The South African Pandemic of Racial Capitalism

2021 ◽  
pp. 36-50
Author(s):  
Madalitso Zililo Phiri
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
South African ◽  
State Formation ◽  
Settler Colonialism ◽  
The South ◽  
Racial Capitalism ◽  
Imperial State

South Africa's COVID-19 pandemic is one of racial capitalism, entangled with histories of imperial state formation, settler colonialism, and a hierarchical, global-neoliberal public policy architecture.

scholarly journals RELATIVE BARGAINING STRENGTH AND ILLEGALITY Uniting Reformed Church, De Doorns v President of the Republic of South Africa 2013 (5) SA 205 (WCC)

Obiter ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Sharrock
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
South African ◽  
Bargaining Power ◽  
Relevant Factor ◽  
The South ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Bargaining Positions

The South African courts have recognized that the relative situation of contracting parties when concluding the contract – the strength of their bargaining positions relative to each other – is a relevant factor when determining whether a particular provision in the contract (or the contract as a whole) is contrary to public policy. However, there are relatively few cases in which the court has actually relied upon inequality of bargaining power as a ground for holding that a contractual provision is illegal. In Uniting Reformed Church, De Doorns v President of the Republic of South Africa (2013 (5) SA 205 (WCC) (the “URC case”)), Zondi J held that one of the reasons why a clause common to certain notarial leases was contrary to public policy was because the contractants had not occupied equal bargaining positions when entering into the leases. Whether or not one fully agrees with the judge’s reasoning, the decision underscores the importance of understanding what is meant by relative bargaining strength and how and when it affects the lawfulness of a contract.

Power to the People? Right of Access to Electricity in South Africa

Politeia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khaled Qasaymeh ◽  
Jo-Ansie Karina Van Wyk
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
South African ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
The South ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Socio Economic Development ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Of Access

The provision and distribution of and access to electricity are not only technical and economic matters. Access to electricity is a highly political and ideological issue and has consequences for public policy and human development. Since 2000, South Africa has experienced power outages (euphemistically called load-shedding) and the country has not kept up with increased electricity and socio-economic demands. Globally, access to electricity is increasingly regarded as a basic human right and an important contributor to socio-economic development. However, the position towards and the practice regarding access to electricity by the post-apartheid South African government are contradictory. Although both the South African Bill of Rights and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996 refer to fundamental human rights, the matter of access to electricity as a human right is not clearly spelled out in these documents. This article outlines international and African norms in respect of the right of access to electricity in the context of the international socio-economic development debate. It proceeds to examine the South African context, policies, legislation and constitutional court judgments in respect of socio-economic development with a special focus on access to electricity—a matter which is closely linked to political, public policy and development issues such as housing and the environment in South Africa. The article calls for the right of access to electricity to be declared a basic human right and to be legislated as such in the South African legal regime.

Public Policy and the South African Economy

1978 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 330
Author(s):  
Zbigniew A. Konczacki ◽  
M. L. Truu
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
South African ◽  
The South

South Africa and Portugal

1974 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-20
Author(s):  
Basil Davidson
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
United Nations ◽  
South African ◽  
Central Element ◽  
Economic Structure ◽  
Cape Verde ◽  
The South ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Military

A central element in the story of southern Africa during the early 1970s is the quietly persistent penetration in to neighboring countries of dominant interests—whether economic, political or even military—of the Republic of South Africa. As the motives for this expansion have become clearer, so too has the crucial nature of the importance to the South African system of the Portuguese colonialist positions in Angola and Mozambique, and, by an inseparable extension, in Guinea-Bissau and the Cape Verde archipelago.This significance to South Africa of the “Portuguese territories” is now observable in all major fields of public policy and action, and ranges from the military-logistical to the very interstices of the South African economic structure. An understanding of the South African government's relations with these territories, as well as of its relations with the Portuguese regime in Lisbon, must therefore be essential to a realistic estimate of likely developments in the subcontinent, and bears, accordingly, a direct meaning for the policies and intentions of the United Nations.

scholarly journals Settler Colonialism and the South African TRC: Ambivalent Denial and Democratisation Without Decolonisation

2021 ◽  
pp. 096466392110227
Author(s):  
Augustine S.J. Park
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Settler Colonialism ◽  
The South ◽  
Field Of Study ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
Recent Scholarship

In the quarter-century since it began its work, the South African TRC has been endlessly debated. At the same time, a field of study emerged centred on settler colonialism, and settler colonial analyses have become established in transitional justice. South Africa’s TRC, however, has escaped examination through the lens of settler colonialism. Typically, settler colonialism in South Africa is treated as an historical phase; however, recent scholarship emphasises South Africa’s colonial present. Following these insights, this article: (1) establishes the relevance of a settler colonial lens for interpreting the South African TRC by demonstrating the settler colonialism of apartheid; (2) provides an empirical examination of the TRC’s Report. The Report acknowledges settler colonialism while advancing a series of denials, producing ‘ambivalent denial’; (3) explores the implications of ambivalent denial. Specifically, ambivalent denial contributes to democratisation without decolonisation by enabling settler denial and failing to address settler colonial structures.

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