This commemorative edition is a product of the subprogram for Governance and Transformation. As such it is an opportunity for various young academicians to publish alongside masters of the art such as Proff. B.J. (Bennie) van de Walt and J.F. (Johan) Kirsten. Within these pages an overview is provided of contemporary politics, with perspectives ranging from analytical, descriptive and normative to the practical appraisal of the new challenges facing institutions for higher education. In a nutshell this edition of Koers provides a window on current realities and an ever-changing environment.
In this trans-disciplinary special issue, diverse themes are dealt with that can be reduced to sustainable development (and that which is related to it) in a distinctive manner. Matters which are discussed include: the conceptualisation of power, political transformation as an ideology, ethical political communication, white-collar crime; ministry in a post-literary communication context; development cooperation in Africa; and the problem of liaison between academics, students and practitioners regarding public management in the North West Province.
Political transformation as an ideological framework: an analysis of dynamic policies and perspectives The period after 1994 can be described as the period of political transformation in South Africa. With a revolutionary point of departure, political transformation established itself as a political ideology in South Africa. In general political ideologies are characterised by a hard core of ideas that is extremely difficult to change and a softer periphery (policy application context) that is more pragmatic and dynamic in nature. Changes are normally taking place on the level of the periphery which serves as a protective belt for the hard core of the ideology. Political transformation as an ideology is no exception to this general role and currently needs changes in its protective belt to ensure its survival. This article investigates the ways in which the transformation ideology can reposition itself in the future.
Wêreldwyd is politieke verandering en soms politieke transformasie (ingrypende sentraal-beplande politieke verandering van 'n progressiewe aard) aan die orde van die dag. Die aard en uitkoms van hierdie politieke verandering verskil van staat tot staat en van samelewing tot samelewing, wat daarop neerkom dat biljoene mense daagliks gekonfronteer word met die uiteenlopende en dikwels konflikterende eise van 'n veranderende politieke omgewing. Hierdie veranderings en die gepaardgaande eise sou kon insluit vernuwing ingevolge post-industrialisasie; die renaissancegedagte (NEPAD en die Afrika-unie) soos in die vooruitsig gestel deur onder meer Thabo Mbeki; verhoogde lewenstandaarde; beter dienslewering; industrialisering; modernisasie en groter politieke vryheid soos beliggaam in die strewe na die bereiking van die demokratiese ideaal.
Enter any additional information or requests for the Library here. ; This article is concerned with reconstructing and interpreting the South African political environment in 2016 and the strategic implications thereof. There is currently widespread consensus that the South African political environment is becoming increasingly unstable. Some have even labelled the current political situation "a perfect storm". The resulting outcomes of this state of affairs include patterns of political and social instability, the securocratisation of the state, and a postcolonial dynamic manifesting in anti-colonial and anti-Western sentiments. The manner in which the aforementioned factors interact with each other creates a politically unstable environment with far reaching consequences for public institutions in general, and universities in particular. Until recently, universities were relatively insulated from the dynamic and disruptive political forces in society. This situation changed irrevocably after 2015 with the advent of the #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall campaigns and demands for rapid transformation of the higher education sector. At the time of finalising this paper, a second wave of #FeesMustFall has commenced with revolutionary violence affecting virtually all university campuses across South Africa. Prominent political, economic and social drivers of change currently define a scenario of punctuated equilibrium in the political environment. These drivers, and their possible outcomes, are analysed with specific reference to South African universities.
Enter any additional information or requests for the Library here. ; Die Suid-Afrikaanse politieke omgewing betree tans 'n fase wat as uiters dinamies en polities onstabiel beskryf kan word. Sedert die bewindsoorname van Jacob Zuma in 2009 is 'n tendens wat voorgehou kan word as die sekurokratisering van die Suid-Afrikaanse staat duidelik waarneembaar. Dit is veral binne die raamwerk van die sogenaamde sekerheidsgroepering dat politieke en staatkundige magsbasisse toenemend sekurokraties deur die regering van president Zuma hanteer word. Deur gebruik te maak van 'n ontledingsraamwerk waarin tendensbepalings moontlik is, word daar veral op die Suid-Afrikaanse Polisiediens en die intelligensiedienste as voorbeelde van sekurokratisering gekonsentreer. 'n Tendens bekend as neopatrimoniale pretorianisme word geïdentifiseer met negatiewe implikasies en risiko's vir die konsolidering van demokratiese waardes binne die groter Suid-Afrikaanse staatkundige bestel.
This contribution focuses on the inner-party discord of the National Party leading to the election of Dr Hendrik Verwoerd as Prime Minister of South Africa in 1958. The National Party of 1958 was acomplex party characterized by a federal party structure, regional differences, different personalities and even ideological undercurrents. In the first section of the contribution the focus falls on the intense political discord within the NP of 1958 until the death of Strijdom on 24 August. In this section the differences and election strategies of the different candidates come to the fore. In the second section the election of Verwoerd as party leader, and more specifically Prime Minister, is reconstructed. The third section focuses on the period from Verwoerd's election as Prime Minister on 2 September until the appointment of his first cabinet on 21 Oktober 1958. It is in this cabinet that he had to unite regional differences, personalities, and even ideological undercurrents. This contribution ends (section 5) with the first cabinet meeting of the Verwoerd era (November 1958) which offered an interesting ideological twist – a twist that even found echoes in the later National Party leading up to 1994.
The period after 1994 can be described as the period of political transformation in South Africa. With a revolutionary point of departure, political transformation established itself as a political ideology in South Africa. In general political ideologies are characterised by a hard core of ideas that is extremely difficult to change and a softer periphery (policy application context) that is more pragmatic and dynamic in nature. Changes are normally taking place on the level of the periphery which serves as a protective belt for the hard core of the ideology. Political transformation as an ideology is no exception to this general role and currently needs changes in its protective belt to ensure its survival. This article investigates the ways in which the trans-formation ideology can reposition itself in the future. ; Die periode sedert 1994 kan beskryf word as die periode van politieke transformasie in Suid-Afrika. Met 'n rewolusionêre benadering as vertrekpunt, het politieke transformasie as ideologiese raamwerk in Suid-Afrika beslag gekry. Politieke ideologieë akkommodeer in die algemeen 'n harde kern van idees wat uiters moeilik verander en 'n sagter periferie (beleidstoepassingskonteks) wat meer pragmaties en dinamies is. Aanpassings vind meestal op die toepassingskonteks plaas, wat as 'n tipe beskermingsgordel dien vir die harde kern van die ideologie. Hierdie artikel ondersoek die wyses waarop transformasie-ideologieë hulself in die toekoms op beleidstoepassingsvlak kan heroriënteer. Politieke transformasie as ideologie is geen uitsondering op die reël nie en die beleidskonteks moet tans geheroriënteer word om die oorlewering van die ideologie te verseker.
In this article the concept of political transformation, as it has occurred since 1994, is analysed and then empirically applied in the South African context. Political transformation in reaction to an unacceptable political past is presented as a reactive, progressive, planned, fundamental and rapid change. The phenomenon of political transformation — as an extremely dynamic societal process — is explained against the background of the political hegemony of the ANC; the restructuring of opposition politics; political and economic capacity; political conflict and patterns of violence, as well as the impact of South Africa's transformation initiatives on the Southern Africancommunity. The article places in perspective the influence of the previous (apartheid) government's evolutionary change on the ANC's revolutionary strategy, as well as the implications for South African society and politics.
From a Political Science perspective nothing is more difficult to understand than the nature of political change and specifically disequilibrium change. Political change or "the alteration of an existing state . (or) condition . (or) an observed difference between a past and present condition" becomes more and more a reality of our everyday life (compare Palmer 1987:7). The well-known futurologist Alvin Toffler (1990:3), emphasized the fact that "(we) are living at a moment when the entire structure that held the world together is now disintegrating. A radically different structure of power is taking form and this is happening at every level of human society." In South Africa we are not insulated from political change and even fundamental (disequilibrium) political change on all levels of society. During the past decade South Africans experienced far-reaching political, economic and social changes with the promise of even more changes in the next five to ten years.
A great deal of political rhetoric has been uttered regarding radical economic transformation that includes calls for more radical land reform proposals. This rhetoric is the source of political mobilisation in both the governing African National Congress (ANC), as well as the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) opposition. While the ANC call for the end of the willing buyer, willing seller principle in land reform policies and legislation in line with their National Democratic Revolution (NDR), the EFF support a more extreme expropriation without compensation approach. Both these approaches can be regarded as forms of radical land reform that are grounded in their specific ideological orientations. Since no academic definition exists regarding the concept "radical land reform", it is necessary that this is conceptualised. In order to analyse the possible implications of radical land reform, this article explores the outcomes of similar approaches in the People's Republic of China (PRC), the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and Zimbabwe. The lessons of this comparative analysis indicate that land reform requires a balance between existing land rights and food security on the one hand, and the urgency for historical redress and redistribution on the other.
A great deal of political rhetoric has been uttered regarding radical economic transformation that includes calls for more radical land reform proposals. This rhetoric is the source of political mobilisation in both the governing African National Congress (ANC), as well as the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) opposition. While the ANC call for the end of the willing buyer, willing seller principle in land reform policies and legislation in line with their National Democratic Revolution (NDR), the EFF support a more extreme expropriation without compensation approach. Both these approaches can be regarded as forms of radical land reform that are grounded in their specific ideological orientations. Since no academic definition exists regarding the concept "radical land reform", it is necessary that this is conceptualised. In order to analyse the possible implications of radical land reform, this article explores the outcomes of similar approaches in the People's Republic of China (PRC), the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and Zimbabwe. The lessons of this comparative analysis indicate that land reform requires a balance between existing land rights and food security on the one hand, and the urgency for historical redress and redistribution on the other.
In this phase of South Africa's second political transition (manifesting characteristics of political decay) it looks as if the ANC is becoming more dominant, hegemonic and ideological, with added neo-patrimonial tendencies that are becoming more overt in an oligarchic manner. This article analyses the ANC's Polokwane conference (qualitatively and deductively) as part of South Africa's second political transition since 1994 and postulates potential outcomes (scenario perspectives).
Land remains a contentious political issue that has the potential for further conflict in South Africa. Expectations over land are a legitimate result of a history of dispossession, displacement and deprivation during the pre-colonial, colonial and Apartheid eras. The importance of placing discussions on land within a historical context is salient. Legitimate perceptions around the slow pace of sustainable land reform since 1994 have left a vacuum for politicians to continue to use the land issue as tool for political mobilisation. However, development programmes that are meant to deliver on the expectations such as the National Development Plan (NDP) and the New Growth Path (NGP) are often undermined by the same politicians. The ideological divisions between the NDR and the NDP/NGP within the ruling African National Congress-run (ANC) government hamper progress towards achieving the land redistribution objectives outlined in these development plans and programmes. The dilemma that this creates is that factors required to mitigate this problem such as an emphasis on sustainability of redistributed land for increased food security have fallen victim to this ideological tug-of-war. The widening gap between the politically fuelled expectations trajectory on the one hand, and the inability to meet these expectations by current development programmes on the other, are sources of increasing social conflict in society.
Background: Research supports the view that the South African traditional healer does not hold a modern medical identity, but developed from the traditional African religions and cultural environment as a kind of caregiver. The name healer with a medical connotation arose from early colonists and missionaries misunderstanding the role of a traditional healer in Africa, especially in early South Africa. There is even a misunderstanding today about the African meaning of spiritual healing. As such, the traditional healer is a remnant from a previous, pre-modern time. Traditional healers were forced to the foreground recently in South Africa by the Traditional Health Practitioners Act No 22 (2007). This act makes the traditional healer an exclusive healthcare practitioner with statutory status under the name traditional health practitioner. Such a healer can practice in the formal healthcare sector, including the public hospitals. The Act gives the healer the right to diagnose, treat and make, and prescribe pre-modern health products to his/hers clients unhindered. It is clear that the various resolutions and implementations of the Traditional Health Practitioners Act No 22 (2007) intend to bring the South African traditional healer into the practice domain of the South African medical doctor. Aims: The study aimed to determine if the traditional healer has a medical identity in modern South Africa. Methods: This is an exploratory and descriptive study that makes use of an historical approach by means of investigation and a literature review. The emphasis is on using current documentation like articles, books and newspapers as primary sources to reflect on the traditional healer's medical identity in modern South Africa. The findings are offered in narrative form. Results: The New South Africa did not start changing socially, economically and politically after 1994. They have started to move into new cultural and life domains centuries ago. Some left behind many of the pre-modern beliefs, like the traditional healer and his supernatural activities and practices. The present-day political and cultural pressure from politicians (with outdated thoughts) by means of things like the Traditional Health Practitioners Act No 22 (2007), are being met more and more with resistance by the broad population. It is therefore important to research on the changes in cultural values and styles, economical positions and the medical needs of the country's population to understand if the traditional healer has a truly medical identity in modern South Africa. Conclusion: The Traditional Health Practitioners Act (No 22, 2007) has failed to include the outdated traditional healer into the modern South African society and formal healthcare sector as a specific medical entity. The foundations of South African society had changed too dramatically to allow space for a pre-modern cult practitioner.
