South Africa in the Contemporary World

1973 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 17-27
Author(s):  
Colin Legum ◽  
Margaret Legum

Two great changes have been brought by twenty-five years of apartheid rule in South Africa. Its internal contradictions have been sharpened by the simultaneous attempts to divide the country along even more rigid color lines and to stimulate more rapid economic growth; and its external relations have declined to the point where the Republic today has become the “polecat of the world.” These two developments are inextricably linked so that it makes little sense to try and describe the South African situation without focussing on their interrelationship.

2021 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-108
Author(s):  
Guy Lamb

Since 1994 the South African Police Service (SAPS) has undertaken various efforts to build legitimacy in South Africa. Extensive community policing resources have been made available, and a hybrid community-oriented programme (sector policing) has been pursued. Nevertheless, public opinion data has shown that there are low levels of public trust in the police. Using Goldsmith’s framework of trust-diminishing police behaviours, this article suggests that indifference, a lack of professionalism, incompetence and corruption on the part of the police, particularly in high-crime areas, have eroded public trust in the SAPS. Furthermore, in an effort to maintain order, reduce crime and assert the authority of the state, the police have adopted militaristic strategies and practices, which have contributed to numerous cases of excessive use of force, which has consequently weakened police legitimacy in South Africa


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1(J)) ◽  
pp. 110-121
Author(s):  
Bongumusa Prince Makhoba, ◽  
Irrshad Kaseeram

Several empirical works have yielded mixed and controversial results with regard to the effects of FDI on employment and economic growth. The primary focus of this study is to investigate the contribution of FDI to domestic employment levels in the context of the South African economy. The analyses of the study were carried out using the annual time series data from 1980 to 2015. The macroeconomic variables employed in the empirical investigation include employment, FDI, GDP, inflation, trade openness and unit labour costs. The study used secondary data from the South African Reserve Bank and Statistics South Africa database. The study estimated a Vector Autoregressive/ Vector Error Correction Mechanism (VAR/VECM) approach to conduct empirical analysis. However, the study also employed single equation estimation techniques, including the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS), Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) and Canonical Cointegrating Regression (CCR) models as supporting tools to verify the VAR/VECM results. This study provides strong evidence of a significant negative relationship between FDI and employment levels in the South African economy. Empirical analysis of the study suggests that the effect of economic growth on employment is highly positive and significant in South Africa’s economy. The study recommends that policymakers ought to invest more in productive sectors that aim to promote economic growth and development to boost employment opportunities in South Africa.


1964 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 468-485

The Security Council considered the situation in the Republic of South Africa resulting from the apartheid policies of the South African government during its 1073rd–1078th meetings held from November 27 to December 11, 1963. The Council had before it the request made by 32 African and Asian states in a letter of October 23, 1963, addressed to the President of the Security Council; and the report by the Secretary-General submitted pursuant to the request made in the Security Council's Resolution of August 7, 1963, that he keep the situation in South Africa under observation and report to the Security Council by October 30, 1963. At the President's invitation Mrs. Pandit (India), Mr. Grimes (Liberia), Mr. Rakotomalala (Madagascar), Mr. Slim (Tunisia), and Mr. Karefa-Smart (Sierra Leone) took places at the Security Council table.


Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4780 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-355
Author(s):  
TAMARA TOT ◽  
SNEŽANA RADENKOVIĆ ◽  
ZORICA NEDELJKOVIĆ ◽  
LAURA LIKOV ◽  
ANTE VUJIĆ

Two new species of the genus Paragus Latreille, 1804 are described from the Republic of South Africa: Paragus longipilus Tot, Vujić et Radenković sp. nov. and Paragus megacercus Tot, Vujić et Radenković sp. nov. These new species belong to the subgenus Pandasyopthalmus Stuckenberg, 1954a. Paragus longipilus sp. nov. is a member of the P. jozanus group, whereas Paragus megacercus sp. nov. belongs to the P. tibialis group. The taxonomic status of Paragus chalybeatus Hull, 1964 is revised and proposed as synonym of Paragus punctatus Hull, 1949. Additionally, an identification key to males of the South African species of Paragus is provided. Results of the present study confirm a significant level of endemism of Paragus in the Afrotropical Region (12 out of 29). 


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-61
Author(s):  
Theo Neethling

South Africa’s foreign policy has recently been gravitating away from an appeal to Western powers towards the establishment of new friendships in the Global South, especially with Asia and Latin America. Moreover, the favouring of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) partnership and a rising tone of anti-Western sentiments have increasingly been evidenced in South Africa’s contemporary foreign policy, which are of major significance to the nature and direction of its economic-diplomatic strategy. Three broad perspectives or main arguments from this article are of special importance: First, most members of BRICS are troubled by slower economic growth, which should be of concern to South Africa’s current foreign policy stand. Second, anti-Western ideological concerns and related presumptions on the part of the South African government that the BRICS formation could potentially assume a counter-hegemonic character vis-à-vis the West are questionable and dubious. Third, South Africa stands to benefit from many networks and opportunities provided by BRICS membership. At the same time, because of its low economic growth, high levels of poverty and lack of employment opportunities, South Africa cannot afford to follow an approach of narrow interest concerning the BRICS formation and to constrain itself in its economic diplomacy. This article argues that the South African government will therefore have to consider the opportunities offered by a more nuanced and pragmatic foreign policy designed on multiple identities.


1985 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 565-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert N. Mccauley

Since the international community has offered their nearly unanimous condemnation of the system of apartheid in the Republic of South Africa, the topic of this essay might seem moot. However, the involvement and cooperation with the South African government of numerous governments, businesses, and other institutions suggest that those condemnations do not constitute the final word - certainly not politically, nor, perhaps, morally.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 167-179
Author(s):  
Melody Brauns ◽  
Anne Stanton

This article reviews the efforts of the South African government in recognising development challenges of the post-apartheid era and assesses the approaches employed to bring about economic growth and to address inherited inequalities.


2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis J. Kotzé

This study brings the debate upon environmental protection in the Republic of South Africa since the 1996 Constitution enactment which conformed it as a justifiable human right. The contribution begins with some considerations about (in) the development of the environmental right. The more pertinent constitutional provisions related to the environment are discussed, and there are some remarks about future developments in this field.


Author(s):  
Anél Terblanche ◽  
Gerrit Pienaar

Various South African government reports list food security as a development priority. Despite this prioritisation and despite the fact that South Africa is currently food self-sufficient, ongoing food shortages remain a daily reality for approximately 35 percent of the South African population. The government's commitment to food security to date of writing this contribution manifests in related policies, strategies, programmes and sectoral legislation with the focus on food production, distribution, safety and assistance. A paradigm shift in the international food security debate was encouraged during 2009, namely to base food security initiatives on the right to sufficient food. During a 2011 visit to South Africa, the Special Rapporteur for the Right to Food of the United Nations, accordingly confirmed that a human rights-based approach to food security is necessary in the South African legal and policy framework in order to address the huge disparities in terms of food security (especially concerning geography, gender and race). A human rights-based approach to food security will add dimensions of dignity, transparency, accountability, participation and empowerment to food security initiatives. The achievement of food security is further seen as the realisation of existing rights, notably the right of access to sufficient food. The right of access to sufficient food, as entrenched in section 27(1)(b) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 will accordingly play a central role within a human rights-based approach to food security. Section 27(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 qualifies section 27(1)(b) by requiring the state to take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of each of the section 27(1) rights. The South African government's commitment to food security, as already mentioned, currently manifests in related policies, strategies and programmes, which initiatives will qualify as other measures as referred to in section 27(2) mentioned above. This contribution, however, aims to elucidate the constitutional duty to take reasonable legislative measures as required by section 27(2) within the wider context of food security. This contribution is more specifically confined to the ways in which a human rights-based approach to food security can be accommodated in a proposed framework law as a national legislative measures. Several underlying and foundational themes are addressed in this contribution, amongst others: (a) the relationship between food security and the right of access to sufficient food; (b) food security as a developmental goal; and (c) the increasing trend to apply a human rights-based approach to development initiatives in general, but also to food security.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-124
Author(s):  
Lenatha Wentzel ◽  
Kerry De Hart

The expansion of the manufacturing sector is one of the South African government’s focus areas for economic growth and employment creation. The research on which this article is based identified additional incentives, applicable to the manufacturing sector, which the South African government could introduce to encourage investors to choose the South African manufacturing sector as a desired investment destination. The incentives provided to manufacturing companies by the governments of Malaysia and Singapore and those provided by the South African government are compared in order to examine the similarities and differences between these incentives. In the light of these findings, recommendations are made for additional incentives in South Africa to promote investment in South African manufacturing companies and reduce some of the barriers that prevent local and foreign investment in the country.


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