Petrus Johann du Toit, 1888-1967

1969 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 247-266
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Scientific Development ◽  
International Level ◽  
Boer War ◽  
The Public ◽  
History Of ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
The Republic ◽  
European Colonialism ◽  
The Individual

The life and work of Dr P. J. du Toit spanned a significant period in the history of South Africa. During his lifetime there were two World Wars, as well as the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902; in 1910 the two recently independent republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State were united with the colonies of the Gape of Good Hope and Natal in the Union of South Africa which, in 1961, became the Republic of South Africa. The last ten years of his life, from 1957 to 1967, saw the virtual disappearance of European colonialism which had dominated the African scene for more than two centuries. The life of P. J. du Toit—the individual, the scientist and the public figure—is inextricably bound up with the rapidly changing patterns of social, political and scientific development brought about by these momentous events and his contribution, at both the national and the international level, must be seen against the background of these happenings.

The Legal Status of Local Government in South Africa under the New Constitutional Dispensation

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mbuzeni Mathenjwa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Case Law ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Republic ◽  
First Time

The history of local government in South Africa dates back to a time during the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910. With regard to the status of local government, the Union of South Africa Act placed local government under the jurisdiction of the provinces. The status of local government was not changed by the formation of the Republic of South Africa in 1961 because local government was placed under the further jurisdiction of the provinces. Local government was enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa arguably for the first time in 1993. Under the interim Constitution local government was rendered autonomous and empowered to regulate its affairs. Local government was further enshrined in the final Constitution of 1996, which commenced on 4 February 1997. The Constitution refers to local government together with the national and provincial governments as spheres of government which are distinctive, interdependent and interrelated. This article discusses the autonomy of local government under the 1996 Constitution. This it does by analysing case law on the evolution of the status of local government. The discussion on the powers and functions of local government explains the scheme by which government powers are allocated, where the 1996 Constitution distributes powers to the different spheres of government. Finally, a conclusion is drawn on the legal status of local government within the new constitutional dispensation.

scholarly journals Fostering public accountability in South Africa: A reflection on challenges and successes

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pandelani H. Munzhedzi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Public Accountability ◽  
The Public ◽  
Current State ◽  
Public Service Provision ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Government

Accountability and oversight are constitutional requirements in all the spheres of government in the Republic of South Africa and their foundation is in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996. All spheres of government are charged with the constitutional mandate of providing public services. The level of responsibility and public services provision also goes with the level of capacity of a particular sphere. However, most of the direct and visible services that the public receives are at the local sphere of government. As such, enormous resources are channelled towards this sphere of government so that the said public services could be provided. It is imperative that the three spheres of government account for the huge expenditures during the public service provision processes. The parliaments of national and provincial governments exercise oversight and accountability over their executives and administrations through the Public Accounts Committees, while the local sphere of government relies on the Municipal Public Accounts Committees. This article is theoretical in nature, and it seeks to explore the current state of public accountability in South Africa and to evaluate possible measures so as to enhance public accountability. The article argues that the current public accountability mechanisms are not efficient and effective. It is recommended that these mechanisms ought to be enhanced by inter alia capacitating the legislative bodies at national, provincial and local spheres of the government.

scholarly journals POLITICAL CRIME IN THE IRANIAN PENAL SYSTEM AND THE POSITION OF CONSTITUTIONAL CIVIL LIBERTIES IN CRIMINALIZING POLITICAL CRIME

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 1099-1112
Author(s):  
Mehrdad Soleiman Fallah ◽  
Abdolvahid Zahedi
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Penal System ◽  
International Level ◽  
Related Research ◽  
The Public ◽  
History Of ◽  
Political Crime ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Historical Periods

Purpose: This study aims to analyze political crime in the Iranian penal system and the place of civil, constitutional freedoms in the criminalization of political crime. Methodology: In this study, we have tried to study articles and related research in this field and analyze the results of each to make a proper conclusion about the relationship between the Iranian systems in dealing with political crimes. Therefore, the only tools used in this study are documents related to political crimes at the international level. Main findings: Political Crime Law enacted in 2016, despite the basic forms of extensive discretion and lack of specific criteria for the judicial authority in determining whether a crime is political or non-political, practically made this law ineffective, regardless of the problems mentioned. Application of the study: Since the commencement of the country, political wrongdoing has been viewed as wrongdoing against the public authority. Therefore, the results of this study can be very effective in improving the performance of governments in preventing possible crimes against governments. Novelty/Originality: Given the multiplicity of political crimes in our country, as well as the complexities involved in the case of political crimes, it seems that in the history of our criminal law, there has been a will to legislate and determine the exact causes of political crime, and governments in most historical periods, they have made great efforts to identify political criminals. The novelty of this research lies in investigating the effect of political crimes on legal confusion in legislating political offenses.

Memories and Expectations of Environmental Disaster: Some Lessons from the Marshall Islands

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Rudiak-Gould
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Marshall Islands ◽  
Environmental Disaster ◽  
The Public ◽  
History Of ◽  
Natural Protection ◽  
Human Habitation ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Public Imagination

The Republic of the Marshall Islands, an archipelago of low-lying coral atolls in eastern Micronesia, is one of four sovereign nations that may be rendered uninhabitable by climate change in the present century. It is not merely sea level rise which is expected to undermine life in these islands, but the synergy of multiple climatic threats (Barnett and Adger 2003). Rising oceans and increasingly frequent typhoons will exacerbate flooding at the same time that the islands’ natural protection—coral reefs—will die from warming waters and ocean acidification. Fresh water resources will be threatened by both droughts and salt contamination from flooding. Although the reaction of the coral atoll environment to climate change is uncertain, it is likely that the islands will no longer be able to support human habitation within fifty or a hundred years (Barnett and Adger 2003: 326)—quite possibly within the lifetimes of many Marshall Islanders living today. In the public imagination, climate change in vulnerable, remote locations is the intrusion of contamination into a formerly pristine environment, of danger into a once secure sanctuary, of change into a once static microcosm (see Lynas 2004: 81, 124). Archaeologists, of course, know better than this: every place has a history of environmental upheavals, and the Marshall Islands is no exception. Researchers agree that coral atolls are among the most precarious and marginal environments that humans have managed to inhabit (Weisler 1999; Yamaguchi et al. 2005: 27), existing only ‘on the margins of sustainability’ (Weisler 2001). The islands in fact only recently formed: while the reefs are tens of millions of years old, the islets that sit on them emerged from the sea only recently, probably around 2000 BP (Weisler et al. 2000: 194; Yamaguchi et al. 2005: 31–2), just before the first people arrived (Yamaguchi et al. 2005: 31–2). The new home that these early seafarers found was not so much an ancient safe haven as a fragile geological experiment—land whose very existence was tenuous long before humans were altering the global climate.

scholarly journals Managing Balance: Pursuit of Equilibrium Permeates the History of Science and Influences Contemporary Investigations

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Kasmire
Keyword(s):  
Sustainability Science ◽  
Multiple Scales ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Subsequent Development ◽  
Scientific Development ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Carbon Neutrality ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Successes And Failures

AbstractThe word “sustainable” débuted in 1987 but has since become a hot topic issue, both for scientific research and wider society. Although sustainability may appear to be a thoroughly twenty-first century goal, sustainability science concepts and goals such as balance, endurance, order and change, reach back at least as far as the proto-scientific investigations of alchemy. Both alchemy and sustainability science can be understood as systems or strategies which individuals and societies can use to organise and manage themselves in a complex world filled with dynamic problems. Alchemy never created a panacea or transmuted base metals into gold because those goals proved to be based on fundamentally flawed theories and premises. Nevertheless, alchemy did succeed in helping adherents manage themselves and their societies in advantageous ways. Alchemy also positively and significantly influenced subsequent scientific development. Likewise, science helps humanity manage itself on multiple scales, from the individual to the international, and will certainly contribute to further scientific research and development. However, it is not yet known whether carbon neutrality, entirely renewable energy and other sustainability goals will be achieved or whether these goals will also come to be seen as based on flawed understandings and theories. For this reason, this article explores key features of alchemy, traces how they persisted through Enlightenment-era science and how they continue to be present and influential within scientific efforts today. The article goes on to reflect on how the history, development and continued use of concepts such as balance, endurance, order and change may be useful portents of how humans and human society will manage themselves in the future. Such reflections may also temper the zeal with which individuals that accept or reject sustainability goals treat each other, thereby offering a way for divergent groups to manage their interactions. Flawed theories prevented alchemy from achieving many of its primary stated goals. However, alchemy was very beneficial, both during its period of use and subsequently through its influence on subsequent development. This article identifies ideas from alchemy that were originally beneficial and that have persisted through Enlightenment-era science and into contemporary science. The article also explores how those ideas continue to influence scientific and sustainability goals today. Understanding and reflecting on alchemy’s successes and failures facilitates reflection on the potential successes and failures of sustainability and the human consequences of trying to manage a sustainable future.

scholarly journals Strategiese bemarkingsbestuur by enkele leweransiers aan die landbou in die Republiek van Suid-Afrika

1986 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-100
Author(s):  
J. J. Van Zyl
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Marketing Strategy ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Marketing Management ◽  
Strategic Marketing ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Individual

Strategic marketing management of some suppliers to the Agricultural sector in the Republic of South Africa The Republic of South Africa is at present in a state of change within the economical, political, social, institutional, physical and international environments. Change in these fields is still in an early phase and rapid changes can be expected in future. From a management point of view, these changes are a fact and must be considered and taken into account in the decision-making process. Modern enterprise in the free-market system functions within the framework of the changing environment and the ability to grow and develop are dependent on the ability of the individual firm to adapt to these changes. The aim of the research was to determine how marketing management of some suppliers of capital equipment to the agricultural sector apply strategic marketing principles and practices, to enable their firms to adapt to constant external changes. Apart from a theoretical background some empirical research was undertaken to determine the composition of the management and marketing strategies. The emphasis is, however, on the formulation of the marketing strategy and the implementation of the marketing strategy.

The Relationship between the Korean Dawn Prayer Meeting and Spirituality

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 206-219
Author(s):  
Jonghyun Kim
Keyword(s):  
Christian Spirituality ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
The Public ◽  
Individual Spirituality ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Dawn Prayer Meeting ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship

This article analyzes the formative power of the Korean dawn prayer service to better understand the public and private dimensions of Christian spirituality. It explores the origin of the dawn prayer in the history of Korean Protestantism, and examines an example from a particular church. On the basis of this exploration, it is argued that the dawn prayer service should not be understood as an instrument to strengthen individual spirituality, but rather as a place to participate in God’s redemptive work to and for the world. Both the individual and communal aspects of dawn prayer practice are important, but I will argue that current Korean practice leans too much toward the individual.

Santa Anna and His Legacy

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Will Fowler
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mexican War ◽  
Early National Period ◽  
The Public ◽  
Early National ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Alamo ◽  
The U.S

Antonio López de Santa Anna (b. Xalapa, February 21, 1794; d. Mexico City, June 21, 1876) was one of the most notorious military caudillos of 19th-century Mexico. He was involved in just about every major event of the early national period and served as president on six different occasions (1833–1835, 1839, 1841–1843, 1843–1844, 1846–1847, and 1853–1855). U.S. Minister Plenipotentiary Waddy Thompson during the 1840s would come to the conclusion that: “No history of his country for that period can be written without constant mention of his name.”1 For much of the 1820s to 1850s he proved immensely popular; the public celebrated him as “Liberator of Veracruz,” the “Founder of the Republic,” and the “Hero of Tampico” who repulsed a Spanish attempt to reconquer Mexico in 1829. Even though he lost his leg defending Veracruz from a French incursion in 1838, many still regarded him as the only general who would be able to save Mexico from the U.S. intervention of 1846–1848. However, Mexicans, eventually, would remember him more for his defeats than his victories. Having won the battle of the Alamo, he lost the battle of San Jacinto which resulted in Texas becoming independent from Mexico in 1836. Although he recovered from this setback, many subsequently blamed him for Mexico’s traumatic defeat in the U.S.-Mexican War, which ended with Mexico ceding half of its territory to the United States. His corruption paired with the fact that he aligned himself with competing factions at different junctures contributed to the accusation that he was an unprincipled opportunist. Moreover, because he authorized the sale of La Mesilla Valley to the United States (in present-day southern Arizona) in the 1853 Gadsden Purchase, he was labeled a vendepatrias (“fatherland-seller”). The repressive dictatorship he led donning the title of “His Serene Highness” in 1853–1855, also gave way to him being presented thereafter as a bloodthirsty tyrant, even though his previous terms in office were not dictatorial. Albeit feted as a national hero during much of his lifetime, historians have since depicted Santa Anna as a cynical turncoat, a ruthless dictator, and the traitor who lost the U.S.-Mexican War on purpose. However, recent scholarship has led to a significant revision of this interpretation. The aim of this article is to recast our understanding of Santa Anna and his legacy bearing in mind the latest findings. In the process it demonstrates how important it is to engage with the complexities of the multilayered regional and national contexts of the time in order to understand the politics of Independent Mexico.

South Africa and the International Community

1966 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Dale
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
South African ◽  
British Empire ◽  
Nobel Laureate ◽  
Western World ◽  
Founding Father ◽  
Boer War ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of

Ever since the discovery there of gold and diamonds in the last half of the nineteenth century, South Africa has engaged the rapt attention of the Western world. The saga of the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902, perhaps the last of the “gentlemen's wars,” and now the refurbished accounts of the gallant defense of Rorke's Drift in the AngloZulu War of 1879 have been fascinating material for both novelists and film scriptwriters. In addition, the history of South Africa is replete with titanic figures who rank with, or perhaps even above, those from the rest of the continent: the aggressive architect of empire, Cecil J. Rhodes; the redoubtable Zulu warrior, Chaka; the dour, stern-willed President of the South African Republic, “Oom” (Uncle) Paul Kruger; the world-renowned statesman and philosopher, Field Marshal Jan C. Smuts; the founding father of Indian independence, Mohandas K. Gandhi; the compassionate and courageous writer, Alan S. Paton; and the dignified, modest Zulu Nobel Laureate, Albert J. Luthuli. By any standard, South Africa and its leaders of all races have made far-reaching and impressive contributions to the continent, the British Empire, and the world at large.

Measuring judicial independence in international law

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 531-551
Author(s):  
Georgios Dimitropoulos
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Judicial Independence ◽  
Subjective Perception ◽  
International Level ◽  
Psychological Approach ◽  
The Public ◽  
Competing Interests ◽  
International Adjudication ◽  
Measurement And Evaluation ◽  
The Individual

This article searches for paths, frameworks and modules for the measurement and evaluation of judicial independence in international law. First, it discusses the measurability of the concept. Judicial independence, both as such and especially at the international level, is very difficult to measure, given the ambivalence of some proxies and variables that have been used in empirical research in order to measure it, and given the competing interests and actors in international adjudication: independence does not stand alone as the only value that needs to be protected in international adjudication. Second, the article presents methodologies for the evaluation of international judicial independence. The three competing methodologies are (i) the subjective, which looks at the subjective perception of the judges themselves or the public; (ii) the output-based, which looks at the decisions of the courts and tribunals; and (iii) the institutional, which looks at the personal independence guarantees of the judge, and the organizational safeguards of independence. Finally, this article presents its preferred model for the measurement of international judicial independence. The study takes an institutional-psychological approach that focuses on the judge and the individual institutions.

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