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The face of power in South Africa is rapidly changing – for better and for worse. The years since Thabo Mbeki was swept aside by Jacob Zuma’s ‘coalition of the wounded’ have been especially tumultuous, with the rise and fall of populist politicians such as Julius Malema, the terrible events at Marikana, and the embarrassing Guptagate scandal. What lies behind these developments? How does the Zuma presidency exercise its power? Who makes our foreign policy? What goes on in cabinet meetings? What is the state of play in the Alliance – is the SACP really more powerful than before? And, as the landscape shifts, what are the opposition’s prospects? In The Zuma Years, Richard Calland a...
A vivid, up-to-date picture of how power works in the new South Africa and who really makes the decisions
Since 1994, South Africa has had five presidents who have varied greatly in style and character, despite all coming from the same political party. How do they compare? How did they handle the crises they faced? What effect did they have on the country? As the ANC’s next elective conference approaches and Cyril Ramaphosa seeks a second term as president, the country is reeling from the effects of state capture and the Covid-19 pandemic. Coupled with an ailing economy and record unemployment, the need for good political leadership to steer us through the morass is more urgent than ever. It is, therefore, a perfect time to think critically about the role that presidential leadership plays in our lives and in history. To this end, The Presidents provides an honest assessment of the five post-democracy presidents – Mandela, Mbeki, Motlanthe, Zuma and Ramaphosa – examining their strongest qualities and greatest weaknesses in the context of the momentous challenges they faced.
The next three years will determine whether South Africa succeeds or fails in the long term. • Jacob Zuma’s term as president is due to end in 2019, though he could go earlier. Who will succeed him and what will be the impact on policy? • The ANC’s dominance has been significantly dented after opposition parties gained ground in the 2016 local government elections, but will the minority and coalition governments in key cities hold or fall apart? • The economy is in trouble, and the National Treasury has been buffeted by a struggle for power at the centre of government. Will Pravin Gordhan and his band of reformers survive and succeed? • The public protector’s term ends in October 2016. Will her successor hold the line? • The judiciary is under pressure, and several positions have opened up on the Constitutional Court bench. Will the rule of law be maintained? Looking at these and other issues, Richard Calland presents scenarios for the country’s future, showing how the next few years are the most critical since the early 1990s, and how South Africa can set itself on a path to success or failure. It really is make or break time.
An insightful and entertaining analysis of the changing face of political power in Jacob Zuma's South Africa. An accessible yet authoritative account of who runs South Africa, and how, today.
For a long time, Africa has 'lagged' behind global advances in transparency, but there are now significant developments on the continent. In a ground-breaking book, Access to Information in Africa brings together for the first time a collection of African academics and practitioners to contribute to the fast-growing body of scholarship that is now accumulating internationally. This is therefore an African account of progress made and setbacks suffered, but also an account of challenges and obstacles that confront both policy-makers and practitioners. These challenges must be overcome if greater public access to information is to make a distinctive, positive contribution to the continent’s democratic and socio-economic future. This book offers a necessarily multi-dimensional perspective on the state of ATI in African jurisdictions and the emerging, new praxis - a praxis that will entail a genuine domestication of the right of access to information on the continent.
The right to access information is explored in this book. The focus is on the South African law - said to be the strongest access to information law in the world - but there is an international perspective, with contributions from India, Bulgaria, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Money, information, media and oversight - these are the Wicked issues of modern-day politics. They reflect challenges shared by an established Northern democracy, Britain, and an infant Southern democracy, South Africa, as they both attempt to overhaul their systems of governance.
This book asks questions that need to be asked: How has SA's national Parliament performed as a working Parliament? What role has it played in the new order? Can its two-tier structure work? Who are the people that serve as our representatives?
For nearly ten years – indeed more if we include his period of influence under Mandela’s presidency – Thabo Mbeki bestrode South Africa’s political stage. Despite attempts by some in the new ANC leadership to airbrush out his role, there can be little doubt that Mbeki was a seminal figure in South Africa’s new democracy, one who left a huge mark in many fields, perhaps most controversially in state and party management, economic policy, public health intervention, foreign affairs and race relations. If we wish to understand the character and fate of post-1994 South Africa, we must therefore ask: What kind of political system, economy and society has the former President bequeathed ...