This paper critiques the premise that liberal democracy is the antidote for development in South Africa. In an attempt to analyse the consociational elements in the South African polity, the paper seeks to highlight some of the consociational elements that appear to be present in South Africa’s democratic society. It argues that their presence accounts for a conducive ground in the implementation of holistic development. Despite the debate on whether South Africa is or was a consociational democracy after apartheid, it is important to pay attention to the degree in which coalition building and power sharing (as important facets of consociationalism) played an influential role towards South Africa’s democratic transition. Drawing from the mediation efforts towards power-sharing in South Africa, the paper focuses on the transition period and the negotiations that eventually led to power–sharing in South Africa. The idea is to highlight a historical view that eventually led to a transition from apartheid to a truly multiracial democratic electorate. The paper attempts to shed light on the existing consociational elements in South Africa in an effort to show that despite the debates in scholarly literature and, more generally, political commentary, it can be argued that South Africa still retains consociational features which may be more capable of bringing about a relevant development paradigm than the dominant liberal democratic approach.

In August 2016, South Africa witnessed the fifth cycle of local government elections since 1995. Regardless of the few and isolated hurdles encountered by the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) during this election, the outcome has been embraced by all participating political parties and like the previous 4 cycles of local government elections, the latest edition has been certified by both local and international observers as transparent, credible and democratic. Central to the outcome of the 2016 local government election is the fact that it has served as a watershed moment for the declining electoral support on the part of the incumbent party – African National Congress (ANC). The loss of notable electoral fortunes by the ANC has favoured the opposition parties, particularly the Democratic Alliance (DA) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and other smaller parties such as the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC). The serious nature of the closely contested 2016 local government election presented both challenges and opportunities for all participating parties. In certain parts of Gauteng province such as the City of Tshwane, Johannesburg, and Ekurhuleni, no party garnered the required majority votes (50% plus 1) to be able to solely constitute municipal government. This tumultuous situation unveils opportunities for political parties to canvass one another for the purposes of establishing coalitions of co-governing certain municipalities. In this article, we argue that this route carries both short and long-term risks and benefits for all political parties who would settle for it as it involves the making of hard, unpopular but necessary decisions. Using the critical discourse approach and the Elitist model, this article explores the impending challenges and unfolding opportunities of party coalition in selected metropolitan councils of Gauteng and draws lessons for participating political parties.

This paper examines the role of civil society organisations in conflict resolution in Nigeria. It argues that the perception of government of civil society organisations as opposition groups is a major contributory factor to the proliferation of conflict in the Nigerian state. It claims that the integration of civil society groups in governance will not only enhance political stability but also facilitate mass mobilization towards more inclusive and participatory democracy in Nigeria. The paper adopts the qualitative research method, founded on case study approach, to the various roles played by civil society organisations in Nigeria, particularly in the Niger Delta area where conflict is known to be particularly intensive as a result of resource allocation, control and exploitation. The paper observes that civil society groups play complementary roles to the state rather than the reverse. It concludes that the state should embrace civil society groups and provide conducive environment for their operations in order to bridge the gap between the citizens and the state.

Armed conflict and terrorism with their attendant impacts have found their ways into global vocabularies in contemporary times. Similarly, developing countries are not exempted from these threats to peace and stability at local and national levels. The problematique of this study is in two parts, first, while armed conflicts and terrorism discourses and their impact on women and girls have enjoyed generous scholarly attention in recent past, connections between both concepts and feminized poverty have been largely downplayed. Second, literature is replete with women largely presented as vulnerable during armed conflict and terrorism, while their roles as promoters and perpetrators of violence has not enjoyed robust scholarly attention. This paper identifies the intellectual dimension of feminized poverty as a major contributory factor to increased involvement of women in armed conflict and terrorism. It also argues that predominant negative impacts of these acts on women are traceable to intellectual poverty. Accordingly, the paper teases out the links between feminized poverty, armed conflict and terrorism. It also examines feminized poverty from social, political and intellectual dimensions and how identified problems may be tackled. Using methods of critical analysis and reflective argumentation, the paper exposes these transformations in conflict discourse drawing from the Nigerian experience.

This study adopts a theologico-constructionist paradigm to underscore the root causes of religious terrorism and fundamentalism and the need for a demythologised and constructionist reading of certain “holy books”. The argument is that it is only by such a reading that both the perpetrators of religious fundamentalism and the stakeholders involved in peacebuilding can make progress in addressing the problem of religious terrorism. The article argues that interpreting holy books in ways that respect different versions of understanding religion could breed ecumenical tolerance and, hopefully, reduce motivation for religious-sponsored terrorism and violence.

All over the world, democracy is consolidated through the process of democratization and if there are contradictions with the process, the democratic experiment itself becomes problematic. This process is different, when understood correctly and executed without much hindrances. However, democratic experiences across the world has proven that democratization has been experienced differently. What significance does this difference embrace? This article examines the democratic agenda within the African context and how the process of democratization has effectively affected specific development agenda and fundamental principles of democracy. By interrogating the relationship between democracy and development, we argue that the formal democratic structures set aside to respond to the dawdling development issues in Africa still require serious review as Africa continues to be under siege despite progress with electoral democracy. Drawing mainly from democratic experience in Ghana, we make the conclusion that the current character of leadership of democratic states coupled with stemming economic issues and women empowerment have become undeniable concerns in addressing the dilemma of democratization and development in Africa.