Showing posts with label South Africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label South Africa. Show all posts
Thursday, 22 December 2016
Thursday, 3 November 2016
Wednesday, 2 November 2016
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.
Thursday, 16 June 2016
Monday, 13 June 2016
Tuesday, 24 May 2016
South Africa Isn't Heading Off a Cliff (Tyler McBrien, The National Interest)
Recent turbulence is a sign of a healthy democracy
http://nationalinterest.org/feature/south-africa-isnt-heading-cliff-16311
http://nationalinterest.org/feature/south-africa-isnt-heading-cliff-16311
Wednesday, 18 May 2016
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.
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/
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/
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)
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)
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, 3 March 2016
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/
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 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/
http://blogs.cfr.org/campbell/2016/02/09/jacob-zuma-and-south-africas-constitution/
Thursday, 3 September 2015
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