Politeia

South Africa's Persistent Social ills Post-1994 and the Deterioration of the African National Congress (ANC): Is the Country Heading towards a Failing State?

2024-02-20T06:36:39+00:00

This article investigates the increasing and continuous social ills that millions of South African individuals have faced since the ushering of a democratic government in 1994. It claims that the African National Congress (ANC) is yearly losing its grip on its power to run the country and alter the current development hurdles. This is against growing dissatisfaction with the ruling party of poor service delivery, corruption, state capture, and maladministration, among other dynamics. Post-1994, the realities of changing society and putting in place the bold development aspirations of a newly democratic country put more spotlight on the institutions and fiscal arrangements that could, mindful of ecological constrictions and economic ambitions, deliver much-needed essential services to people experiencing poverty. However, lessons from this are that irrespective of some achievements; the country has continued to witness significant challenges, particularly the triple challenges of unemployment, poverty, and inequality in an era where the ANC continues to lose power and grip in many municipalities. However, it is argued in this article that the ANC might not necessarily lose control in the next decade, nor will South Africa become a failed state. Nevertheless, it will face the uncertainty of more fighting and losing more grip as parties such as the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) gain more political ground yearly. The article is based on a qualitative research approach through secondary data sources, including journal articles, books, chapters in books, credible newspapers, and online sources.

Mother Earth is the Pluriversal Panarium of All: The Living and the Dead

2024-02-20T06:36:25+00:00

Mother Earth is the panarium of all who live and die in it. This is not restricted to human beings only. The principle of the equality of all human beings demands peaceful coexistence and mutual respect. This is not the case in conqueror South Africa despite the new constitutional dispensation inaugurated since 1994. The successors in title to conquest in the unjust wars of Western colonisation continue to insist that Mother Earth is their exclusive panarium. The conquered peoples continue to resist this insistence.

Usurping the Role of an Underperforming State: A Case of South Africa

2024-02-20T06:36:32+00:00

South Africa, like many African states after independence, has begun its downward spiral in several areas, including development, lawlessness, poverty, and poor service delivery. These are the primary hallmarks of an underperforming state. Some critics have begun viewing South Africa as a failing state or even a failed state. It is the authors’ conviction that the downward spiral can be arrested if there is a will and provided that appropriate interventions are implemented timeously. This article conceptualises a sovereign state, a failed state, and looks at the symptoms of a failing state, which seem to be creeping into South Africa. Furthermore, the article considers the burden put on citizens by a failing state as they must take over the responsibilities of the state as individuals and the collective. Most importantly, the paper makes recommendations that may be considered when trying to arrest the failure of the South African state in performing its crucial functions.

Improving Access to Healthcare in South Africa through the National Health Insurance Scheme: A Hit or a Miss?

2024-02-20T06:36:35+00:00

The South African healthcare system is plagued by inequalities at various levels. The National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill was recently passed by the National Assembly and has revived debate on whether the NHI can effectively bridge the gap between the rich and the poor in accessing healthcare services. This paper explores the effectiveness of the NHI as a healthcare system reform aimed at bridging the gap between the public and private sectors of South Africa’s two-tiered healthcare system. To assist policymakers in its effective implementation, the paper explores the constitutional obligations regarding the provision of healthcare services and offers an analysis of whether the NHI Bill meets constitutional muster. In its conclusion, the paper also suggests solutions to address the Bill’s shortcomings by including practical steps that can be taken to ensure that the vision of universal health coverage is achieved.

Did Aid Promote Democracy in Africa? Critiquing Gibson, Hoffman, and Jablonski

2023-11-21T07:51:33+00:00

This paper critiques Gibson et al.’s (2015) study on the relationship between technical assistance and patronage spending in sub-Saharan Africa after the Cold War. It identifies errors in the authors’ methods, including severe collinearity, exclusion of available data, undue use of the logarithm transformation, and missing values in key variables. After making the necessary corrections, the paper finds that technical assistance was positively and significantly related to political concession, as originally claimed by the authors, but negatively and insignificantly associated with the proxies for political patronage. This suggests that while technical assistance may have promoted political concession, it cannot be confidently held that it reduced patronage spending in the region post-Cold War. This raises concerns as the authors’ conclusion in this regard is central to the belief, in both literature and aid projects, that technical assistance from donors and institutions contributed to reducing political patronage in sub-Saharan Africa post-Cold War.

Financial Subordination and Postcolonial Geographies of Renewable Energy Finance in South Africa: A Critique of the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan

2024-02-20T06:36:21+00:00

The renewable energy market is expanding in Africa, along with funding from the West for numerous projects on renewable energy. In this article, I problematise renewable energy finance in Africa, with a specific focus on the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan in South Africa, building on and contributing to literature on financial subordination and geographies of renewables finance. I critically analyse, through a desktop study and documentary analysis of the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan, how racial capitalism continues through postcolonial renewable financing for electricity generation in South Africa, driving private sector participation in the public sector, under a neocolonialist framework. First, I draw on literature focusing on race and postcolonialism in Africa regarding financing of renewable energy. Second, I critically assess South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Partnership and Investment Plan from a critical theory perspective. I argue for an understanding of renewable energy financing through the lens of postcolonial financial subordination that not only continues colonial logic but furthers the racialisation of capitalism in South Africa along lines benefitting the West and its interests through the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan, and the capitalist class in South Africa.

Research and Development Funding Patterns in BRICS Countries: Policy Lessons for South Africa’s Provincial Administration

2024-02-20T06:36:28+00:00

Over the years, research and Development (R&D) has been viewed as an enabler for economic growth and socio-economic development. Thus, the emergence of the knowledge economy across the globe has necessitated the need for countries to introspect on their readiness and preparedness to use research and development as a strategic tool for growth and socio-economic development. Scholars posit that R&D is a cornerstone for development around the globe because it has been widely documented that economic growth has been evident in countries that have invested in R&D. Thus, R&D is an integral part of socio-economic development. This is why the spine of this paper’s argument rests on the significance of research and development funding. This paper draws attention to the research and development funding in the BRICS countries.

Investigating Small-scale Farmers and Barriers to Entry in Cannabis Cultivation in South Africa

2023-12-05T07:55:21+00:00

The legalisation of the prodigal green crop has left the most vulnerable small-scale cannabis farmers high and dry. In 2018 the South African constitutional court legalised the use of cannabis for personal and medical use. The 2018 regulations on cannabis were welcomed and a new lifeline in the eradication of poverty. However, in the haste to join the global urgency in cultivating cannabis, small-scale farmers were left behind and prevented in the bid of the green-gold rush. The cannabis legislation and laws that were created to enable South Africans to participate in the lucrative cannabis market has done the opposite and has crafted barriers of entry. Using a desktop study, this article explores how the 2018 regulations on cannabis cultivation prevent small-scale farmers in participating in the l market in South Africa. The aim of this paper is to highlight the challenges that small-scale cannabis farmers face in South Africa and how their participation in the newly opened market would benefit the communities they live and operate in. The main findings of the research indicate the challenges for small-scale farmers of no support system and transformational issues persist even after the 24 years of democracy in South Africa.

Editorial: Politics, Social Justice and Development

2024-02-20T06:36:18+00:00

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