Showing posts with label South Africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label South Africa. Show all posts

Thursday, 13 October 2016

Exit of South Africa’s Finance Minister? Not So Fast (John Campbell, Council on Foreign Relations)

Pravin Gordhan faces charges of fraud and has been summoned to the Pretoria Regional Court on November 2. The charges appear to be spurious. They concern Gordhan’s approval of the early retirement of a government employee and his subsequent re-employment under contract. The claim is that the amount of money involved is just over ZAR 1.1 million (approximately $76,000). Early retirement followed by re-engagement on contract is commonplace in many governments, including that of South Africa.

Saturday, 2 April 2016

The Constitution and Rule of Law Reaffirmed in South Africa (John Campbell, CFR)

On March 31, the eleven justices of South Africa’s highest judicial body, the Constitutional Court, ruled unanimously that President Jacob Zuma and the National Assembly had violated the Constitution. The president, the court ruled, had improperly spent public money on his private estate, Nkandla. The National Assembly had improperly defended the president by refusing to implement the ruling of the public protector, a constitutionally mandated official, when she concluded that the expenditure had been improper.

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John Campbell. Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies

Friday, 18 March 2016

South Africa’s President Zuma in Trouble with His Party (John Campbell, CFR)

South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma has often been accused of corruption. But, until recently his hold on the governing African National Congress (ANC), with its huge parliamentary majority, has ensured that he could weather political storms. However, his recent missteps have eroded his support within the party. There is speculation that the party could remove him as party leader which would likely result in his resigning the presidency. While such speculation is premature, he is certainly politically damaged. The greatest threat to Zuma’s political future is now from within his own political party, rather than from the opposition.

http://blogs.cfr.org/campbell/2016/03/17/south-africas-president-zuma-in-trouble-with-his-party/

Friday, 11 March 2016

South Africa’s Trade Union Federation to Split (John Campbell, CFR)

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), a federation of labor unions, played a crucial role in the struggle against apartheid. It provided much of the personnel that mobilized voters for the African National Congress (ANC) from the country‘s first “all-race” elections in 1994 up to now. COSATU, the South African Communist Party (SACP), and the ANC form the coalition that governs the country. COSATU and SACP contest elections as part of the ANC.

http://blogs.cfr.org/campbell/2016/03/10/south-africas-trade-union-federation-to-split/

Tuesday, 8 March 2016

Headed South: Jacob Zuma Leads South Africa toward the Precipice (Stewart M. Patrick, CFR)

Protesters carry placards as they take part in a "Zuma must fall" demonstration in Pretoria, South Africa, on December 16, 2015.

South Africa is in the grips of its most serious economic and political crisis since 1994, when the country elected its first post-apartheid government under Nelson Mandela. The African National Congress (ANC), which has ruled the country since its liberation, is on the defensive. Younger South Africans—many born into freedom—are disillusioned by the ANC’s failure to deliver broad-based prosperity in what has become the world’s most unequal nation, in terms of per capita income. Most worrisome, President Jacob Zuma’s government has taken an authoritarian and corrupt turn—at the very moment the country needs bold and honest leadership.

Friday, 4 March 2016

Constitutional or Parliamentary Democracy in South Africa (John Campbell, CFR)

South Africa's ruling ANC (African National Congress) Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe addresses the media in Kempton Park, outside Johannesburg, September 20, 2008. (Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko)

On February 19, governing African National Congress (ANC) Secretary General Gwede Mantashe addressed a party march for “unity, democracy and non-racialism” in Pretoria. There are press reports of eighty-seven thousand participants. Reportedly, Mantashe’s central message was, “We must defend the revolution and defend every attack on the ANC structures.” He went on to say, “We are a majority, we should be able to take decisions and enforce them.”

http://blogs.cfr.org/campbell/2016/03/03/constitutional-or-parliamentary-democracy-in-south-africa/

Thursday, 25 February 2016

South Africa’s Ruling Party and the South African Government (John Campbell, CFR)

The African National Congress (ANC) is a big tent. Politically, under that tent is the Congress of South African trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party (SACP). Both run candidates for office as ANC, not under their own label. The Secretary General of the ANC, Gwede Mantashe, is also a former chairperson of the SACP.

http://blogs.cfr.org/campbell/2016/02/24/south-africas-ruling-party-and-the-south-african-government/

Wednesday, 24 February 2016

Never Never Land in South Africa (John Campbell, CFR)

African National Congress (ANC) Secretary General Gwede Mantashe gestures during a media briefing at the ANC headquarters in Johannesburg, April 6, 2009. (Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko)

African National Congress (ANC) Secretary General Gwede Mantashe is accusing the United States and its embassy in Pretoria of plotting “regime change” in South Africa. In public remarks on February 19, Mantashe referred to “clandestine meetings” at the American embassy that “are about nothing else other than mobilization for regime change. We’re aware of a program that takes young people to the United States for six weeks, brings them back and plants them everywhere.” Following up, the ANC spokesman Keith Khoza said that the U.S. government must clarify the “irregular activities” of its diplomats, asserting “We believe the matter will be pursued using the proper channels going forward. At this stage there is nothing more we can say on the matter.”

http://blogs.cfr.org/campbell/2016/02/23/never-never-land-in-south-africa/

Wednesday, 10 February 2016

Jacob Zuma and South Africa’s Constitution (John Campbell, CFR)

The South African government spent about $24 million on “security upgrades” to President Jacob Zuma’s private estate, Nkandla. Those “security upgrades” included a swimming pool, a chicken run, and a football pitch. In 2014, Public Protector Thuli Madonsela investigated the expenditure and found some of it improper, and directed the president to pay back some—not all—of the public money spent on the estate. President Zuma refused, and was supported by his cabinet minister and the governing African National Congress (ANC) majority in parliament.

http://blogs.cfr.org/campbell/2016/02/09/jacob-zuma-and-south-africas-constitution/