There is nothing new under the sun. Absolutely nothing. Not even woman presidents. Cleopatra and the Queen of Sheba are among the very first of notable women leaders in the annals of history who wielded massive influence on what was then a global stage. Cleopatra (late 69 BCE – August 12, 30 BCE) in particular, […]
News/Politics
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Levels of peace and stability on the African continent
The concept of “peace” has traditionally been abstract in definition. Perhaps the most workable methodology of approaching the concept of peace is to define it in terms of harmony achieved by the absence of war or conflict. This definition applied to nation states would purport that those countries not involved in violent conflicts with neighbouring […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Street politics: A new twist to an old tactic
The yoof are on the march. Again. It does not make for a pretty picture, although it is a politically fascinating one. The issues vary from train fares at the micro level to unemployment, rural deprivation and racism at the macro. The strategy, however, is uniform, calculated and well tested in South Africa. It is […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Grading the ANC policy document on education
By Robyn Clark In March 2012, the ANC released a series of documents intended to stimulate discussion around what the ANC has achieved over the last 18 years in South Africa, and what it should further achieve in the future. The aim of the documents is to encourage discussions around the policy process, which will […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Macroeconomic convergence within the SADC region
Since its evolution from the Southern Africa Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC) into the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), the Southern African regional formation has targeted gradually deepening its integration, starting with the creation of a free trade area in the coming decade. In addition to this free trade area, further goals such as the achievement […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Pantomime of the parvenu
South Africa is a particularly fractious society. Rarely does a week pass without something stirring the country’s intellectuals from their silences. The noise generated by this fractiousness says more, perhaps, about South Africa’s collective neurosis, than it does about anything else. What is amusing to behold, though, is the theatrics of intellectuals that play out […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Reshuffling: Zuma missed the jokers
They say in every war there are casualties, and it would seem President Jacob Zuma has gone to war far too many times, leaving a trail of body bags in his wake. This week the man from Nkandla caught many, including those in the ruling party, by surprise when he announced a cabinet reshuffle at […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Secondary victimisation: Rape survivors denied emergency ARVs
The 2007 Sexual Offences Act (SOA) requires that certain services be made available to rape survivors. Among these services, survivors of oral, anal and vaginal rape are entitled to receive post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), a 28-day course of antiretrovirals for the prevention of HIV infection. This must be provided to survivors – at state expense – when […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Understanding the growing trend of large-scale land acquisitions in Africa
The exponential international interest in investing in African farmland has attracted considerable attention recently. A 2011 Africa Development Bank study notes that 29 million of the 56 million hectares of land – approximately 51.8 percent – sought after by foreign investors globally is located in sub-Saharan Africa. Though countries with abundant uncultivated land attracted the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Cabinet reshuffle: SA media’s response is laughable
A friend of mine, Xolani Dlamini (@xolani_bouga), said yesterday on Twitter: “SA media will criticise the second coming if Zuma made the announcement.” That’s how baffling the media’s response to Zuma’s firing of General Bheki Cele, the appointment of his replacement Mangwashi Victoria Phiyega, and the cabinet reshuffle necessitated by the passing of Minister Roy […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Challenges to regional integration and trade in Africa
History and the legacy of colonialism have bequeathed the African continent with a legacy of fragmentation. The African continent geographically is divided into 54 countries, 28 of which have a GDP under $10-billion. In addition, 26 countries have a population under 10-million inhabitants, and 16 nations are landlocked. This fragmentation has traditionally been a significant […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The Empire loyalists wipe away a tear
So was it really that touching? Or is the Anglophone world just having one of its periodic attacks of mass hysteria? Not touched in the heart, just touched in the head. If they weren’t dabbing their eyes at the 60th jubilee of that aged foreign queen, Elizabeth II, it would be something else. The weepy […]