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Can Zimbabwe do Better? Indigenisation and Redistributive Policies to Improve Economic Performance. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31920/2050-4950/2019/v8n1a1
Daniel Chigudu9
The Zimbabwe’s indigenisation and economic empowerment programme (IEEP) has stirred a lot of controversy since its inception in 2007 with antagonists contending that the programme is populist which destroys the economy. On the other hand, the government claims the programme is a major poverty reduction pillar. This study seeks to investigate the feasibility of IEEP to improve Zimbabwe’s economic status using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. A content analysis of secondary data is employed in order to critique the indigenisation and economic empowerment programme. The findings reveal that empowerment programmes are a prerequisite in former colonies to address socio-economic imbalances. However, the programmes could be disastrous if they are only politically motivated. Zimbabwe’s land reform programme is one exemplar. The study concludes that political expediency which is not long term and sacrificed at the expense of economic gains can only sink the country into economic doldrums. The study suggests some recommendations.
The scourge of terrorism orchestrated by Boko Haram continues to challenge the security of the Nigerian state and its population. The reign of terror has generated responses from both state and non-state actors. The recurrent destruction of lives and property has exposed the government’s incapacity to maintain order within its geographical territory. Although, the state initiated divergent counter-terrorism measures, the institutional arrangements tasked with the responsibility of implementing government policies continue to display weaknesses in containing terrorism in the country. Drawing from the conceptual framework of state fragility, the article assesses the capacity of state institutions to curtail Boko Haram’s uprising. The article utilizes documented and historical materials to highlight that weakness of state institutions and poor service delivery explain the prevalence of terrorism inflicted on the state and its population by Boko Haram. Aside from suggesting diverse options to strengthen Nigeria’s state institutions, the article identifies other proactive strategies to combat terrorism.
South Africa is experiencing a rapid increase in violent and destructive service delivery protests since the advent of democracy. At the heart of the service delivery protests is growing dissatisfaction amongst the poor and marginalised due to their lack of access to services, growing corruption and unwillingness by local authorities to attend to communities’ needs. While research has been conducted on the key motives behind these service delivery protests, there is insufficient literature that considers the social cost of destroying public infrastructure. This article adopts the capability approach’s argument that access to services increases an individual’s capabilities, and argues that violent and destructive service delivery protests undermine future capabilities by destroying the public infrastructure that is essential to improving individual and community capabilities. Methodologically, this article uses three different case studies to show how violent and destructive service delivery protests destroy the very means of attaining capabilities and improving socio-economic conditions. Through exposing these contradictions and the associated vicious cycle, the article argues that citizens and the government should ensure the protection of infrastructure, while also increasing investment in public infrastructure to maximise access to services as a means to improve capabilities
The implementation of housing programmes in South Africa is being severely impeded by the manner in which the projects are being administered and managed. Identification of housing beneficiaries and consequent allocation is seriously drawing attention to these programmes. One-on-one in-depth interviews were conducted with 22 participants who had been purposively selected, while 250 respondents were selected to respond to a survey questionnaire. The findings revealed high levels of corruption and nepotism which has prompted dissatisfaction and conflict between the targeted beneficiaries and the municipalities, most beneficiaries not being consulted, those who were often being consulted at a late stage, beneficiaries tending not to be involved in decisions concerning the locations of the projects, and ownership of the projects being low.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, KwaZulu-Natal experienced heightened levels of political violence. The political violence pitted the African National Congress against the Inkatha Freedom Party. The conflict created a lot of bitterness and anguish in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. In response to this violence, a number of stakeholders including former President, Nelson Mandela and Inkosi Mangosuthu Buthelezi came up with strategies to end the inter-party political violence. Fast forward to the lead up to the 2016 Local Government Elections political killings continued unabated after the August 3rd 2016 vote. This paper discusses the role played by political and traditional leadership in the fight against political violence. The paper argues that the political violence that took place prior and after the August 3rd election is non-revolutionary and destructive. The paper also argues that the disregard of the ANCs deployment policy, ineffective internal conflict resolution mechanisms and the control of resources are among the main causes of political violence.
The article employs Afrocentricity as a theoretical lens to dissect the Christian driven morality of South Africa’s governing party, the African National Congress (ANC) as political theology. To achieve this, the author critically studies Sahm Venter’s Conversations with a Gentle Soul to weigh on the meaning and essence of some of the theology imbued political opinions of selected national leaders of the ANC. The premise for this is that Christianity is the dominant religion in South Africa and by extension most of the leaders and/or members of the ANC are Christians in their own right. The fundamental question addressed here is: what are the [dis]continuities of the religious virtue[s] of the ANC since its transition from a liberation movement to governing party in 1994? Methodologically, the author depends on document study and interdisciplinary discourse analysis in their broadest forms.
This article argues that in the main, the current crop of ANC leaders is not individually and collectively committed to the fundamental principles of the party’s religious morality and political theology. In fact, they [ab]use theological expressions to achieve short term political party goals. What emerges however is that much as the ANC is not a religious party, the conduct of its national leaders have been defined through Christian religious virtues and ethics.
This article draws from a broader doctoral study that utilizes narrative data from African migrants in the informal sector of Johannesburg, South Africa, and document analysis for triangulation of data. It examines African migrants’ presence in the constraining immigration context of South Africa through the concepts of aspiration and time. It explores the lived experiences of the migrants as they navigate structural and social barriers to their presence and economic activities. It highlights the migrants’ socio-political context with a discussion of citizens anxiety, and immigration control in South Africa. Focusing on the creative use of time and aspirations of the migrants, the article argues for a regional relevant and people-oriented approach to immigration control to harness the development potentials of migrants’ businesses.
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