Parties in South Africa: A Framework and Systematic Review

The role of religion in political parties has been under-researched in South Africa. This study develops a novel theoretical framework for analysing political parties’ use of religion, which distinguishes between parties’ orientation towards religion (that is, religious or secular; inclusive or exclusive) across three domains: state law, the institutional rules of the party, and the informal norms that govern the actions of the party and behaviour of the party members. It uses systematic review methods to apply this framework to the scholarship on religion and political parties in South Africa. The framework and review challenge the narrative that the religious rhetoric used by the African National Congress (ANC) in the last decade has been a break with the party’s secular past. On the contrary, the ANC has historically used religious rhetoric while supporting secular legislation and party rules concurrently. The review draws attention to how the National Party (NP) exercised religion during apartheid; although it worked closely with the Dutch Reformed Church, the party pursued a religious nationalism that progressively usurped the authority to determine the boundaries of authentic religious practices. Despite the religiosity of the electorate, few parties in post-apartheid South Africa advocate religious legislation, and these parties perform poorly in elections. These findings illustrate the importance of a theoretical framework that distinguishes between political parties’ diverse uses of religion and secularism rather than their ‘essential’ orientation towards religion.

Electing to electrify: unpacking the local crisis and state response in Sun Valley, Soweto

ABSTRACT This article draws from a wider research project on ‘Energy Racism’ to explore the experiences and perspectives of ordinary residents in Sun Valley, Soweto (in Ward 22). From August 2020, due to a broken electricity transformer, residents of Sun Valley suffered in the dark. They employed many strategies to access energy and called a range of meetings with ANC councillors and Eskom officials, but their pleas fell on deaf ears until they threatened to boycott the 2021 local government elections. President Cyril Ramaphosa then announced that the problem would be resolved and suddenly, in a clear-cut drive to secure votes, the transformers were fixed within days of the 1 November election. We argue that the decision to electrify Sun Valley is part of the strategy of ‘energy racism’ since it relies upon and assumes that the Black working class will continue to bear the burden of the electricity crisis. Building upon the notion of racial capitalism, the article suggests that mainstream political parties in South Africa promote the systemic exclusion of townships and informal settlements until the precise moment that it becomes necessary for authorities (the Black faces of white monopoly capital) to cash in on their piecemeal inclusion.

The slippery slope to State capture: cadre deployment as an enabler of corruption and a contributor to blurred party-State lines

Drawing on both legal and political sources, this article scrutinises the policy of cadre deployment that the African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party in South Africa, has implemented, and continues to apply. The analysis begins by recalling and commenting on the only reported judgment in South African jurisprudence that dealt with the political influencing of municipalities' exercise of their public power to make appointments, namely, Mlokoti v Amathole District Municipality & another 2009 (6) SA 354 (ECD). What the Mlokoti case has confirmed is that the legal foundation for the exercise of public power is found in the Constitution and its enabling legislation, and not in party political policy, such as the ongoing practice of cadre deployment. In an investigation of cadre deployment, the article then demonstrates that this ANC policy, particularly judging by its stated purpose, is incompatible with the constitutional State and, instead, enables the rise of the shadow State. Unsurprisingly, therefore, political commentators increasingly observe that, apart from the revelations at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry, State capture in South Africa in fact commenced when the ANC assumed political power in pursuit of the National Democratic Revolution. It is argued that the pursuit of a National Democratic Revolution in South Africa is directly at odds with the vision and goals of the 1994 constitutional pact. Convening a bipartisan national convention on philosophical and other approaches to the fight against corruption may offer a solution. Here, a starting point would be to reconsider the country's anti-corruption strategies to pay proper attention to the ethical causes of this scourge.

ON THE PITFALLS OF A DEVELOPMENTAL STATE

1. Introduction Economic transformation has always been the cornerstone of the governing party since it assumed power in 1994. The notion of a developmental state has since the early 1990s been used as a catch-all phrase for the African National Congress (ANC) thinking on economic and social policies. There is even a subcommittee within the ANC called the Economic Transformation sub-committee, which is seen as the custodian of the ruling party's vision for socio-economic change, as well as offering broad guidelines for a range of policies that have to do with the economy. Over the years since the ANC came into power in 1994, the idea of building a developmental state has continued to serve as an organising principle to frame the nature of change desired by the government. It is a notion that is conceptually ambiguous and lacking in precision with respect to policy application. According to Pempel (1997: 139), developmental states define their missions primarily in terms of long-term national economic enhancement, and they actively and regularly intervene in economic activities with the goal of improving the international competitiveness of their domestic economies. According to this definition, the imperative for managing structural change domestically, for example, improving the growth profile of the economy, diversifying the production base, and generating employment is pursued alongside strategies to promote the country as an investment destination to foreign capital. In many instances, the emphasis placed by the governing party on the notion of the developmental state stresses a more teleological thrust expressed in a certain state of completeness, and usually in reference to the typology of East Asian countries. Beyond rhetoric, it is worth probing what exactly does 'developmental state' mean in the post1990 South African context, a period characterised by increasing global integration and emergence of 'footloose' capital favouring locations where the state is seen as less interventionist. 2. Conceptual map By the time that South Africa started its transition from apartheid to democracy in the early 1990s, the pendulum of economic thinking had shifted globally and strongly towards neoliberal restructuring as an article of faith for economic policy making. This came in the wake of the oil crisis of the early 1970s and the attendant recession of the 1980s. In much of the developing world the state was in retreat, and giving way to a deregulation and liberalising agenda that would presumably stem the crisis. To prove its credentials as a responsible international citizen, South Africa drew heavily on the major themes of the Washington Consensus, in both its pure (laissez faire) and augmented versions (a blending of regulatory features and free markets). Given the centrality, though, of the trade unions in the struggle for liberation, and their closeness to the new governing party in South Africa, measures such as flexible labour markets were ignored in favour of a much tighter legislative regime that included the Labour Regulation Act of 1995 and a welter of worker-friendly measures that followed, including the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and Employment Equity Act, amongst others. Trade unions, especially through the association of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) with the governing party, were deeply embedded in the post-apartheid economic policy formulation. This was facilitated by the informally structured tripartite alliance summit that also included the South African Communist Party (SACP) as well as through the more formally structured National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) that came into existence in 1995. While the broader macro-economic policy framework was crafted in a way that was sensitive to international capital, the more specific and sectoral policy arrangements were oriented more closely to trade unions as a powerful political constituency of the governing party. …

The pitfalls of power sharing in a new democracy: the case of the National Party in South Africa

AbstractA key political feature of South Africa's transformation was the African National Congress, the National Party and Inkatha Freedom Party working together in a grand coalition. This arrangement was praised by leading power-sharing theorist Arend Lijphart. The unity government began in 1994 but two years later the National Party withdrew. This article explores power sharing during the initial phase of the settlement and discusses three aspects of it. First, the South African example points to the electoral drawbacks of power sharing for minor parties. Second, the National Party's participation in the coalition stifled the early development of substantial political opposition which slowed the pace of democratic consolidation. Third, participation in a power-sharing arrangement undermined the National Party's electoral fortunes contributing to its dissolution in 2005. This was an unexpected outcome for a party which had co-authored the country's settlement a little over a decade earlier.

Do Election Campaigns Matter in South Africa? An Examination of Fluctuations in Support for the ANC, DA, IFP and NNP 1994–2019

ABSTRACTElection campaigns in democratic South Africa have been eventful affairs. Despite the electoral dominance of the African National Congress (ANC) since 1994, political parties in South Africa have campaigned fiercely. At face value then, it would appear that election campaigns constitute an integral and valuable part of South Africa’s democratic system. Yet, at the same time, following the 1994 elections and given the racialized dynamics of South Africa’s electoral landscape, a view has emerged that does not regard South African voters as active agents consuming relevant political information. This view, which sees voters as guided primarily by symbolic or identity concerns, was strongly challenged by several analysts. However, the question as to whether election campaigns are relevant in the South African context still remains. In this article, I examine the relevance of campaigning in the South African context. I focus on the African National Congress (ANC), the Democratic Party (DP)/Democratic Alliance (DA), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the National Party (NP) /New National Party (NNP). I argue that campaign messaging and party credibility are important contributors of performance at the polls. Inconsistent and contradictory campaign messages, poor decisions and destructive behaviour had substantial repercussions for parties at the polls.

South African Parties Hardly Politicise Immigration in Their Electoral Manifestos

ABSTRACTTo what extent do political parties in South Africa politicise immigration? We systematically analyse the party manifestos of all major parties in post-apartheid South Africa, using two separate approaches of content analysis: coding all sentences about immigration individually, and coding the electoral manifesto overall using a ‘checklist’. Although we can expect high politicisation of immigrants in new democracies, most party manifestos do not treat immigration at all. If parties in South Africa treat immigration in their manifestos, they tend to take relatively inclusive positions, focus on immigrant integration rather than immigration control, and use instrumental frames. It appears that the nation-building project of a post-apartheid South Africa has not led to an increased politicisation of immigration by political parties qua parties, although individual politicians certainly play a role.

Party political chaplaincy? – Methodist ministry to political parties

The debate on church and party politics is far from being exhausted in South Africa. Although the Methodist Church of Southern Africa discourages the participation of clergy persons in political parties, it is becoming critical that the church offers a prophetic voice in the political sphere. Issues of morality and spirituality within the political parties necessitate a careful involvement of the Church in politics. This article therefore sets out to offer a theological reflection on the (possible) ministry of Methodist clergy persons to political parties in South Africa.

Editorial

This second edition of 2006 offers an interesting range of topics, in this instance all covered by South African authors.
 In her analysis of the "institutions supporting constitutional democracy" established by the South African Constitution, Professor Christina Murray of the University of Cape Town argues that thethe institutions share the roles of providing a check on government and of contributing to transformation. The newness of democracy, the great demands on the state and the political dominance of the governing party in South Africa are identified as the greatest challenges of the institutions discussed.
 

Does Poor Quality Schooling and/or Teacher Quality Hurt Black South African Students Enrolling for a Degree at the University of KwaZulu-Natal?

Wealthy schools appoint better qualified teachers, less wealthy schools under qualified teachers. Added to this mix is a powerful teacher’s union whose policies attempt to entrench the job security of teachers in the less wealthy schools irrespective of whether they can teach their subjects or not. Can one isolate these effects from that of other socio-demographic factors that may also be affecting the performance of students when they enrol for a degree at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN)? An outcome variable that subtracts the number of courses that have been failed from the number of courses that have been passed, dividing this by the total number of years that they have spent studying for a particular degree will be used as a response variable for this paper.ObjectivesThe system of secondary education in South Africa is highly polarized. On the one hand, we have a group of mainly Black African students, forming about 80% of the total student population, that come from a vastly under-resourced rural or township based community. On the other hand, we have a group of predominantly White and Indian students who are able to attend a far better resourced set of private schools. Added to this mix, we have 240,000 of South Africa’s total number of 390,000 primary and secondary school teachers who belong to a powerful teacher’s union which enjoys a strong political alliance with the ruling party in South Africa. With most of their union members teaching in the less wealthy schools in South Africa, `school background’ now includes a politically motivated component that focuses on teacher self–interest rather than the education of the child. What sort of effect does school background have on the performance of students when they enter an institution of higher learning? More importantly, can one isolate the effect of school background from that of other possibly confounding factors such as gender, financial aid and the receipt of some form of residence based accommodation that will also impact on their performance while at university?MethodA total of 6,183 students enrolling for a degree at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) over the period 2008 to 2012 were used a dataset for this study. Permission to use this dataset was given by the Teaching and Learning Office at UKZN. The database that was used for this study was obtained from the Division of Management Information (DMI) office at UKZN. The percentage based marks that students have managed to record for Mathematics, English, Biology and Accounting in their school leaving exams together with some other important but observable socio-economic factors were included in a regression model to determine how students will perform at UKZN. Socio-economic variables relating to gender, race and whether they have receivd some form of financial aid or residence based accommodation while studying at university were also included as predictor variables in our regression based model structure.Results and ConclusionsAn interaction effect associated with being a Black African student who has been privileged enough to attend a quintile five school was found to be significant. A main effect associated with being able to attend a more privileged quintile 5 school however was found to be nonsignificant even after an adjustment has been made for gender, race, the receipt of some form of financial aid and residence based accommodation. Given that UKZN already has a number of bridging programs in place that target students who have come from a less privileged background, for university based policymakers, this result may help to justify the targeted selection of Black African students from the less privileged schools that is taking place. Because some of the disparity in matric performance that we are observing may also be associated with teacher competency and the protective influence of a powerful teacher’s union, this paper may also help to highlight some of the economic costs related with having under-prepared students. “A mind is a terrible thing to waste”–United Negro College Fund.

A qualitative study into the protective factors of non-MDMA users who attend trance parties in South Africa

Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) usage is synonymous with trance culture. Qualitative focus groups were conducted with eight young adults who attended trance parties but did not consume MDMA in order to explore protective factors that prevented participants from consuming MDMA. The focus groups were audio recorded, transcribed and analysed, using thematic analysis. Five main themes emerged from the analysis. These themes were named as follows: knowledge and beliefs relating to MDMA, fear of losing control, fear of sexual contact, learning from others who have consumed MDMA and self-preservation. Participants overwhelmingly stated that one of the main reasons they did not use MDMA was because it was chemical in nature. However, participants admitted to using cannabis and mushrooms and rationalised this by stating that they were natural. The researchers had difficulty in attaining participants for this study as few people attend trance parties and abstain from using MDMA.

Public Interest Considerations In The South African Anti-Dumping And Competition Law, Policy, And Practice

The paper addresses the delicate issue of public interest considerations when determining anti-dumping, competition, and investment measures to balance it with the interest of other interested parties in South Africa. It is particularly argued that the South African anti-dumping legislation must be amended as to clearly mandate the consideration of public interest when imposing an anti-dumping (or safeguard measure). Also, it is argued that the foreign direct investment regime must take into account policy considerations such as black economic empowerment in the public interest. The South Africas competition legislation will be used as an example of the level of convergence that may be achieved having regard to the non-competition factors incorporated in the legislation and potential or perceived difficulties in reconciling a competition analysis with a public interest analysis.

A Brief History of Factionalism and New Party Formation and Decline in South Africa: The Case of Cope

There is little analytical literature on the theory and empirical analysis of party factionalism that leads to splits and the formation of new political entities. The existing theoretical literature identifies factors and processes that are split-enabling. When coupled to the dynamics of organisational change, these conceptual tools provide a unique framework for analysing party-political dynamics in South Africa from an historically comparative perspective. This analysis identifies key trends in party splits in both 'white' and 'black' politics, which serves to illuminate more recent developments with regard to the realignment of opposition politics in South Africa. A conceptual framework combining organisational theory with the literature on party factionalism and party splits has facilitated our case-study focus on the formation, electoral performance and decline of the Congress of the People (Cope) as an opposition party in South Africa. We argue that Cope emerged from factional disputes within the ANC and has subsequently largely been shaped by the dynamics of its split and formation from the ANC, despite its attempt to break ties with the parent party. Existing analyses of Cope examine its performance in terms of policy, electoral and oppositional performance, while the approach this article adopts is to argue that the process of Cope's formation significantly shaped the conditions of its future internal dynamics and political performance.

The Democratic Alliance and the Role of Opposition Parties in South Africa

In the 2014 election the Democratic Alliance (DA) strengthened its electoral support nationally as well as in the Western Cape province, where it governs. It gained over a million new national votes, increasing its total from 2 945 829 in 2009 to 4 091 548 in 2014. It also unseated the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) as official opposition in KwaZulu-Natal and became the official opposition in the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape and Free State, while strengthening its opposition status in Gauteng from 21.86% of the vote in 2009 to 30.78% in 2014. In the Western Cape it gained 59.38% of the vote, an increase from 51.46% in 2009. This article considers whether the DA's 2014 electoral gains suggest a strengthening of opposition politics in South Africa. It focuses on whether the DA meets the obligations of an opposition party with regard to providing an institutional space for counter-political elites to organise and providing a viable alternative to the ruling party together with facilitating debate over political issues and public policy while also performing an oversight role.

The Economic Freedom Fighters and the Politics of Memory and Forgetting

This article critically examines the first year in the existence of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the newest left-wing party in South Africa. It argues that the EFF is a product of the post-Marikana massacre political landscape, characterized by serious questioning of the African National Congress’s (ANC) hegemony and a reconfiguration of left forces. The new party is arguably best comprehended as a paradox, reflecting the fragmented and fluid character of contentious politics at this conjuncture. The EFF is the most significant youth movement and the first major left split from the ANC in the post-1994 era. It has an explicitly anticapitalist program that has attracted considerable support. Yet, in both its style and political substance the new party remains shackled to its history in the ruling alliance of the ANC. In particular, its commitment to a vanguardism inspired by Stalinism threatens to limit the EFF’s potential of becoming an integral part of the mass-based struggles and left realignment in the country.

Introduction: Understanding the ANC at sub-national level

The political entrenchment of the African National Congress (ANC) as the ruling party in South Africa over the last two decades has given rise to an extensive literature focussing upon negative internal trends such as factionalism, the manipulation of internal electoral processes, the pursuit of individual wealth, internal disorder, and increasing tensions within the tripartite alliance. Such trends, along with growing levels of popular protest, suggest a decline in the party’s legitimacy and long term prospects. Such organisational deterioration has occasioned an extensive reflective literature, yet there has been little detailed research into how the ANC operates on the ground. Overwhelmingly, predominant paradigms - of the ANC as a national liberation movement; as a party that has fallen victim to neo-patrimonialism; as a dominant party; and as a vehicle of neo-liberal capitalism - are all illuminating, yet simultaneously entrench key weaknesses in analysis, focussing upon over-arching narratives rather than encouraging careful analysis of causal practices. Much of this flows from the fact that academic analysts lack practical and intuitive knowledge of the ANC’s institutional life, complexity and informal networks. The present collection seeks to correct that balance by presenting a set of papers which focus upon the dynamics of the ANC at sub-national level, pointing the way to a more critical engagement with party processes than is usually presented.

Acceptance requirement in life insurance contracts

Acceptance Requirement in Life Insurance Contracts In the South African stipulatio alteri it is a requirement that the beneficiary must accept the benefit in order for his right to vest. This is against the privity of doctrine where one may not put the beneficiary of a life insurance contract under any obligations. It seems, however, that the obligation of acceptance by the beneficiary has become set in the South African law through our old writers and legislation that failed to interpret the principle clearly and resulted in a unique application of the agreement on behalf of a third party in South Africa. A distinction must also be drawn between revocable and irrevocable life insurance contracts and the impact thereof on the acceptance by the beneficiary. The moment of acceptance by the beneficiary has important implications for the application of the rights for the beneficiary. Acceptance by the beneficiary before the death of the life insured, seems to have no effect, and no rights vest for the beneficiary. It is only after the death of the life insured that the nominated beneficiary can accept, and with this a right immediately vests in the beneficiary. The question of what the beneficiary must accept, may be seen as nugatory as this is confirmation that acceptance by the beneficiary should not be an obligation or a requirement before the right vests. Otherwise, the third party creates a right for himself by his actions, which is not the intention of a contract in favour of a third party. A look at English law might shed some light on the South African position because of the fact that they implemented a set of formal rules regarding a contract in favour of a third party. It is suggested that South Africa should also include a set of formal rules in legislation to govern the unique South African application of the stipulatio alteri.