South Africa elections erode ANC's long-term position

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Vote Share ◽  
Community Leaders ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Metropolitan Municipalities ◽  
Political Killings

Significance The ruling ANC's national vote share dropped below the symbolic 50% threshold to 45.6%, its lowest score in its 27 years in power. It now controls only two metropolitan municipalities (metros) out of the country’s eight. The second-largest party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), dropped more than five points to 21.8% amid historically low voter turnout. Impacts ANC infighting will intensify ahead of its national elective conference in late 2022. President Cyril Ramaphosa still looks set to be elected for a second term. Violent protests by disaffected citizens and ‘shutdowns’, some led by politically ambitious community leaders, will increase. There may be an uptick in political killings, particularly within the ANC, if by-elections are held to change contested candidate lists.

Landmark local poll will recast South Africa politics

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Rural Development ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Moderate Increase ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Nelson Mandela ◽  
Port Elizabeth ◽  
Municipal Election

Significance The party secured 54% of the vote compared to 62% in the last municipal election in 2011. The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) saw a moderate increase overall but made substantial gains in key cities, notably Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB), which incorporates Port Elizabeth, the capital Tshwane (Pretoria) and Johannesburg. Impacts Relatively high voter turnout (58%) will provide incoming administrations with strong mandates to carry out their policy programmes. Violent incidents may occur in the coming weeks as local-level competition over municipal posts intensifies. Racial tensions exacerbated by the ANC and EFF's inflammatory rhetoric during campaigning will likely ease now that the poll has passed. The results may push the national ANC government to consolidate its core support by prioritising spending on rural development.

South Africa's gold mining faces long-term decline

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Gold Mining ◽  
Content Type

Headline SOUTH AFRICA: Gold mining faces long-term decline

Chinese influence on African consumer trends will grow

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Consumer Goods ◽  
Consumer Preferences ◽  
Simultaneous Occurrence ◽  
Consumer Market ◽  
Cultural Products ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Chinese Consumer ◽  
Sub Saharan

Significance By 2025, an estimated two-thirds of African households will have discretionary income, significantly expanding the consumer pool. Growth in sub-Saharan Africa’s consumer market coincides with a regional expansion in Chinese cultural products. The simultaneous occurrence of both trends will influence long-term consumer preferences in most sub-Saharan markets, especially Nigeria and South Africa, where Chinese platforms and products are becoming established. Impacts As China expands its electronics and media presence in Africa, Chinese consumer goods will become more mainstreamed. Chinese automakers such as GAC Motors will expand their share of the Nigerian market. Through WeWallet and other Chinese fintech applications, China could become a key player in Africa’s bourgeoning e-commerce sector.

The stock-bond nexus and investors’ behavior in mature and emerging markets

2019 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Refk Selmi ◽  
Rangan Gupta ◽  
Christos Kollias ◽  
Stephanos Papadamou
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Quantile Regression ◽  
Stock Returns ◽  
Portfolio Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
Quantile Regression Model ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk

Purpose Portfolio construction and diversification is a prominent challenge for investors. It reflects market agents’ behavior and response to market conditions. This paper aims to investigate the stock-bond nexus in the case of two emerging and two mature markets, India, South Africa, the UK and the USA, using long-term historical monthly data. Design/methodology/approach To address the issue at hand, copula quantile-on-quantile regression (C-QQR) is used to model the correlation structure. Although this technique is driven by copula-based quantile regression model, it retains more flexibility and delivers more robust and accurate estimates. Findings Results suggest that there is substantial heterogeneity in the bond-stock returns correlation across the countries under study point to different investors’ behavior in the four markets examined. Additionally, the findings reported herein suggest that using C-QQR in portfolio management can enable the formation of tailored response strategies, adapted to the needs and preferences of investors and traders. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous study has addressed in a comparative setting the stock-bond nexus for the four countries used here using long-term historical data that cover the periods 1920:08-2017:02, 1910:01-2017:02, 1933:01-2017:02 and 1791:09-2017:02 for India, South Africa, the UK and the USA, respectively.

A framework for digital preservation of Indigenous knowledge system (IKS) in repositories in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tolulope Balogun ◽  
Trywell Kalusopa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Digital Preservation ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Knowledge System ◽  
Design Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge System

Purpose The purpose of this study is to assess the digital preservation policies and plans for long-term digital preservation in selected repositories in South Africa, with a view to develop a digital preservation framework for the preservation of Indigenous knowledge system (IKS) in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach Through the multiple case study research design, data was obtained from eight respondents in four Indigenous Knowledge Systems Documentation Centers (IKSDCs) in institutions that are part of the National Recordal Systems (NRS) initiative across four provinces in South Africa using in-depth face-to-face interviews. Data collected was also supplemented with the content analysis of several policy documents in South Africa. Findings The findings reveal that there are no digital preservation policies in place in the institutions, especially long-term digital preservation for IKS. However, some of the institutions are formulating policies that will include the management of IKS collected in the institutions. This study also reveals that digital curation, policy formulation and disaster preparedness plans to some extent are measures said to be in place for the digital preservation of IKS. Research limitations/implications This study focuses mainly on the NRS initiative in South Africa. Indigenous Knowledge (IK) related to traditional medicine, traditional plants and food are currently being digitized at the IKSDCs by IK recorders. This study will help in ensuring that the South African Government’s effort and investment in digitizing IKS and making them accessible online is not wasted. This study will help mitigate the risk of damage and alteration over time, either deliberately or in error. Originality/value This study fills a gap in the literature on the digitization and digital preservation of IKS from the context of the NRS project in South Africa. Very few studies have been carried out on the digital preservation of IKS in Africa. This study also proposed a framework for the digital preservation of IKS in South Africa.

South Africa's opposition could alienate black voters

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Freedom ◽  
Vote Share ◽  
General Election ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Freedom Fighters ◽  
Metropolitan Municipalities ◽  
Black Voters

Significance Previously her party’s leader (2007-15), Zille has caused an internal party crisis after tweeting that the legacy of colonialism was not all “negative”. With reports that current DA leader Mmusi Maimane wants Zille to resign, the party risks losing current or prospective black voters at the 2019 general election. Impacts If Zille is retained, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) may threaten to withdraw support in several metropolitan municipalities. Divisions could widen between pro- and anti-Zille supporters in the DA’s Western Cape structures. The Freedom Front Plus -- a small, white-dominated party -- may increase its vote share at the expense of the DA.

Influence of culture on priority-setting of high performance activities

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
André de Waal ◽  
Kettie Chipeta
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Priority Setting ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Business Students ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Cultural Dimensions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Bivariate Correlation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine whether there are common conceptions of high performance organizations (HPOs) among business in South Africa and Tanzania. This is important to know because their perceptions will not only influence the nature and scope of topics, syllabi and course materials used in teaching, but will also influence the priority of organizational decisions which are going to be made by the students when they are managers. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected by means of a questionnaire from a sample of 357 second and third year business students who were asked to rate the 35 items contained in the HPO Framework (Waal, 2012) on a seven-point Likert-scale. Findings – Factor analysis revealed that South African and Tanzania business students put priority on three of the original five HPO factors: continuous improvement and renewal, long-term orientation, high quality management, comprising 16 of the original 35 HPO characteristics. A bivariate correlation between the HPO factors and Hofstede’s dimensions of cultural values revealed a significant relationship between the HPO factor long-term orientation and three of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, for both cultures. Originality/value – The value of the study is that it adds to the HPO literature by focussing on cultural implications and Hofstede’s dimensions. The answer to the research question are there similarities or differences among business students from South Africa and Tanzania in their perceptions of what the priority should be in regard to strengthening specific characteristics in the HPO Framework? is affirmative: yes, there are differences in high performance priority-setting per country and these differences can be explained by cultural differences. The findings of this study thus form a basis for the understanding of the effects of national cultures on the creation of HPOs.

Russia looms large in murky South Africa nuclear plan

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Credit Rating ◽  
Power Production ◽  
Power Station ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Strategic Assets ◽  
Term Energy ◽  
Weak Growth

Subject South Africa-Russia cooperation on nuclear energy. Significance Fitch Ratings yesterday warned of a possible credit rating downgrade later in the year, partly due to weak growth linked to power supply woes. President Jacob Zuma outlined the government's long-term energy security plan in his February 12 state of the nation address, though subsequent attention on the details of a nuclear 'deal' with Russia reveal secretive diplomacy and governance problems. Impacts The start of power production at Eskom's long-delayed Medupi power station will begin to ease supply woes -- but slowly. Johannesburg's plan to generate power from biogas could encourage other cities to implement independent programmes. State plans to generate 23 billion rand to help Eskom by selling "non-strategic" assets could be resisted by affected ministries and unions.

The association between accounting performance and constituent response in political markets

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 394-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Bradbury ◽  
Tom Scott
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Annual Report ◽  
Accounting Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Performance ◽  
Government Accounting ◽  
Electoral Outcomes ◽  
Political Markets ◽  
The Difference

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether constituents respond to local government accounting data. Since 2006, New Zealand local authorities (councils) have been required to disclose long-term accounting data relating to forecast operating revenue and expenses. Design/methodology/approach – The authors test whether the difference between the actual operating expenditure as reported in the annual report and as forecasted is associated with electoral outcomes. Findings – The authors find that accounting performance and the sign of accounting performance (i.e. expenditure over-runs) are associated with greater councilor re-election. Furthermore, accounting performance is also associated with greater voter turnout. Originality/value – The production and disclosure of council planning data is based on the perceived accountability of the council to its constituents. The authors find that accounting, in an electoral context, has both information content and conveys good/bad news about accounting performance to voters.

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