Non-Electoral Executive Turnover and Low-Capacity Democracy in Southern Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-215
Author(s):  
Nathan Munier
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Executive Turnover ◽  
Dominant Party ◽  
Executive Authority ◽  
Dominant Parties ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

What do non-electoral turnovers tell us about the relationship between elections, executive turnover, and democratisation? Can they contribute to democratisation? To gain insight into these questions, we consider the experiences of Southern Africa. While transfers of executive authority have become commonplace in Southern Africa, they do not necessarily coincide with elections and rarely involve partisan turnover. Neither the mode nor the form of executive turnover corresponds clearly with prior assessments of democracy. This study examines recent non-electoral turnovers in Zimbabwe (November 2017), South Africa (February 2018), and Botswana (April 2018). This research finds that non-electoral transfers of presidential authority in Southern Africa represent efforts by dominant parties to manage factional conflicts and enhance their ability to benefit from incumbency in competitive elections. While non-electoral turnover in executive authority might promote democracy under some conditions, they do more to sustain dominant party rule and a stagnate level of low-capacity democracy.

Carnivore Size and Quaternary Climatic Change in Southern Africa

1986 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard G. Klein
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Geochemical Data ◽  
Mathematical Relationship ◽  
Carnivore Species ◽  
Quantitative Estimates ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Problematic Aspect ◽  
Cool Conditions

The relationship between carnassial length and latitude south is analyzed for 17 African carnivore species to determine if individuals tend to be larger in cooler climates, as predicted by Bergmann's Rule. With modern data in support, middle and late Quaternary temperatures might then be inferred from mean carnassial length in fossil samples, such as those from Equus Cave, Elandsfontein, Sea Harvest. Duinefontein, and Swartklip in the Cape Province of South Africa. One problematic aspect of the study is the use of carnassial length and latitude as necessary but imperfect substitutes for body size and temperature, respectively. For some species, another difficulty is the relatively small number of available modern specimens, combined with their uneven latitudinal spread. Still, in 14 of the species, carnassial length does tend to increase with latitude south, while mean carnassial length in the same species tends to be greater in those fossil samples which accumulated under relatively cool conditions, as inferred from sedimentologic, palynological, or geochemical data. Given larger modern samples from a wide variety of latitudes, refinement of the mathematical relationship between carnassial length and latitude in various species may even permit quantitative estimates of past temperatures in southern Africa.

Opposition Growth in Dominant Party Systems: Coalitions in South Africa

2013 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 290-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Langfield
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Party System ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Western Cape Province ◽  
Dominant Party ◽  
Party Strategies ◽  
Party Elites ◽  
Dominant Parties

What is responsible for the decline of democratically dominant parties and the corresponding growth of competitive party systems? This article argues that, despite a ruling party's dominance, opposition forces can gain by winning important subnational offices and then creating a governance record that they can use to win new supporters. It focuses on South Africa as a paradigmatic dominant party system, tracing the increased competitiveness of elections in Cape Town and the surrounding Western Cape province between 1999 and 2010. These events show how party strategies may evolve, reflecting how party elites can learn from forming coalitions.

Southern Africa: Regional Politics and Dynamics

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Chan
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Regional Politics ◽  
New Era ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Dominant Party ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Almost All

Southern Africa is a region marked by huge tensions caused by the longevity of colonial rule and racial discrimination. Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and South Africa all achieved independence only years after most of Africa, and only with protracted militarized struggle. Even those countries that did enter independence in the 1960s, alongside most of Africa, were marked by the struggles of their neighbors—Zambia, host to exile liberation movements, was a frequent military target; and wars, sponsored or supported by apartheid South Africa, continued to rage in Angola and Mozambique even after they achieved independence. This has marked the post-independence politics of most countries of the region, almost all of whom have gone through, or remain within, an era of one-party politics or dominant party rule. In part, this can be read as a residual longing for stability. In other part it can be read as a “liberation generation” using its history as a lever by which to hang onto power. Having said that, the politics of each country has distinctive characteristics—although one has certainly been protracted effort to adhere to forms of ethics, such as “Humanism” in Zambia, and truth and reconciliation in South Africa. The contemporary politics of the region, however, is one with forms of authoritarianism and corruption and, in many cases, economic decline or turmoil. The rise of Chinese influence is also a new marker of politics in the region as all of Southern Africa, with many different former colonial powers, enters a new era of problematic cosmopolitanism—with the international jostling with already sometimes-volatile elements of ethnic diversity, balancing, and conflict.

scholarly journals ‘Makhosi a via (Chiefs Commit Ritual Murder)’ – Why ritual murders in Southern Africa should be seen as meaningful violence (and not senseless)

Afrika Focus ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wiebe De Jong
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Public Debate ◽  
Cultural Dynamics ◽  
Thick Description ◽  
Ritual Murder ◽  
The Media ◽  
Insight Into

Ritual or muti murder involves the practice wherein parts of the victim’s body are removed, usually while the victim is alive, for the purpose of making medicine to politically or economically strengthen those who use it. In this article it is argued that, in order to understand this ritual, we should focus on the cultural dynamics of ritual murder and perceive it as meaningful violence. There is, however, a growing tendency to understand ritual murders in rational, utilitarian terms, which has the inadvertent effect of missing the ‘thick description’ that may provide insight into the meaning of ritual murders and the question of why it persists in present-day society. As will be explained, with such an approach ritual murders can only appear as senseless. It cuts off the research at the point where it should actually start: with questions of meaning. By presenting his- torical and ethnographic evidence from South Africa, it is shown that ritual murders were once an accepted means of strengthening the king or chief, and as such, of preserving the whole society. It is argued that in the present day, people still practise ritual murders to politically or economically strengthen themselves, but that this point is neglected in public debate and the media. By focusing on two recent ritual murder cases, it is shown that this neglect has severe consequences for think- ing about, and dealing with ritual murders. 

scholarly journals ‘Makhosi a via (Chiefs Commit Ritual Murder)’ – Why ritual murders in Southern Africa should be seen as meaningful violence (and not senseless)

Afrika Focus ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-26
Author(s):  
Wiebe de Jong
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Public Debate ◽  
Cultural Dynamics ◽  
Thick Description ◽  
Ritual Murder ◽  
The Media ◽  
Insight Into

Ritual or muti murder involves the practice wherein parts of the victim’s body are removed, usually while the victim is alive, for the purpose of making medicine to politically or economically strengthen those who use it. In this article it is argued that, in order to understand this ritual, we should focus on the cultural dynamics of ritual murder and perceive it as meaningful violence. There is, however, a growing tendency to understand ritual murders in rational, utilitarian terms, which has the inadvertent effect of missing the ‘thick description’ that may provide insight into the meaning of ritual murders and the question of why it persists in present-day society. As will be explained, with such an approach ritual murders can only appear as senseless. It cuts off the research at the point where it should actually start: with questions of meaning. By presenting historical and ethnographic evidence from South Africa, it is shown that ritual murders were once an accepted means of strengthening the king or chief, and as such, of preserving the whole society. It is argued that in the present day, people still practise ritual murders to politically or economically strengthen themselves, but that this point is neglected in public debate and the media. By focusing on two recent ritual murder cases, it is shown that this neglect has severe consequences for thinking about, and dealing with ritual murders.

International Sanctions: A Framework for Analysis with Special Reference to the UN and Southern Africa

1972 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 527-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Doxey
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
International Economic ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Special Reference ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Economic Sanctions ◽  
The Status ◽  
International Sanctions ◽  
The Relationship

This paper falls into two main parts. In Part I an attempt is made to develop a simple framework which can be used for analyzing the role of sanctions, with special reference to international sanctions.1In Part II this framework is used to investigate the status of the United Nations as a sanctioning body and, in particular, the relationship between the UN and Southern Africa where Rhodesia has been subjected to international economic sanctions since 1965 and South Africa has been under threat of similar measures since the early 1960s.2

DEBATING THE ANC'S EXTERNAL LINKS DURING THE STRUGGLE AGAINST APARTHEID

Africa ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 85 (1) ◽  
pp. 154-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
HUGH MACMILLAN
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
South African ◽  
Recent Book ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
History Of ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Ruling Party

Several recent publications have explored the African National Congress's (ANC's) external links during South Africa's apartheid years. The following four texts offer an insight into the very different personal and methodological approaches that have so far shaped attempts to understand this aspect of the ANC's struggle. The section starts with a review of Stephen Ellis's recent book External Mission: the ANC in exile, 1960–1990 by Hugh Macmillan, who argues that Ellis overemphasizes the relationship between the ANC and the South African Communist Party (SACP). In a response to this review, Stephen Ellis justifies his approach by pointing to the importance of interpretation for the production of history, but also by referring to the different networks and resources, both in South Africa and beyond, on which he and Macmillan were able to draw. A review of Hugh Macmillan's new book The Lusaka Years: the ANC in exile in Zambia, 1963 to 1994 by Arianna Lissoni follows. Lissoni agrees with the author that the debate about the ANC in exile must be understood in the context of contemporary disaffection with South Africa's ruling party. Emphasizing the specificity of the Zambian experience, she welcomes Macmillan's focus on the multiplicity of experiences in exile as potentially opening new avenues for further study and reflection on the ANC. Finally, Mariya Kurbak's consideration of Irina Filatova and Apollon Davidson's The Hidden Thread: Russia and South Africa in the Soviet era explains that the authors' close understanding of Russian–South African relations enables them to illuminate the previously hidden importance of the Soviet Union in the history of South Africa and the ANC.

Perovskite from the Dutoitspan kimberlite, Kimberley, South Africa: implications for magmatic processes

2009 ◽  
Vol 73 (6) ◽  
pp. 915-928 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Ogilvie-Harris ◽  
M. Field ◽  
R. S. J. Sparks ◽  
M. J. Walter
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Magma Mixing ◽  
Mineral Chemistry ◽  
Minor Components ◽  
Sharp Boundary ◽  
Volatile Content ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Diamondiferous Kimberlite ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractPerovskite compositions are used to investigate the relationship between the minor components (i.e. LREE, Fe3+ and Nb) and the oxygen fugacity (fo2) of perovskite in four different kimberlite lithofacies from the Dutoitspan pipe, Kimberley, South Africa, which range from diamondiferous to barren. The perovskite textures and chemical variations provide insight into magmatic and eruptive processes. Some crystals display cores with rims separated by a sharp boundary. The cores contain larger Na and LREE contents relative to the rims, which show a large increase in Fe3+ and Al. The mid-grade and barren kimberlites have bi-modal cores, reflected in the mineral chemistry, signifying multiple batches of magma and magma mixing. The fo2 of the magma is determined by an Fe-Nb oxygen barometer. The most diamondiferous kimberlite has the greatest Fe3+ content and highest fo2 (NNO –3.6 to –1.1). The kimberlite containing large diamonds has the smallest Fe3+ content and lowest fo2 (NNO –5.2 to –3.0). The barren and mid-grade kimberlites display a wide range of fo2,(NNO –5.3 to –1.5) as a result of perovskites forming in different melts and subsequently mixing together. Chemical and petrological evidence suggests that the volatile content, degassing, decompression and rate of crystallization can influence the rate at which the magma is erupted. One possibility is that the most oxidized magma, containing the highest volatile content, is therefore erupted much more rapidly, preserving diamond as a consequence.

The Congress Party Model: South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) and India's Indian National Congress (INC) as Dominant Parties

2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thiven Reddy
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Party System ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
The Political ◽  
Nationalist Movements ◽  
Dominant Party ◽  
Congress Party ◽  
Dominant Parties ◽  
National Congress ◽  
Indian National Congress

Abstract The paper argues that the model developed to analyze the dominance of the Indian National Congress of the political party system during the first two decades of independence helps in our understanding of the unfolding party system in South Africa. A comparison of the Congress Party and the African National Congress suggests many similarities. The paper is divided into three broad sections. The first part focuses on the dominant party system in India. In the second part, I apply the model of the Congress System to South Africa. I argue that the three features of the Congress System – a dominant party with mass based legitimacy, constituted by many factions and operating on the idiom of consensus-seeking internal politics, and sources of opposition who cooperate with factions in the dominant party to influence the political agenda – prevails in South Africa. In the third part, I draw on the comparison between the ANC and Congress Party to account for why certain nationalist movements become dominant parties. I emphasize that broad nationalist movements displaying high degrees of legitimacy and embracing democratic practices are adaptive to changing contexts and develop organizational mechanisms to manage internal party conflict. They contribute to the consolidation of democracy rather than undermine it.

scholarly journals Between Principles & Power: Water Law Principles & the Governance of Water in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Daedalus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 150 (4) ◽  
pp. 220-239
Author(s):  
Heinz Klug
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
International Agreements ◽  
Water Law ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
Access To Water ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Debates over the management and allocation of water in the postcolonial era, and in post-apartheid South Africa in particular, reveal that struggles over water resources in Southern Africa occur within three broad frames: the institutional, the hydrological, and the ideological. Each of these realms reflects tensions in the relationship between power and principle that continue to mark the governance of water. Each perspective offers a way to understand the use and the limits of law in the management of a country's water resources. The existence of explicit principles, whether as policy guidelines, constitutional rights, or in the language of regional and international agreements, provides two important resources for those who struggle for access to water. First, a vision of a more just allocation of this fundamental resource and, second, an articulation of common benchmarks to which states and governments might be held to account.

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