Gender paper to be presented to the ANC Policy Conference 2012: discussion document
- Authors: African National Congress (ANC)
- Date: 2012-02-01
- Subjects: South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994- , Social planning -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: book , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68675 , vital:29304
- Description: This document is informed by the struggles of women in the fight against colonialism and apartheid which were also encapsulated in the Women’s Charter of 1954. The discussion is also premised on the charter that women drew up in 1993, prior to the 1994 elections. Our Constitution, in its quest to protect and promote gender equality in South Africa, drew largely from these documents.
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- Date Issued: 2012-02-01
An exploration of social media as a key site for the expression of post-racial politics
- Authors: Bell, Joshua
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Social media -- Political aspects -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994- , South Africa -- In mass media
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/94049 , vital:30995
- Description: This research sets out to examine colourblind racism in contemporary South Africa, specifically, as expressed on social media networks. In South Africa, a nation lauded for its transition from Apartheid to liberal democracy, racism still continues to exist. In the new democracy, racism continues in old, familiar forms but it has been suggested that racism also assumes new and emergent forms such as ‘colourblind’ racism. This is evident in recent controversies involving local public figures and their expressions of ‘soft’, ‘colourblind’ racism on Facebook. It is the new platforms and modes of racism unique to democratic South Africa which this thesis attempts to explore. Specifically, this study is framed by ‘post-racialism’, a concept developed by scholars globally to capture the suggestion that in liberal democratic societies across the world, racism continues with racial inequality now underpinned by an ideology of colourblindness as opposed to overt policies of segregation. Colourblindness denies the relevance of race as a collective issue, proposing instead that other social factors such as class are more pertinent in considerations of social inequality. The purpose of colourblind narratives may be identified as the reduction of racism to mere individual action, denying systemic white privilege and historical responsibility for reparation as well as preventing racially subjugated groups from critically interrogating racial power and privilege (Goldberg, 2015: 28-30). Post-racial theorists agree that the projection of colourblind politics which claims to no longer ‘see race’ has instead served to secure the normalisation of white privilege and black subjugation (Bonilla-Silva et al, 2004: 559-560). The purported existence of colourblind /post-racial racism and its impact requires exploration in the context of South Africa today. In expanding on the definition of racism, we are able to see that racism is an adaptive system of power that is able to reproduce and reconceptualise itself to changes within society. As modalities of racism have evolved, so have the platforms for its propagation. This research offers social media as a site of exploration for post-racial narratives. The case studies of Penny Sparrow, Helen Zille and Mabel Jansen are presented in this study as exemplars of post-racial liberalism, denial and exclusion. This research calls for the expansion of racial understanding so as to contest racial power structures as a continuing systemic issue in contemporary South Africa.
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- Date Issued: 2019
A critical discourse analysis (CDA) of the contesting discourses articulated by the ANC and the news media in the City Press coverage of The Spear
- Authors: Egglestone, Tia Ashleigh
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Murray, Brett , African National Congress , Mass media -- Political aspects -- South Africa , Press and politics -- South Africa , Freedom of the press -- South Africa , Mass media policy -- South Africa , Newspapers -- Objectivity , Critical discourse analysis , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3526 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012975
- Description: This research focuses on the controversy surrounding the exhibition and media publication of Brett Murray’s painting, The Spear of the Nation (May 2012). It takes the form of a qualitative Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), underpinned by Fairclough’s (1995) three-dimensional approach, to investigate how the contesting discourses articulated by the ruling political party (the ANC) and the news media have been negotiated in the City Press coverage in response to the painting. While the contestation was fought ostensibly on constitutional grounds, it arguably serves as an illustrative moment of the deeply ideological debate occurring in South Africa between the government and the national media industry regarding media diversity, transformation and democracy. It points to the lines of fracture in the broader political and social space. Informed by Foucault’s conceptualisation of discourse and the role of power in the production of knowledge and ‘truth’, this study aims to expose the discourses articulated and contested in order to make inferences about the various ‘truths’ the ANC and the media make of the democratic role of the press in a contemporary South Africa. The sample consists of five reports intended to represent the media’s responses and four articles that prominently articulate the ANC’s responses. The analysis, which draws on strategies from within critical linguists and media studies, is confined to these nine purposively sampled from the City Press online newspaper texts published between 13 May 2012 and 13 June 2012. Findings suggest the ANC legitimise expectations for the media to engage in a collaborative role in order to serve the ‘national interest’. Conversely, the media advocate for a monitorial press to justify serving the ‘public interest’. This research is envisioned to be valuable for both sets of stakeholders in developing richer understandings relevant to issues of any regulation to be debated. It forms part of a larger project on Media Policy and Democracy which seeks to contribute to media diversity and transformation, and to develop the quality of democracy in South Africa.
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- Date Issued: 2014
Explaining South Africa's quiet diplomacy towards Zimbabwe since 2000: the dilemma of a pluralist middle power
- Authors: Gcoyi, Thembinkosi
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Middle powers , Conflict management , Zimbabwe -- Foreign relations -- South Africa , South Africa -- Foreign relations -- Zimbabwe , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994- , Zimbabwe -- Politics and government -- 1980-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2777 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002987 , Middle powers , Conflict management , Zimbabwe -- Foreign relations -- South Africa , South Africa -- Foreign relations -- Zimbabwe , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994- , Zimbabwe -- Politics and government -- 1980-
- Description: This study is a contribution to the literature on South Africa's foreign policy since 2000-2004. It provides a theoretical framework within which South Africa's foreign policy should be understood. It attempts to explain the contradictions that have been apparent in South Africa's foreign policy by looking at the constraints inherent in South Africa's position as an emerging middle power. It argues that South Africa's pluralist inclinations are constrained by Africa's evolving multilateral forums and that South Africa's preference for such undermines the realization and achievement of her foreign policy principles and goals. It also argues that as a realist middle power, South Africa is constrained the ambivalence shown by the region towards her exercising leadership in the region. This is due to South Africa's history of destruction in Southern Africa in the 1980's. South Africa's quiet diplomacy towards Zimbabwe provides the focal point for the study. The study argues that it is not the case that South Africa is not concerned with human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. Instead, this concern has been expressed in ways that do not tarnish South Africa's own image in Africa. This has been done by engaging Zimbabweans through multilateral forums. This study concludes that this strategy failed to bring about resolution to the Zimbabwean crisis.
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- Date Issued: 2006
Popular politics in the rural Western Cape, South Africa: a case study of Ruiterbos
- Authors: Ghedi Alasow, Jonis
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Political participation -- South Africa -- Cape Town , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994- , Land tenure -- Political aspects -- South Africa , Land use, Rural -- Political aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96165 , vital:31246
- Description: This thesis argues that the philosophical foundations upon which human beings have been engaged have, across various schools of thought, made the mistake of presuming that some people are more modern than others. This suggestion is refuted throughout this thesis. To do this, intellectual traditions that take the fundamental rationality of all human beings as an indispensable starting point are engaged to argue for the need to acknowledge that everyone in the ‘now’ is indeed, of the ‘now’. This thesis connects these debates about modernity, rationality and humanity to the contemporary discussions around rural politics with particular reference to Ruiterbos in the Western Cape province of South Africa. By means of detailed empirical and ethnographic research, this thesis illustrates the issues around which people in Ruiterbos are politicised. Via this case study, the a priori assumption that rural politics will necessarily manifest itself only with respect to questions of land and agrarian reform or labour relations is complicated. The two issues around which people in Ruiterbos, during the time of this research, seem to be politicised – housing and education – are surfaced throughout this thesis. The thesis argues that the findings in this case study call for an expansion of the issues that are traditionally considered when the question of rural politics is raised. The often historicist approach that limits the possibilities for politics in rural areas should be suspended for an approach that takes popular politics and political agents in rural areas seriously. The thesis finally argues that the conclusions that are reached with respect to questions of modernity and rural politics ought to be adopted to allow for more detailed and thorough explanations of popular politics in places like Ruiterbos.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Racism and law : implementing the right to equality in selected South African equality courts
- Authors: Krüger, Rósaan
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: South Africa Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, 2000 , Equality -- South Africa , Discrimination -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Racism -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Apartheid -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Constitutional law -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3677 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003192 , South Africa Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, 2000 , Equality -- South Africa , Discrimination -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Racism -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Apartheid -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Constitutional law -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Description: Racism has informed South African society since colonial times. Racist beliefs found expression in the laws of colonial and apartheid South Africa and shaped both state and society. The constitutional state that South Africa has become since 1994, is based on the values of ‘human dignity’, ‘the achievement of equality’ and ‘nonracialism’, among others. Law formed the basis of the racist state prior to 1994, and now law has a fundamental role to play in the transformation of the state and society in an egalitarian direction by addressing socio-economic inequalities on the one hand, and by changing patterns of behaviour based on racist beliefs forged in the past, on the other. This thesis examines one of the legal instruments that is intended to contribute to transformation in the latter sense, namely the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 4 of 2000 (the Equality Act), with specific reference to the issue of racism. The provisions of this Act and the framework for its operation against the background of South Africa’s racist past, and within the broader framework of international and constitutional law, are examined. These two legal frameworks are analysed for the purpose of determining the standards set by international and constitutional law regarding racial equality in order to determine whether the Equality Act measures up. This thesis also incorporates an analysis of the practical application of the provisions of the Equality Act to complaints of racism in selected equality courts. The theoretical analysis of the Act’s provisions and their application in the equality courts point to various problematic formulations and obstacles which negatively affect the application of the provisions and thus hamper social change. The thesis concludes with recommendations for refining the Act’s provisions and its application.
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- Date Issued: 2009
Security community building? : an assessment of Southern African regional integration in the post-apartheid era
- Authors: Lekhooa, Tumo
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994- , Africa, Southern -- Economic integration , National security -- Africa, Southern , Political stability -- Africa, Southern , Southern African Development Community
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2844 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005958 , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994- , Africa, Southern -- Economic integration , National security -- Africa, Southern , Political stability -- Africa, Southern , Southern African Development Community
- Description: The thesis traces Southern African security dimensions from the Cold War and the period of apartheid in South Africa to the post-apartheid era. It makes an attempt to investigate the prospects of Southern Africa becoming a security community and the processes and practices underlying these efforts. Using the constructivist theory approach to international relations, the thesis argues that the preoccupation with principles of sovereignty and non-interference, a lack of political will and the absence of common values that could help SADC institute binding rules and decision-making are the main blocks that prevent the region from asserting itself as a security community. All these militate against the idea of mutual accountability among SADC member states and have a negative impact on the institutional and functional capacity of SADC. This also prevents SADC from dealing with the emerging non-military human security threats in the region. In consideration of this, the thesis argues that the idea of security community building in Southern Africa remains not only a regional issue, but also requires the involvement of extra-regional actors.
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- Date Issued: 2006
Stakeholders' perceptions of the shift to democratic leadership in a secondary school in the Eastern Cape : a case study
- Authors: Lombo, Mzimkhulu Solomon
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Education -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Education and state -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Education -- Political aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Education, Secondary -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies , Educational change -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Educational leadership -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , School management and organization -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:2001 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015541
- Description: The advent of political democracy in South Africa in 1994 gave rise to new policy in education promoting democratic and participative ways of managing and leading schools. The intention was both to break from the apartheid past which was characterised by an authoritarian, nonparticipative mindset, as well as to point the way for future education development. Principals of schools were expected to develop structures and adopt management and leadership styles which were participative, inclusive and developmental. Many principals would not have been prepared for this shift in mindset, and notions of full participation in governance by parents, and representation of learners through constituted bodies would have been new to them. In this case study of one semi-urban secondary school in the Eastern Cape the researcher sought to establish whether and to what extent the school had moved towards the new management and leadership approaches. The study is interpretive in orientation, and made use of interviews and document analysis. This research has found that the school had democratised its management and leadership to a considerable degree, but that this was not necessarily due to profound changes on the part of the principal 's leadership. The principal emerged as a democratic leader by nature. More significant seem to be the structures which the school had put in place, both officially and internally, to promote widespread participation and the distribution of leadership. This decentralised system of management has contributed to a distinct organisation culture in the school characterised by warmth, openness and ubuntu.
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- Date Issued: 2008
The call centre labour process : a study of work and workers’ experiences at Joburg Connect, South Africa
- Authors: Magoqwana, Babalwa Mirianda
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Johannesburg (South Africa) -- Joburg Connect , Call center agents -- South Africa -- Johannesburg -- Case studies , Work environment -- South Africa -- Johannesburg -- Case studies , Customer services -- South Africa -- Johannesburg -- Case studies , Personnel management -- South Africa -- Johannesburg -- Case studies , Employee morale -- South Africa -- Johannesburg -- Case studies , Employees -- Attitudes -- Case studies , Municipal services -- South Africa -- Johannesburg -- Case studies , South Africa -- Economic conditions -- 1991- , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994- , South Africa -- Social conditions -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3400 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018569 , Johannesburg (South Africa) -- Joburg Connect , Call center agents -- South Africa -- Johannesburg -- Case studies , Work environment -- South Africa -- Johannesburg -- Case studies , Customer services -- South Africa -- Johannesburg -- Case studies , Personnel management -- South Africa -- Johannesburg -- Case studies , Employee morale -- South Africa -- Johannesburg -- Case studies , Employees -- Attitudes -- Case studies , Municipal services -- South Africa -- Johannesburg -- Case studies , South Africa -- Economic conditions -- 1991- , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Description: This thesis is an investigation of the call centre labour process focusing on both the way work is organised and experienced by the operators and the management of employee relations inside a local government workplace – The City of Johannesburg (COJ) Call Centre. The City of Johannesburg is used to understand labour process dynamics in local government. Johannesburg was recently named the ‘World’s Second Most Inspiring City’ (by Global City Index, 2014) possessing economic and political influence within and around South Africa. Johannesburg is the economic hub of the country, contributing nine per cent to the South African GDP. But it needs to be emphasised that the focus of this thesis is on the labour process rather than the City of Johannesburg. The nature of work in the COJ local government call centre involves answering calls about water, electricity, refuse removal, accounts and other general municipal services. The government’s objective was to have a more customer centred service delivery plan in compliance with the Batho Pele (People first) framework (RSA, 1997, White Paper on Local Government). This resulted in a shift in the government ‘mantra’ and philosophy from viewing Johannesburg residents as customers rather than citizens. This shift from public administration to New Public Management (NPM) has meant the introduction of private sector business principles into public services. This seeks to improve organisational and individual performance to enhance service delivery within South African municipalities. This is also meant to promote responsive and performance management culture. The study uses Labour Process Theory set out in Labour and Monopoly Capital (LMC-1974) by Harry Braverman to argue for the need to contextualise the labour process debate within the socio-political understanding of work in South Africa. In developing the argument about the narrow analysis of public sector call centres based on economic lines I have reviewed literature on call centres which is influenced by Michel Foucault and Harry Braverman to understand the public sector call centre labour process. Inspired by Adesina (2002) and Mafeje (1981) this study uses a ‘complementarity’ approach to knowledge. This means the local context tends to complement the global trends though not without contradictions within the local context. The case study approach was used for in-depth analysis of the local context through different methods (semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, observations and survey questionnaires) to collect data from different stakeholders within the City of Johannesburg between 2010 and 2013. The concept of a ‘(dis)connecting city’ is fitting for the COJ as this city connects the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa and South Africa to the world through its commerce and political influence. Based on the challenges experienced in this local government call centre I attempt to show the the politicised nature of the public sector call centre labour process. I use the differential power relations in the frontline between customer and Joburg connect workers to illustrate this point. The lack of emphasis on the politicised nature of public sector call centres within literature is informed by the de-contextualised nature of these call centres. In the end, I argue that public sector call centre labour process is multilayered, contradictory and complicated because of these workers’ role as citizens, customers, community members and service providers from a politicised community environment.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Social movements and economic development in post apartheid South Africa: lessons from Latin America
- Authors: Makoni, Tinotenda Charity
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: South Africa -- Economic conditions -- 1991- , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994- , Social movements -- South Africa , Social movements -- Latin America , Economic development -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/76420 , vital:30561
- Description: The aim of this research is to bring the literature on political agency and economics together in an analysis of whether social movements can play an important role in economic development in post-apartheid South Africa. The entrenched discourse of sluggish growth and high inequality in post-apartheid South Africa can largely be attributed to the political decision to implement a neoliberal economic development orthodoxy. On the one hand, there is an urgent need to shift the economic development model to an alternate developmentalist model. However, no clearly articulated alternative developmental model has emerged. As a result, economically, South Africa is seemingly stuck. On the other hand, the selection of an economic development model and change in macroeconomic policies requires a political shift. Politically, formal politics has assumed the form of neoliberal democracy, characterised by a largely centralised state and the usurpation of the state and institutions by a national bourgeoisie. Social movements have emerged in response to the failure of neoliberalism to fulfil the promises of early post independent periods. They have been largely successful at highlighting the injustices and the inequalities in the country. However their ability to influence structural economic development has come into question. Firstly, social movements and their “politically destabilising distributive demands” have faced repression from the state as the state and institutions are aligned behind the interests of capital under a neoliberal democracy. Secondly, social movements in South Africa have been largely ideologically under-developed. They have been largely fragmented and tended to contest specific single issues rather than aiming to shift the deeper underlying systemic drivers behind the symptomatic immediate discomforts. The economic dimensions of such a shift are particularly unclear. This fragmentation and apparent lack of economic pragmatism make management or suppression of disruptive movements by the state relatively easy. The research uses a contrast between the Latin American social movements against a South African background in order to see what lessons South Africa can draw from social movements in Latin America. The Latin American case is cautiously more positive and provides comparably more sanguine lessons. In this way, this research seeks to construct a more comprehensive framework for the further study of social movements in South Africa and their potential impact on economic development in South Africa.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Public sector industrial relations in the context of alliance politics: the case of Makana Local Municipality, South Africa (1994-2006)
- Authors: Makwembere, Sandra
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Makana Municipality , South African Municipal Workers Union , African National Congress , Cosatu , South African Communist Party , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Industrial relations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Labor unions -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3301 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003089 , Makana Municipality , South African Municipal Workers Union , African National Congress , Cosatu , South African Communist Party , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Industrial relations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Labor unions -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Description: This thesis is in the field of Industrial Relations. It concerns a micro-level investigation of the dynamics of public sector industrial relations in post-apartheid South Africa. It focuses on the Tripartite Alliance between the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and explores what the Alliance relationship has meant for the traditional roles of employees and their representatives on the one hand, and employers and their representatives on the other. The thesis examines the political, organisational and societal contradictions and implications for COSATU public sector union affiliates and their members in their relationship to the ANC as an ally (via the Alliance) and the context in which ANC members form part of management (in government). The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) was used as an archetype of a COSATU public sector union affiliate that engages with the State as employer at the municipal level. It is a case study of Makana Local Municipality (Eastern Cape Province, South Africa) using qualitative research techniques and content analysis to derive the relevant information. The author conducted a series of in-depth interviews of key informants and observations at Makana Local Municipality were done. Based on the empirical data obtained from the investigation, the thesis argues that the traditional roles in the employment relationship at the workplace have been affected by the political alliance. Industrial relations roles have become increasingly vague especially since many within local government share ANC/SACP memberships with members of the trade union. The study also highlights that within an increasingly globalising post-apartheid environment, the Alliance provides mixture of benefits and challenges for workplace negotiations and employment relations in ways that macro-level analyses of employer-employee relationships do not always capture.
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- Date Issued: 2007
The role of open government data in the repurposing of land administration in postapartheid South Africa : an exploration
- Authors: Manona, Siyabulela Sobantu
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Transparency in government -- South Africa , Land reform -- South Africa , Qualitative research -- Methodology , Postcolonialism -- South Africa , Post-apartheid era -- South Africa , South Africa -- Economic conditions -- 1991- , South Africa -- Social conditions -- 1994- , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994- , Open Government Data (OGD)
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178397 , vital:42936 , 10.21504/10962/178397
- Description: Almost three decades after the official end of the apartheid, South Africa has been on a sturdy path that is characterised by deepening spatial economic inequalities. A plethora of policy instruments unleashed since 1994 had not only failed to stem the tide of poverty and inequality, but had deepened them. As part of this, South Africa’s most ambitious social engineering programme – land reform -- had disappointing outcomes. Premised on a view that these apartheid continuities were embedded in South Africa’s land administration system – which was incoherent and fragmented and requiring a systemic overhaul -- the study sought to explore the potential role of Open Government Data (OGD) in the repurposing of land administration system in the post-apartheid South Africa. To achieve this goal, the study was guided by the following objectives: to explore the ontology and the state of land governance and administration in the context of the post-apartheid South Africa; to undertake an evaluation or assessment of South Africa’s land data ecosystem; and to explore the potential role of OGD in the repurposing of land administration system in the postapartheid of South Africa. This study was steeped in qualitative research methods, underpinned by primary and secondary literature review. While the study was primarily pitched on a national scale – the combination of the systems and multiple scales approaches – yielded results which dislodges solutions that are required outside of the domain of a single state. This is one glaring example of land governance complexities that straddle beyond national scale – specifically in respect of new policy trajectories on trans-national boundaries and governance of water resources. Based on the holistic ontology of land, this study concludes that land administration and land governance overarching conceptual orientation -- concerned with land use decisions made by humans at various scales from a praxis and policy perspective –constitute two sides of the same coin, the former steeped towards practice and the latter steeped towards policy. Drawing from decolonial theories the study concludes that land does not only have multiple dimensions, but it also has multiple meanings, in a manner that calls for an ontological shift away from the western ontology, towards an inclusive and holistic conceptualisation. Historiography that is anchored in de-colonial thinking of South Africa’s land governance helps us understand how and why – colonial/apartheid norms acrimoniously found their way into the post-apartheid order -- the post-apartheid institutions of modernity rest on the same hierarchies of identities, classification and pathologisation. The study concludes that, while the colonial/apartheid administration may be gone, it’s underlying power matrices continue -- i.e. capitalism/European/patriachal/white – in a manner which explains the continuities of South Africa’s spatial inequalities and the associated economic inequalities. The organising principle for land relations (including opportunities) continues to be underpinned by gender, race and class, in ways that expose the mythical dimensions of the 'post-apartheid' underbelly. While identifying the need for homogenisation and rationalistion of colonial, apartheid and post-apartheid institutions (on a national scale) that is insufficient for the transformation of the colonial situation of what is in essence a part of the global system, the study advocates for the ‘repurposing of land governance and administration’ – underpinned by de-colonial thinking. Repurposing is seen as political imaginary that would entail uncoupling thought processes and praxis from the colonial matrices of power. The study goes on to conclude that there is a definite role for Open Government Data in repurposing of land administration in the post-apartheid South Africa – as a necessary, though in and of it’s own it is an insufficient condition to achieve that ideal -- but presents an opportunity to enhance transdisciplinarity approaches and efficiencies in internal government functioning and evidence-based decision making and policy formulation processes. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Geography, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2021-04
The second transition : an analysis of the political rhetoric of the ANC and ANCYL
- Authors: Maseko, Thulani Norman
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: African National Congress , African National Congress -- Youth League , Rhetoric -- Political aspects , South Africa -- Economic policy , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: vital:8343 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020760
- Description: South Africa achieved its formal democracy through a negotiated settlement in 1994. Formal democracy focuses on liberty, rights and basic freedom such as freedom of speech, and the right to vote, amongst others, while substantive democracy focuses on equality, social justice, and the area of economic rights with a focus on reduction of poverty, unemployment and increased equality. It is within the substantive democratisation theoretical framework, that South Africa’s democratic achievement has not necessarily been as great as its political achievements in constructing a constitutional democracy. This is evident in the continued patterns of racialised inequality and poverty, as well as the increase in service delivery protest action, which can destabilise the democratic success achieved in 1994. The objective of economic development is to create an environment where people can enjoy economic stability, job security and health, and lead productive lives, on one hand. On the other hand, political development seeks to create an environment where people can enjoy peace, rule of law and freedom. Politics and economics therefore go hand in hand to attain wealth benefits for people and create a sufficient level of political stability within a transitioning context. South Africa has made some strides towards getting political stability and a democratic state, but much still needs to be done to reduce poverty, unemployment and inequality. Hence an argument stressing the need for a Second Transition or Economic CODESA has recently entered the sphere of political public debate. This project seeks to deconstruct and explain the discourse of the Second Transition and Economic CODESA. The studies found that centre to this debate are key redistributive issues. Poverty, inequality and unemployment are key substantive challenges that have the potential to undermine political stability if they are not effectively dealt with.
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- Date Issued: 2013
Locating the institution of traditional leadership within the institutional framework of South Africa's new democracy
- Authors: Mashele, Hlukanisa Prince
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Tribal government -- South Africa , Political leadership -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2858 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007512 , Tribal government -- South Africa , Political leadership -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Description: This study looks into the role of the institution of traditional leadership in post-apartheid South Africa. It seeks to critically engage the debate on how to locate the institution within the new politico-constitutional framework. This is done with the main objective of proposing an altemative to the current state of affairs vis-à-vis traditional leadership and governance in South Africa. In order to clear the ground, the study first deals with the important question of democracy in relation to the institution of traditional leadership. In this regard, the study unearthed that the institution of traditional leadership is fundamentally undemocratic in character, as it is largely based on heredity and devoid of principles of democracy such as equality, accountability, etc. In order to put matters into perspective the study also delves into the history of the institution of traditional leadership with the aim of getting to the role that traditional leaders played in various epochs of South Africa's political development. This investigation reveals that the denting of the integrity of the institution of traditional leadership began with the advent of colonialism and worsened by successive apartheid regimes. It is at these stages of development that the institution was subordinated to a higher authority that sought to use the institution as an instrument of domination and oppression of the black majority. Considering this role, it would seem that the place that the space that the institution occupies in the post-apartheid South African governance framework is a compromise. The institution plays an advisory role at all levels of government - with their houses in both national and provincial legislatures, whilst traditional leaders sit as ex-officio members on local councils. However, traditional leaders fiercely contest this position as, in their view, this limits their powers. The main argument of this study is that for traditional leaders to be given an advisory role in the current and future governance framework of the country is a step in the right direction, as that serves to insulate the institution from active politics. For that reason, the study recommends that the institution of traditional leadership should occupy a cultural space in society - meaning that it should be responsible for the preservation of African customs and culture. This, therefore, means that the institution is better-placed to advise government on cultural and customary aspects of development. Whilst playing this role, the institution of traditional leadership should also -be brought into line with democratic ways of governance.
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- Date Issued: 2003
The RDP: April 27, 1995, the first year reviewed
- Authors: Ministry in the Office of the President
- Date: 1995-04
- Subjects: Reconstruction and development programme (South Africa) , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994- , South Africa -- Economic policy , Social change -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/75885 , vital:30479
- Description: The inauguration of the Government of National Unity created the necessary conditions for us to start the challenging task of changing South African society for the better. This is what we had set ourselves to do during the years of struggle to rid our country of apartheid. Now South Africans can, under conditions of freedom, work together to make our country the land of our dreams. This means further enhancing the freedoms we now enjoy; improving the security of citizens at home, in the streets and at work; and raising the quality of life of all the people. Reconstruction and development means all these things: to change all aspects of our lives for the better. Among the urgent tasks the government has set itself is to work together with all citizens to improve the provision of education, health services, housing, water supply, land, electricity, refuse removal, roads and so on. This demands of government that we change the manner in which public funds have all along been used. Everything should be done to create conditions in which the economy can improve and provide more jobs. To realise all these objectives requires co-operation among us as hard-working and responsible citizens. Immediately the Government of National Unity was installed, we started the planning required to meet these goals. At the same time, we also launched Presidential Lead Projects aimed at improving the lives of especially the poor, women and children. But this was just the beginning. For, in the end, we should change the allocation of all public funds towards the new priorities. Government should involve the people more actively at all stages of reconstruction and development. We should operate in an open manner guided by the wisdom of the people themselves. From the projects started last year, many of these ideals have started to take shape. But we continue to learn many lessons. This booklet outlines the concrete steps that have been taken thus far, in the long journey towards a better life for all. As this account shows, this task is not an easy one. But, working together, in the spirit of Masakhane, South Africans are more than capable of realising the good things that our beautiful country can offer.
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- Date Issued: 1995-04
The political significance of Winnie-Madikazela Mandela's position in the African National Congress
- Authors: Motseta, Sello
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: African National Congress , Mandela, Winnie , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2810 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003020 , African National Congress , Mandela, Winnie , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Description: Winnie Mandela has endured so many scandals over the last ten years that she has acquired a reputation for being untouchable. It is therefore ironic that there are those who feel that "the ANC want to act against Winnie not because of her human rights record, but for her outspoken criticism of the government's inability to deliver houses, thwart crime and testing our feelings on the death penalty." This assessment is instructive because in the "... turbulent years of the 1980s, she was a hero, a living martyr to the black liberation cause and despite the discomforts inflicted on her by her perpetrators, she revelled in the role" (Sparks, 1994:15). But Winnie Madikazela-Mandela, who was a Deputy Minister before being dismissed and who has had to appear before the TRC because of allegations that she was responsible for the death of teenage activist Stompie Seipei, has nevertheless been able to make a political comeback. The thesis therefore sets out to examine the rationale behind the State President's (he did not hold this title then) decision to take a considerable risk in standing by Winnie Madikazela-Mandela (they were at the time married) during her trial on charges of kidnapping in 1991. Even after her conviction, Mandela wrote that "as far as I was concerned, verdict or no verdict, her innocence was not in doubt." This unstinting loyalty was replicated elsewhere. Commenting on her acquittal on the assault charges, ANC Youth League President, Peter Mokaba, said: "What was taken away from her as a result of these false allegations must now be given back". He described the Appellate Division decision as "a political sentence" saying: "It has nothing to do with whether she was guilty or not."3 The ANC has established a practice of accommodating dissidents within its structures and has survived complex challenges during its years in exile by doing so. But political commentators are now asking whether the political cost will prove to be too great.
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- Date Issued: 2000
Unfinished business: current and past trade union leaders' perceptions of the political transition after the first decade of democracy (1994-2004) in South Africa
- Authors: Mpunzima, Kayalethu Wycliff
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Labor unions -- South Africa , Democratization -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:11001 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1284 , Labor unions -- South Africa , Democratization -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Description: The study reviews the political transition after the first decade of democracy from the trade union leaders’ perspectives. It seeks to understand whether trade union leaders see workers as having reaped benefits from their struggles. Interviews were conducted with ten current and past trade union leaders on their perceptions about the political transition. The trade union leaders that were interviewed have rich experience of combining their organisational and mobilising strength with strategies of engagement. Their involvement with trade unions can be traced back during the dark years of Apartheid. Some of them are still active members of trade unions who are deeply involved in policy formulation at national level. Others occupy influential positions in the private and public sectors. The study investigates and analyses the labour movement’s objectives, strategies and struggles from the apartheid, transition, and democratic eras and into the future. It looks at how these objectives were achieved and how the strategies were implemented. The study revealed that progress was made in the political sphere, e.g. a parliamentary office was established to ensure that workers have a voice in parliament. The study found clear evidence of influence by the labour movement in economic and labour legislation through structures like NEDLAC. In the economic arena, the study found that workers’ economic expectations were partially fulfilled. Trade union leaders attributed this to the failure of the government’s GEAR policy to create jobs. They insisted that RDP should be implemented. The study revealed evidence of serious tensions within the ANC/COSATU/SACP Alliance. The study found that the influence of the labour ally, COSATU, in the Tripartite Alliance had been curtailed. The study also found that the strength of the labour movement eroded during the first decade of democracy. The research found that the labour movement took new initiatives such as union investment companies. The research also found support for the theory that COSATU’s obsession with alliance politics was a barrier to labour unity. COSATU was not involved in the merger talks between FEDUSA and NACTU. The respondents generally felt positively about the future prospects. Respondents were mostly optimistic about the political transformation. If there was slow delivery or no delivery by the government or business, the unions vowed to take to the streets.
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- Date Issued: 2010
A double-edged sword : the minimum wage and agrarian labour in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, 2003–2014
- Authors: Naidoo, Lalitha
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Minimum wage -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agricultural laborers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa , Agricultural wages -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agricultural laborers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Social conditions , Agricultural laborers -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agricultural laws and legislation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Work environment -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Economics -- Sociological aspects , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177111 , vital:42791 , 10.21504/10962/177115
- Description: Statutory wage setting and the extension of labour laws to the South African agrarian labour market are path-breaking events that altered the unilateral power which agrarian employers had, under apartheid, to set low wages and harsh employment conditions. Yet, economic sociologists have shown little interest in the agrarian minimum wage in South Africa. Consequently, little to no sociological perspectives are available on the way in which statutory wages shape the setting of actual agrarian wages, employment conditions, labour relations and working and living conditions. At the same time, economic sociology’s neglect of agrarian minimum wages perpetuates the dominance of economics in minimum wage research, as well as the narrow cost-benefit analysis, and firm and employer-centric focus, deployed by both opponents of minimum wages in the neoclassical economics camp and supporters in the heterodox economics camp. The firm-centric focus also applies to the few labour relations scholars who focus on minimum wages. As a result, a wide body of empirical information is available and concentrated in the Global North, on low-waged, urban-based firms’ employment and labour relations strategies with the occasioning of minimum wage laws, with scant to non-existing information on rural-based workers’ experiences in the Global South, at least in the case of South Africa. This thesis addresses the lacuna in existing research, specifically by concentrating on agrarian workers’ narratives of the outcomes of minimum wages on actual wages and conditions, and experiences at the site of production and in the sphere of expanded social reproduction. The conceptual framework of the thesis is rooted in a critical realist meta-theory which directs inquiry towards the search for underlying causes of events with a sensitivity to the interaction of structure and agency, so as to develop explanations of events, which in turn encourage emancipatory thought and praxis. Within this framework, a political economy perspective of the agrarian minimum wage is charted, founded on an inter-disciplinary approach that incorporates economic sociology perspectives, which view markets as socio-political constructs, alongside a Marxist analysis of wages and the distinction between the value of labour and the value of labour power. Also relevant are segmentation labour market models where the focus is on segmentation in labour supply, demand and regulation, and institutional economics that highlights labour’s weak bargaining power in low-waged labour markets. Based on this analytical perspective, the South African agrarian minimum wage is seen as a necessary intervention stemming from post-apartheid uneven neoliberal restructuring processes, to address extremely low agrarian wages that pose threats to the ongoing generation of agrarian labour power. Low agrarian wages are located in unequal power relations in the workplace and are embedded in the totality of the low-waged agrarian labour market, composed of particular features in the supply-side of the labour market (the sphere of social reproduction of labour), the demand-side of the labour market (the site of production), and the forces of regulation (the labour relations regime). The thesis explores new ways of conceptualising minimum wages in the South African context, placing emphasis on the local agrarian labour market, and it highlights the agency of agrarian labour by revealing their struggles, working life and living conditions. In so doing, the research expands inquiry beyond economic “impact” at the level of the firm/employer to examine: (a) workers’ employment trends before and after the minimum wage was introduced, (b) the extent of changes in working and living conditions and labour relations, (c) the scope for workers in animating changes and their struggles and challenges, and (d) shifts in actual wages in relation to prescribed wage rates. Focussing on the aforementioned aspects represents an attempt in this thesis to build on themes, raised in heterodox economics studies, of minimum wages and their relationship to the social devaluation of low-waged work, inequalities in bargaining power, and justice. Based on a stratified sample of workers that included, among other variables, sex, geographical area and agricultural sub-sectors, original data was collected through 52 in-depth interviews, two focus group interviews (comprised of 10 workers), and 501 surveyed workers. The research did not find widespread job losses when minimum wages were introduced, as per neoclassical economics’ predictions. Nor did it find transitions from low- to high-road approaches in employment strategies and labour relations, as claimed by certain heterodox economists. Instead, the findings at the sites of production corroborate the uneven, mixed and contradictory findings of applied heterodox minimum wage studies on employment strategies, labour relations and wage settings. In this light, it is concluded that the agrarian minimum wage had layered outcomes for workers based on key findings, which include: (a) the minimum wage became the maximum wage as actual wages increased and clustered at the prescribed wage rate; (b) a level of gender wage parity close to the level of the prevailing prescribed minimum wage was found, but an overall gendered pattern to low-waged employment surfaced and manifested differently at sub-sector and enterprise levels; (c) though no changes were found in the way work was organised and how workers executed their tasks alongside no fundamental changes in the social relations of production, statutory minimum wages and limitations on working hours did reduce the hours of work and the existence of unpaid overtime work in certain sub-sectors such as livestock and dairy workplaces, through worker and employer initiatives (yet, at the same time, work intensification in compressed working hours appeared in the sample in other worksites, for example citrus workplaces); (d) authoritarian labour relations existed in varying depths and forms, based on sub-sector and enterprise characteristics, which shaped the propensity and scope for worker action; and (e) the layered outcomes of the agrarian minimum wage were felt at the site of social reproduction, where it brought a measure of relief for sampled workers; however, it was chronically inadequate to allow workers to meet their subsistence needs comprehensively. The research findings also highlight sub-sectoral complexities in changing employment and labour relations strategies from low- to high-road approaches in the agrarian sector. The layered outcomes of minimum wages for agrarian workers stems from the combined and uneven amalgamation of pre-existing and new conditions and relations consequent to neoliberalising processes in the agrarian political economy as well as the low minimum wage-setting. The thesis thus argues that the mixed outcomes reflect the layered character of the minimum wage as a conversion factor, which in turn equates to a layered notion of justice. This is because, on the one hand, the minimum wage ameliorates the plight of agrarian labour but, on the other hand, and given the bulwark of authoritarianism, pre-existing conditions and neoliberalising processes, the collective vulnerabilities in the agrarian labour market have expanded and may be intensifying. The agrarian minimum wage acts as a double-edged sword in contexts of mixed and layered outcomes for agrarian labour. A layered perspective of the conversion factor of a minimum wage exposes the possibilities and limitations of statutory wages as a conversion factor, based on context, and identifies the limits and possibilities for worker mobilisation and action. In the case of this research, the agrarian minimum wage deals in limited fashion with the value of labour power because of the initial and subsequent low settings; the minimum wage does not deal with class exploitation and the value of labour, although it sets the frame for instigating basic labour standards. The implications of a layered conversion potential of low minimum wage-settings are profound for conceptualising, theorising and researching the link between statutory wages and justice, with respect to the value of labour power and the value of labour. Future research on the minimum wage based on a Marxist reading of wages and located in real labour markets, strengthens heterodox approaches by deepening theories on the relationship between statutory wages, justice and production. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Department of Sociology, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2021-04
New rules for security and survival: Southern Africa's adaptation to a changing world environment
- Authors: Naidoo, Sagaren Krishna
- Date: 1998
- Subjects: Internal security -- South Africa , National security -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994- , South Africa -- Economic conditions -- 1991-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2814 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003024 , Internal security -- South Africa , National security -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994- , South Africa -- Economic conditions -- 1991-
- Description: In the wake of the post-Cold War era, students of international relations were forced to review their theoretical frameworks to explain new rules for international peace and security. States are now confronted with new constraints for their security and survival as current trends in international politics depict a 'regionalisation' of peace and security. For southern Africa, likewise, the end of the Cold War and, moreover, apartheid, compels its member states to redefine their security strategies and mechanisms for survival. This thesis undertakes to examine southern Africa's adaptation to new rules of a changing world environment, to ensure a stable and secure region, into the next millennium. At the outset of this thesis lies a conceptual contextualisation of security within the major contemporary theoretical approaches of international relations. By examining the essential differences between the redefinitions and new conceptualisations of security, this thesis, firstly argues that the state in southern Africa must be retained as a primary referent of security. This argument is premised on the need to create stronger states for a 'regionalisation' of security in southern Africa. The second issue examined is the changing world environment and its impact on the state and development in Africa, as the new constraints to which the continent must adapt, for security and survival. Arguing that the new international economic order and 'globalisation' dictate the new rules, this chapter asserts that the 'weak' states in Africa need to be strengthened to have the necessary capacity to be the means for its people's security. Finally this thesis examines the new rules for southern Africa's adaptation to a changing world environment. The new rules for the African sub-continent involve the formation of a security regime and economic community with, the power-house, South Africa. Using the Southern African Development Community(SADC) as the umbrella body, the formation of the Organ for Politics, Defence and Security, and signing of trade protocols for a movement towards a free trade area, are evidence of southern Africa's attempts to adapt to new rules for its security. Such adaptation cannot, however, be accomplished with 'weak' states. Southern African states will have to, therefore, be strengthened to attain a more secure adaptation to the new international (economic) order.
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- Date Issued: 1998
Ethnic nationalism and democratisation in South Africa : political implications for the rainbow nation
- Authors: Naidoo, Vinothan
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Nationalism -- South Africa , Ethnicity -- South Africa , Democracy -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2815 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003025 , Nationalism -- South Africa , Ethnicity -- South Africa , Democracy -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Description: Ethnic identities in South Africa have had a particularly contrived history, set within the constraints and motivations of population classification by race. A more democratic political environment emerged with the dismantling of apartheid, bringing with it a multitude of issues including the design and character of the country’s political institutions and framework. This thesis will address two principal questions. The first and primary one investigates what lies behind the initiation and development of ethnic bonds. The second concerns the political implications and management of ethnic expressions in a democratic South Africa. An analysis of Zulu ethnic nationalism will be undertaken, because it constituted the most prominent case of assertive communal interests during democratic transitional negotiations. This thesis argues that circumstantial and instrumental factors (based on conditions, and the actions of individuals and organizations respectively), have been predominately responsible for the initiation and formation of ethnic bonds, especially amongst those who identify with a Zulu identity. The “conditions” describe the increasingly segregationist direction in which successive South African government authorities were moving, especially after the 1948 election victory of the National Party and the subsequent introduction of apartheid. Secondly, the “actions” denote the motivations of both Zulu actors and governments in generating and elaborating an ethnic discourse where their desired interests could be more effectively supported and assured. It will also be argued that because of the instrumental and selective use of ethnicity, as well as the narrow interests being served by its popular and community-centred expressions, a developing South African democratic culture should seek to protect ethnic diversity rather than promote ethnic interests. To do so would be to deny the perpetuation of ethnic cleavages and the violence and instability perpetrated in its name in recent years. The “protection” of cultural diversity is consistent with a constitution that seeks non-discrimination among all South African identities. Finally, it is believed that an emphasis on the individual as individual, as well as member of a cultural group, will break from subordinating the individual to an ascribed racial and ethnic identity as in the past, and assist in reconstituting the state as equally reflective of all South Africans.
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- Date Issued: 2000