St. John Brodrick and Army Reform, 1901–1903

1976 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lowell J. Satre
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Detailed Examination ◽  
Careful Examination ◽  
The Political ◽  
The South ◽  
General Staff ◽  
Political Consequences ◽  
The Public ◽  
South African War ◽  
The Government

Edwardian England has become an increasingly significant period for scholarly research. One of the more carefully examined subjects is the interrelationship between politics and army reform. The debacles of the South African War forced the governments to examine England's army, and reforms emerged after 1901. Historians have concentrated on the efforts of Balfour's administration of 1902-05 and Haldane's sojourn at the War Office from 1906 to 1912; these periods witnessed the emergence of the Committee of Imperial Defence and the reorganization of the War Office, the shaping of the General Staff and the development of the British Expeditionary Force. All of these have been subjected to detailed examination — notably, the C. I. D. in recent works by Peter Fraser and Nicholas d'Ombrain, and the War Office by W. S. Hamer.There is, however, at least one gap in the historical literature on politics and army reform: St. John Brodrick's term as Secretary of State for War, 1901-03. An understanding of Brodrick's activities is necessary, since he was, of course, the first War Secretary to attempt reforms as a response to the obvious shortcomings of the army in the South African War. A careful examination will explain why he failed in many of his programs, the political consequences of these failures, and some of his more positive contributions.The breakdown of the British army in the first few months of the South African War, which began in October 1899 and ended in May 1902, shocked and dismayed both the public and the Government.

scholarly journals South African public sector procurement and corruption: Inseparable twins?

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pandelani Harry Munzhedzi
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
South African ◽  
Government Procurement ◽  
Municipal Finance ◽  
The South ◽  
The Public ◽  
Finance Management ◽  
Legislative Framework ◽  
The Government ◽  
Main Protagonist

The article seeks to explore the relationship between procurement in the public sector and corruption. Corruption in the procurement process is one of the biggest challenges facing the South Africa government. Procurement in the South African public sector through the tendering process has been used with a particular aim of addressing the past discriminatory practices and policies by empowering the previously disadvantaged majority. It ought to operate within a certain legislative and regulatory framework. However, the article argues that in the process of implementing the good intentions of the government, corruption illegitimises the process. There are also challenges that are associated with public sector procurement, with corruption being the main protagonist. The article also seeks to suggest possible solutions that could be used to address the anomalies. The article further concludes that the main reason for the rife corruption in the public sector is that there is nonadherence to policy prescripts including the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act 1 of 1999) and the Municipal Finance Management Act, 2003 (Act 56 of 2003). This enormous predicament may only be addressed if the government were to show will and commitment by punishing offenders who do not comply with the said legislative framework.

scholarly journals The Corona Virus and Migration Governance in South Africa: Business As Usual?

2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franzisca Luise Zanker ◽  
Khangelani Moyo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
The Political ◽  
The South ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Border Fence ◽  
The Government ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Business As Usual

The South African response in dealing with the Corona pandemic needs to speak to the realities of all people living in the country, including migrant and refugee communities. Reflecting on this in light of ongoing research on the political stakes of migration governance, we find that the virus response shows little change in the government agenda when it comes to dealing with refugees and other migrants. Veritably, we see that the pandemic may even be an excuse for pushing through already-aspired to policies. This includes the securitised agenda behind the sudden building of a border fence to close off Zimbabwe and the xenophobic-rhetorical clout behind the lockdown rules about which shops are allowed to remain open. The temporary stay on renewing asylum seekers permits counts as a perfunctory exception. We show that each of these developments very much play into politics as usual.

scholarly journals Lawyering protest - critique and creativity: Where to from here in the public interest legal sector?

2017 ◽  
pp. 7-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Chamberlain ◽  
Gina Snyman
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Space ◽  
The South ◽  
The Public ◽  
Emerging Themes ◽  
The Right ◽  
State Responses

Frequent protests, arising from a diversity of motivations, are a feature of the South African landscape. Despite the right to protest being entrenched in section 17 of the Constitution, it is under threat, and communities seeking to protest increasingly risk criminalisation. This article identifies some of the emerging themes in the protest landscape and the way the right to protest is being suppressed. Four dominant themes are highlighted through the lens of the experiences of the public interest legal sector: the conflation of notification and permission; heavy-handed state responses to protests; the abuse of bail procedures; and the use of interdicts. Law has become at least one of the sites of contestation in the protest arena. The political space held open by the existence of the right to protest is thus closing as a result of violations of this right. It is therefore both useful and necessary to interrogate the role of lawyers in such contestation. This article also examines the context and nature of the public interest legal sector’s response to these emerging themes.

scholarly journals The management of disciplinary cases in the South African public service post-2009 to the 2018 era

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manasseh M. Mokgolo ◽  
Maoka A. Dikotla
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
The South ◽  
The Public ◽  
Organisational Justice ◽  
Service Departments ◽  
The Government ◽  
Opposition Movements ◽  
Progressive Discipline

Background: Poor management of disciplinary cases in the South African public service departments is on the rise. The management of disciplinary cases, amongst other things, has drawn considerable criticism from within the public sector, various media outlets, interest groups and even opposition movements. The government has adopted progressive discipline prescripts to inculcate and promote a culture of professional ethics and accountability. In the workplace, objectivity, consistency and fairness are an important part of healthy employer–employee ties.Aim: The study sought to obtain an in-depth understanding of disciplinary cases and describe the challenges senior managers face when managing disciplinary cases in the public service departments.Setting: Both the national and provincial public service departments of South Africa.Methods: The study adopted qualitative modernistic research approach. Semi-structured electronic questionnaire was used to collect views from 751 senior managers.Results: Public service employees are deprived of organisational justice because of weaknesses associated with the discipline management. This is because management of disciplinary cases and sanctions in most national and provincial departments in the public service is perilous and incongruent with the discipline management prescripts.Conclusion: Based on the findings, the current practices do not deter future violations of discipline management prescripts; inconsistent, unfairness and injustice application of sanctions and management of cases and future misconduct in the workplace. Therefore, the authors recommend the use of team-based and progressive discipline to ensure that staff contribute effectively, efficiently and ethically to the goals of the government. The present study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on human resource management and organisational behaviour and provides a platform that broadens an understanding of the amplifying toxic management of disciplinary cases in the South African public service context.

Linchwe I and the Kgatla Campaign in the South African War, 1899-1902

1985 ◽  
Vol 26 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 169-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. F. Morton
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
The Other ◽  
Political Control ◽  
The Political ◽  
The South ◽  
Military Action ◽  
Distribution Of Wealth ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
South African War

Although the importance of the African role in the South African War (1889-1902) is now recognized, this study of the Bakgatala ba ga Kgafela is the first to demonstrate an African perception of events and argue that the Kgatla initiated military action and pursued goals independent of a simple British vs. Boer formula. The war created major economic and political opportunities for the Kgatla, a people physically separated and colonially partitioned. Half the Kgatla lived in the Kgatla Reserve of the British-ruled Bechuanaland Protectorate, and the other half lived in the Saulspoort area of the western Transvaal under Boer rule. Their leader, Linchwe I (1874–1924), maintained his capital at Mochudi in the Protectorate and received only partial allegiance from the Saulspoort Kgatia. Soon after the war began, Linchwe involved his regiments actively in fighting alongside the British in the Protectorate and raiding on their own in the Transvaal in an effort to eliminate Boer settlement and political control in Saulspoort and other areas of the western Transvaal. Kgatia regiments also emptied Boer farms of cattle which, in addition to restoring the national herd decimated by the 1897 rinderpest, Linchwe used in establishing his political hold over the Saulspoort Kgatia. Protectorate officials were grateful for Kgatia support, but Linchwe disguised the extent and nature of Kgatia operations and concealed from the British his political objectives. Linchwe's campaign made possible in the years following the war the reunification of the Kgatia under his authority, the distribution of wealth among all his people and the reduction of colonial interference in the political lives of his people.

German Capital, The Netherlands Railway Company and the Political Economy of the Transvaal 1886–1900

1978 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 369-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.J. Van Helten
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Gold Mining ◽  
Mining Industry ◽  
The Political ◽  
The South ◽  
Railway Company ◽  
South African War ◽  
German Capital ◽  
The Hague ◽  
The Republic

This article tries to throw light on one aspect of the ‘business partition’ of Africa, namely Anglo–erman economic rivalry on the Rand between 1886 and 1900. It examines the activities of the German-owned Netherlands South African Railway Company (N.Z.A.S.M.), which possessed the monopoly of construction and management of all railways connecting the republic with a seaport. The article assesses this company's impact upon the relations of the South African Republic with both the maritime colonies of the Cape and Natal and with Great Britain. Whitehall regarded the N.Z.A.S.M. as the fountainhead of ever-increasing German commercial and political penetration in the Transvaal and also considered the railway company hostile to its interests in that it allegedly discriminated against British commerce. The gold-mining industry also viewed the company with hostility, since its high freightrates increased the price of imported machinery, foodstuffs, etc. The South African Republic, on the other hand, saw the N.Z.A.S.M. as a useful means of access to both the German and Dutch capital markets, while the company arranged for diplomatic lobbying in Berlin and The Hague in favour of the Republic.By 1898, German mining interests on the Rand had managed to persuade Berlin that their interests were not served by either the Kruger regime or the German-owned N.Z.A.S.M. and that an administration more favourably disposed towards their objectives, and possibly imposed by force by the British, should not be opposed. It is therefore argued that the South African War was prompted mainly by the desire to establish British commercial hegemony on the Rand, to safeguard the interests of international mining capital and to create a more pliable polity capable of articulating and responding to these particular economic imperatives.

scholarly journals Public transport policy and performance: The results of a South African public opinion poll

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rose Luke ◽  
Gert Heyns
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
South African ◽  
Public Transport ◽  
National Development ◽  
Transport Policy ◽  
Opinion Poll ◽  
The South ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Government

Public opinion plays a vital role in a democracy, as democracies are, by nature responsive to the people. In South Africa, public participation is entrenched in the Constitution. Despite this, the spate of service delivery protests in South Africa in recent years would appear to indicate that the government is out of touch with the opinions of the South African citizens. Public  transport  policy  in  South  Africa  is  described  by  a  number  of  documents,  mainly the  White  Paper  on  National  Transport  Policy,  Moving  South  Africa  and,  more  recently, the National Development Plan. An annual survey of 1000 South Africans is conducted to gauge opinion on transport related matters. The purpose of this article was to compare the current public transport policies (as stated above) and the public opinion on public transport (as gauged by the survey) in order to determine the extent to which these are aligned. The results  show  that  current  public  transport  policy  is  relatively  strongly  aligned  with  the public transport needs of the South African population, however, concerns regarding public transport such as mobility, accessibility, affordability and safety have not yet to be addressed satisfactorily.

Conflict Resolution or Transformation? An Analysis of the South African and Mozambican Political Settlements

2001 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
South African ◽  
The Political ◽  
The South ◽  
Electoral Outcome ◽  
Popular Support ◽  
Underlying Causes ◽  
The Government ◽  
Political Settlement

AbstractHow much conflict must be resolved for a political settlement and its implementation to be successful? This article argues that a political settlement must satisfy the combatants' expectations regarding the resolution of the causes of the conflict. How deeply do these causes need to be resolved for the parties to be satisfied? To answer this question two concepts are introduced: the immediate and underlying causes of a conflict. Immediate causes (grievances) are specific, concrete policies that provoke some subset of a state's population to rebel against the government. Underlying causes are diverging interests that led to the introduction of these policies that caused the grievances. This article examines the political settlements in South Africa and Mozambique that terminated armed hostilities, overcame the conflict, and opened the door to normal politics. The research indicates that in both cases the political settlement satisfactorily resolved the immediate causes of the conflict. There was greater dissatisfaction in South Africa because the political settlement did not resolve the underlying causes of the conflict. A major reason for this dissatisfaction was that although the electoral outcome gave the ANC strong popular support, the political settlement limited its ability to grapple with root causes. In Mozambique, fears of reigniting another protracted armed confrontation and the close electoral outcome dissuaded either side from addressing the underlying causes of the conflict.

Frameworks

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas E. Delaney
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Second Line ◽  
British Army ◽  
The South ◽  
General Staff ◽  
South African War ◽  
Secretary Of State ◽  
The Military ◽  
Voluntary Basis

Chapter 1 explains the early efforts to fix military problems that had been exposed during the South African War (1899–1902) and make the armies of Britain, India, and the dominions compatible. It traces the deficiencies identified by the Elgin commission (1903), the recommendations advanced by the Esher committee for War Office reconfiguration (1904), and the military reforms of Secretary of State for War Richard Haldane to implement Esher’s recommendations, create an expeditionary force for continental warfare, and establish a Territorial Force for home defence duties and, potentially, second-line expeditionary contingents. The British Army, which was perennially short of manpower and operating on a voluntary basis for enlistments, could not afford to ignore potential contributions from overseas. The chapter also explains how Haldane managed to sell the dominions on military standardization and a general staff for the empire.

Alexander, Earl of Athlone, 1874-1957

1957 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Public Life ◽  
The South ◽  
The Public ◽  
South African War ◽  
Middlesex Hospital ◽  
Active Service ◽  
George Iii ◽  
Made In

It is unusual in Royal Society Biographical Memoirs to list the Public Appointments of Fellows like the Earl of Athlone, but it will not be possible for the reader to appreciate his very great versatility and industry unless the notice is prefaced by a certain amount of detail of his public life. Born in 1874 he was the youngest son of the first Duke of Teck and Princess Mary and was thus a great-grandson of King George III. He was a brother to Queen Mary and, therefore, a great-uncle to the present Queen. Known up to 1917 as His Serene Highness Prince Alexander, he was educated at Eton, leaving there to enter Sandhurst and in 1894 was gazetted a 2nd Lieutenant of the 7th Hussars. He saw a considerable amount of active service and fought right through the South African war and for these services he was awarded the D.S.O. In 1904 he married Princess Alice, the only daughter of the Duke of Albany who it will be remembered was Queen Victoria’s youngest son. From his marriage to the onset of the war in 1914, Prince Alexander was very active, and in view of the heavy commitments of the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) he and his wife found themselves very busily occupied on royal occasions. He found time during this period, however, to play a decisive part in the affairs of the Middlesex Hospital, but reference to this will be made in detail later.

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