Reconciling Homosexuality and Spirituality in Africa as a Heresy and Survival Strategy

The fight against homophobia in Africa has motivated the emergence of various advocacy initiatives including pro-gay religious forces. One of such initiatives – which have audaciously Christianized homosexuality – has been the Nigerian based, House of Rainbow (LGBT church). Using observations and a critical exploitation of secondary sources, this book chapter critically appraises this church in the light of four socio-religious theories namely, secular humanism, postmodernism, religious liberalism and African conservatism. The chapter is divided into four main parts. The first part provides a theoretical framework composed of four movements namely postmodernism, secular humanism, religious liberalism and African conservatism. The second part explores the origin, mission and structure of House of Rainbow. The third part examines House of Rainbow as postmodernist and religious humanist Christianity; while the last part examines the extent to which the gay-only church is more a survival strategy for Nigerian LGBT people than it is a heresy.

Creating a Development Bank to Finance Affordable Housing in South Africa is a Timely Catalyst to Address Demand and Supply Challenges

The twin problems of affordability and accessibility that hamper the progress of housing in our country need to be addressed on a sustainable basis and the state needs to take on the role as a facilitator to create the enabling environment to encourage greater private sector participation. As a consequence, it is quite opportune to establish the Human Settlements Development Bank (HSDB). The mortgage finance affordability challenge is also attributable to key essential drivers, namely; house price index, disposable income, and the mortgage interest rates.

Social Media as Alternative Public Sphere for Citizen Participation and Protest in National Politics in Zimbabwe

The chapter examines and discusses the role and communicative potential of social media based platforms in citizen political participation and protests in Zimbabwe specifically focusing on the #thisflag movement on Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp. #thisflag is a social media-based platform that rose to challenge the Zimbabwean government over the political and economic decay as well as rampant corruption characterising the country contemporarily. While a new phenomenon to Zimbabwe and Zimbabwean politics, the impact and communicative potential of social media as an alternative public sphere was recently tested in nationwide protest stayaway organised through the Facebook and Twitter movement under the #thisflag handle/brand. This chapter discusses the manners in which such social media platforms impact national politics in Zimbabwe as well as globally, specifically looking at the #thisflag movement as a case study.

Afrikaner Music and Identity Politics in Post-Apartheid South Africa

A song about a Boer War general, released in 2006, stirred controversy in South Africa by triggering a gearshift amongst Afrikaners towards re-engaging in the political process. The song “De la Rey”, which became a popular South African hit, captured the alienation many Afrikaners felt at having become a politically marginalized and disempowered ethnic minority within a state where Black Nationalism had become the dominant discourse. The song triggered the De la Rey phenomenon in which Afrikaners became once more politically assertive, following a decade in which this community had been politically dormant. Afrikaners took to singing “De la Rey” as a sort of ‘national anthem' when they gathered in sports stadiums, BBQs, pubs and parties. Twelve months after “De la Rey” was released, the South African government expressed concern the song could become “a rallying point for treason”. The De la Rey phenomenon offers an excellent fulcrum to consider how music can provide a platform for political messages which have consequences for the political process.

The Institution of Traditional Leadership and Local Governance in Zimbabwe

This article describes how traditional leaders play important developmental, administrative and political roles in rural areas, despite modern state structures. They regulate rural life, control access to land, and settle various disputes. They are respected leaders in their communities. The existence of traditional leaders means that both the decentralisation and the strengthening of local governance are not taking place in a vacuum. Documentary sources such as the Constitution of Zimbabwe; the Traditional Leaders Act (2000) and Chiefs and Headmen Act (1982); newspapers and unpublished non-governmental organisations (NGOs) evaluations and reports were used in this article. Traditional leaders have played a pivotal role in ensuring that the ZANU-PF government remains in power since 1980. In principle, traditional leaders should not be drawn into party politics and their role should remain one of the neutral leadership. If the traditional leader assumes a party-political role, one should appoint a substitute to handle their traditional role to avoid a conflict of interest.

Electoral Polling and Reporting in Africa

Opinion polling during elections plays a pivotal role in influencing the political and media agenda, and can potentially affect voting behaviour. However, evidence from various countries indicates that electoral polls have been characterised by contradictions and contentious debates which undermine their usefulness in democratic processes. The digital age has also led to a mushrooming of online polls, but some of them are of dubious quality. Thus, the chapter questions the continued use of electoral polls in multiparty politics in Africa. It argues that as a result of the inherent political and electoral volatility in many African countries, the utility of opinion polls need to be reconsidered. The paper recommends strategies for addressing the identified pitfalls, including increased professionalization of opinion polling, voter education on the limitations of pre-election polls and stronger appreciation of data journalism for media professionals. Stricter regulations, such as the embargo of election opinion polling may also be considered in different contexts.

Angolan Higher Education, Policy, and Leadership

Since the end of the armed conflict in 2002, Angola has witnessed rapid socio-economic development characterized by the stabilization of macro-economic indicators. In this context, the government has been implementing important structural and economic reforms, including in the area of education. The purpose of this chapter is to reflect on these developments and the implication they might have on development of sustainable higher education, access, quality education, equity, leadership, and education policy. The chapter provides a brief comparative analysis of tertiary education funding among the countries of Southern Development Community (SADC) and other African countries in order to draw the attention of the decision makers about the relevance to invest more on education and protect the investments that the state has been making in education. In addition, the chapter calls for transformative leadership for social justice and change in organizational culture as an alternative avenue for enforcing current policies.

Accessibility of Sino-African Educational Partnerships in Higher Education

By analyzing current literatures (2012-2016) and using author's personal experience in bringing one Chinese university's students to have service learning projects in Africa, this chapter aims at 1. reviewing the current forms of and 2. explore the alternative way of Sino-African educational partnerships in higher education since the establishment of Peoples' Republic of China in 1949. The literatures have informed that Sino-African educational partnerships have received positive feedback. However, cultural challenges associated with the existing educational partnerships may result in lowering the partnerships quality. The motivations of the African students to pursue their studies in Chinese universities may subsequently be lowered. To deal with these potential problems, the chapter argues that one way to handle the cultural issues could be to let both Chinese and African students experience their cultures physically before educational partnerships.

A Survey on the Acceptability of Equivalence-Based Translation Into Yorùbá Language in the Domain of Information and Communication Technology

This article contains a descriptive survey on the acceptability of equivalence-based translation of the menu of TECNO Android phones into the Yorùbá language, one of the three major languages in Nigeria. Words translated into Yorùbá were categorized into strategies of borrowing, semantic extension and composition and analysed from equivalence effect. In the follow-up survey, information and communication technology experts and general mobile phone users were carefully chosen and consulted for an assessment of the appropriateness of the translation. The study concluded that equivalence, the key term of linguistic translation theories, is still a viable concept in the translation of information and communication technology and equivalence-based translation into Yorùbá will not only promote the language but also contribute to effective communication in a multilingual global village that the world is fast becoming.

Child Marriages in Rural Zimbabwe

The objectives of this article was to understand the causes, effects and measures to reduce child marriages in rural Zimbabwe. Child marriages have serious social, economic, health and political implications on young girls and their communities. Young girls are also robbed of their locally and internationally recognised rights. Ending child marriages demands a multi-sectoral approach where all actors, such as parents, national governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), local culture, and religion are involved. This article relies on qualitative methodology to gather data. Purposive sampling and snow ball sampling methods were used to identify key informants and women who were victims of child marriages. Stakeholders involved in children's rights should provide reproductive health and education services to local communities in order to end child marriages.