African Studies Blog

President Zuma of South Africa in an effort to deal with the violent crime in his country has called for “extraordinary measures” to deal with crime, especially the violent type. Among other things, he wants to give police a stronger right to kill, the Economist reports.

Read it at the  Economist.com

This book edited by Udesh Pillay, Richard Tomlinson and Orli Bass assesses the development impacts of the 2010 world cup in South Africa focusing on urban impacts and African legacy. Here is an abstract from ELDIS.

The FIFA World Cup is thought to be the biggest sport and media event in the world. It is a hugely profitable event for FIFA through the sale of television rights and sponsorship deals. The same, however, cannot be said of host countries and cities – economic projections are invariably erroneous, overestimating the benefits and understating the costs. In light of the South African government’s intention to leverage the 2010 World Cup to assist in promoting economic development and halving unemployment by 2014, and given the project 30bn Rand South Africa will spend on the event, the debate and uncertain benefits are issues of great consequence. This book describes the build up to the event and assesses the development impacts of the 2010 World Cup, focusing on urban impacts, the debates and probably African legacy.

The significant opportunity for South Africa in hosting the 2010 World Cup lies in contradicting commonly held representations of Africa by utilising the event to project a contemporary, reinvigorated image of Africa, and through celebrating African culture and identity. Moreover, there is potential to destabilise notions of Afro-pessimism through demonstrating that Africans can successfully manage the World Cup.

Previous sporting events in South Africa, most notably the hosting of the 1995 Rugby World Cup and the winning of the 2007 World Cup, have had a cohesive effect on identity and a positive impact on the image of the country. Yet in some ways this remains a transient moment and its legacy is mythical rather than practical. A worsening economic outlook, inflation, rising interest rates, fuel hikes and xenophobic riots have somewhat eclipsed the positive impact of previous events. Notwithstanding these exceptions, opportunity does still exist to mobilise the World Cup in order to tell different, more meaningful and contemporary stories about African life and experience. If a legacy is to be left in this regard, the potential to destabilise common stereotypes and Africa and Afro-pessimism should not be underestimated.

Read the full text

The New York Times and The Washington Post report on South Africa as the people go to the polls today to vote for a new government. There is a general feeling of disappointment amongst the people for the lack of jobs, deplorable living conditions and the high crime rate. A recent poll showed fewer than half the people felt they were better off now than they were under apartheid yet it is expected that the ANC which has ruled the country since the end of apartheid will win the election in a land slide.

Read it at the New York Times

Read it at The Washington Post

From The Economist:

A WEEK into the job, Kgalema Motlanthe, South Africa’s new president, made a good start. Right after his election by Parliament and after being sworn in, he filled the gaps left by several ministers who resigned after Thabo Mbeki, Mr Motlanthe’s predecessor, was ousted by the ruling African National Congress (ANC). His appointments have been welcomed. Now he probably has six months before a general election, expected in April, to heal the rift in the party and to show he can run a government better than Mr Mbeki did. Full Story.

From ELDIS:

“Is there a rationale for conditional cash transfers for children in South Africa,” this paper assesses the rationale behind Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT) in South Africa. It looks at evidence of the reach and impact of major CCT programmes, particularly in Latin America, and the Child Support Grant (CSG) in South Africa.

Cash transfers (CTs) are one of a range of measures for addressing poverty. A regular amount of money is allocated directly to particular groups such as the elderly, the unemployed, or children. The nature and extent of cash transfers that a country provides can be viewed as a reflection of its welfare regime. In an unconditional CT programme, once a person qualifies to enter the scheme, the amount is an entitlement, for a fixed period. The current South African CSG is an example of a means tested unconditional social assistance transfer in respect of children. This review of the evidence suggests that introducing behavioural inducements to poor people in South Africa to ensure the best educational and health outcomes for their children should not be the main focus of attention for policy makers.

Key points include:

• the new South African government has done much to redress the racism and repressive aspects of apartheid – it has introduced the ‘Batho Pele’ set of principles into administration to ensure fairer and more transparent service to the public, and an Administrative Justice Act, yet procedures in the implementation of the CSG contradict both
• the CSG in South Africa has rolled out very rapidly; by stealth, some of the policy intent is being subverted by administrative action – patterns of take-up suggest that the means test is an unnecessary and ineffective measure, and it should be lifted altogether or be replaced by a far simpler measure
• a universal categorical grant for children would sit with greater ease in what on paper appears to be a social democratic policy agenda.

Full Text Document

A South African judge Navanethem Pillay has been appointed the UN Commissioner for Human Rights.  Read the story in the Washington Post.