Suchergebnisse

Sammlung von 20 Konferenzpapieren, darunter Fallstudien mit Erfahrungen aus 13 afrikanischen Staaten (Angola, Botswana, Äthiopien, Gambia, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe)

This Special Issue on Economics and Labour is divided into two sections. It pairs contributions on current economic development with three articles presented at a conference marking 50 years since the Durban Strikes of 1973. That said, all of the authors reflect widely on history and on immediate challenges, both for South Africa and the continent at large.

South Africa leads the developing world in building a social protection system. A total of 28 million people — 45% of the population — currently receive a grant, including the nine million who get the Social Relief of Distress grant which has been extended every year since Covid. VIVIENE TAYLOR outlines how the idea of a 'social protection floor' developed over the 30 years of democracy and the shortcomings that still delay its full implementation. Over the last 30 years South Africa has established the basis for elements of a "social protection floor", which should assist even the poorest households to attain a decent standard of living. Achieving a social protection floor is an essential requirement because of historical, political and constitutional imperatives.

South Africans have been sorely disappointed by the first 30 years of democracy – unemployment has increased, inequalities have deepened, corruption is rampant, there are water crises, electricity blackouts, potholed roads, awful education, creaking hospitals, lots of crime, gender-based violence, xenophobia, discordant politics … but no civil war, no genocide, no famine, no military coups, no mass kidnapping, no insurgencies, no unfair elections, no censorship, no capital punishment, no arbitrary arrests, no run-away inflation. Yes, the Mbeki government denied South Africans free HIV treatment, resulting in over 300,000 deaths (HSPH, 2009). And yes, there was Marikana, which left 34 miners dead, and one (short) insurrection in which more than 300 people died. But South Africa has free trade unions, vibrant civil society organisations, legal protection for LGBTI+ and a strong constitution protected by checks and balances. South Africa has been trying to find a way to make democracy work.

On the eve of his retirement after 30 years as a Member of Parliament, Yunus Carrim shares a timely reminder of South African democracy's "glorious" days. In an interview with MOIRA LEVY he reminisced about the 1994 Parliament, which he described as "an organic reflection of what this country is capable of". A long-standing veteran of student, civic, community and political struggles since the '70s and in what became the Mass Democratic Movement of the '80s and early '90s, Yunus Carrim says the political culture of that time was carried over into the country's first democratic Parliament and made manifest in the ANC's legacy of peaceful negotiations. He recalls a moment during his first term. Leaving his office at about 2am and finding that the exit gate to the parking area in the basement was closed, he had to detour past the Old Assembly chamber. As he got nearer to it, he could hear a murmur of voices and clinking of cups and cutlery.

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The essays in these two volumes originate from a conference in London held in October 1987. Volume 1 examines the economic effects and Volume 2 the social and political impact. Together, they represent an African challenge to the assumptions and theories of the international monetary system, upon which IMF and Bank policies are based. Through sectoral and case studies from anglo- and francophone Africa, the essays reveal the harsh effects of these policies on the lives not only of Africa's children, workers, women and peasants, but also of the African middle class. In their place, they present alternative solutions, including a repudiation of foreign debts, the formation of an African debtors' Cartel under the OAU, and democratization of the IMF and the World Bank

Papers and speeches presented at a conference "Forces on the frontline" held at the Institute for African Alternatives on 19 November, 1988

The volumes contain the proceedings of the Dar es Salaam Conference called to consider alternative development strategies for Africa. Volume I contains the opening and closing addresses, the keynotes speeches and the background papers to the four workshops on debt and structural adjustment, women, politics and democracy, and the environment. Volume II deals with Africa's environmental crisis (the nature and magnitude of the continent's environmental problems, the central role of agriculture, the proper use of natural resources and the importance of popular participation) and the situation of women in education, agriculture, the informal sector and in politics (case studies from Nigeria, Botswana, Tanzania and Uganda). Volume III contains papers on the international context of the African crisis, the continent-wide effects and the ways in which specific countries have dealt with the debt problem (case studies from Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania). Issues covered include structural adjustment programmes, the export of capital, privatization, the role of the multinationals, foreign investment regulations and political developments arising from the crisis and democratic alternatives. (DÜI-Hff)