Helping Africa Save Itself

By Witney W. Schneidman
originally published in Newsweek, June 2009

Dambisa Moyo, a Zambian-born economist, lays out a brash argument in her book, DEAD AID: that the more than $1 trillion in foreign assistance given to Africa over the past 50 years is the root cause of the continent’s enduring poverty, widespread corruption, civil wars, and isolation from the global economy. Following this logic to its conclusion, Moyo argues that the best way donors could help Africa today would be to phone officials there and tell them all aid will be cut off within five years. Given recent calls by Bono, the economist Jeffrey Sachs, and others to increase aid, Moyo’s thesis is controversial, to put it mildly. And it’s also misleading in several key ways. But it’s worth taking seriously, for it’s already caused a huge sensation in the donor community and among Africans frustrated by the slow pace of development—and eager for ways to speed the process.

Challenges to Education in Zimbabwe

When Robert Mugabe became the president of the independent nation of Zimbabwe in 1980, he pledged to make education his top priority and the new majority-led government introduced an education for all policy. By 2004, the literacy rate in Zimbabwe had jumped (from 77 percent in 1982) to 90 percent, a figure that placed the nation among the most literate on the continent.

Educational institutions in neighbouring countries sought graduates from Zimbabwe. Teaching was a respected profession. Teachers could afford to buy necessities and even luxuries; they were eligible for credit, and some teachers owned personal cars. They always retired with a good pension. 

Today, it’s a very different story.

Money Flows Between Migrants in Africa

How does money flow to and within Africa? Information about money flows is unreliable, so SAMP did a study to find out more.  The study, called MARS (Migration and Remittances Survey), shows how money flows between countries.

With the exception of Zimbabwe, most of the migrant movements and subsequent remittances flows are intra-regional. In the Zimbabwean case, about 60% of the migrants reside within the SADC region and 40% outside it, providing opportunities for comparison of the two migrant streams.

Read the report here.

Developing a Transformation Agenda for Zimbabwe

New book by Shari Eppel and Brian Raftopoulos

This book, which emerged out of a series of roundtable discussions between shareholders in Zimbabwe and the broader South African region, analyses the political and economic constraints on Zimbabwe’s democratic transformation. It considers the case for a transitional justice or “truth commission” process in the country, the need for a stabilisation programme to ensure reconstruction and the role of military involvement in security sector reform in Zimbabwe.

ISBN 978-1-920118-78-5

R80.00 incl Vat.

60 pgs

Contact shahieda at shendricks@idasa.org.za ph +27-21 467 7616; fax +27-866 333 171

Monthly Monitoring of GNU Watch – Zimbabwe, May 2009

As Zimbabwe extracts itself from years of turbulence, the Global Political Agreement (GPA) provides the map for the way forward. Thus, monitoring the implementation of the GPA provides some measure of understanding of progress in Zimbabwe.  Read this analysis from May 2009.

The Judiciary and Politics

By Shameela Seedat

When the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) meets later this year to consider who will replace four titans of the Constitutional Court when their terms expire this October, it will be one of the first real opportunities to assess where our courts stand since this year’s election.

The departing judges are Pius Langa, Yvonne Mokgoro, Albie Sachs and Kate O’Regan. There are, perhaps, two immediate questions. First, will the new judges continue to uphold the Court’s reputation for promoting progressive values? Thus-far the 11 member Court has a track record of well-reasoned judgments that have deepened democracy by kick-starting several programs to implement social and economic rights, and by generally showing empathy for ordinary citizens, women, immigrants, and poor or otherwise vulnerable people.

The second pressing question is: how susceptible are judicial appointments to politics? Even in various mature democracies, presidents are known to steer the judicial system to a degree. For example, in the United States, presidents have chosen liberal or conservative judges who are expected to concur on divisive matters such as abortion, the death penalty, federal versus state rights and so on. Imagine then, for example, that recent rumblings on the relevance of our nine provinces morph into a highly contested legal dispute, or that the new national planning commission clashes with the DA-led Western Cape cabinet over housing policy in the province. Is it possible or likely that judges could be appointed for their suspected antipathy towards or support of government policy or provincial powers?

Furthermore, should we be concerned that President Jacob Zuma, as national leader plays an important role in choosing judges to the Constitutional Court, and with first-hand experience as to how individual judges can reach divergent legal conclusions, and himself bruised by some judges and not by others, can he be expected to remain neutral?

SA Needs Pragmatism and Reassurance – Pre-State of the Nation

A month has passed since the April 22 election. The South African economy has entered its first official recession since the early 1990s. With a contraction of 6.4 percent in gross domestic product (GDP) in the last quarter and zero percent growth forecast for the second quarter of this year, all indications are that the worst of this recession is yet to come. The country needs a dose of pragmatism, reassurance and solutions.

 During the Mbeki years, characterised by stable but unequal growth and a booming global commodities market that meant relative economic stability, the State of the Nation addresses were increasingly mechanical and predictable. Mbeki was not afraid to court controversy and used this platform to espouse his Two Nations thesis, which later developed into a Two Economies analysis. However, criticism of his addresses focussed more on the deafening silences on critical issues, most notably, HIV/AIDS and Zimbabwe.

Jacob Zuma and the ANC ran a strong election campaign, focussing on an agenda of socio-economic transformation. The campaign slogan of Together, we can do more holds an implicit admission that the ruling-party has not delivered enough on its previous goal of a Better life for all, and it is this theme which is likely to take centre stage at Zuma’s State of the Nation address. Given recent public protests at poor service delivery and continued threats of public service strikes within the municipal and health sectors, Jacob Zuma will need to Zuma engage with citizens on these issues and demonstrate strong leadership and will on behalf of the new government to deal balance various competing interests.  Zuma’s address will thus come in for keen scrutiny from the opposition benches and more importantly, he will experience increasing pressure by extra-parliamentary formations such as the ANC’s Alliance partners. The alliance partners will be looking to Zuma for the quid pro quo for their election support and citizens will be looking to him for direction during difficult economic times. In addition, business will want to see continuity in the midst of change. So, Zuma will have to navigate tricky waters if he is going to satisfy the high expectations of a variety of divergent stakeholders.      

Afrobarometer – Democracy in Africa

Read the latest releases from Afrobarometer on the following topics:

The Evolution of African Political Regimes in the last 10 years; Poverty Reduction, Economic Growth and Democratisation in Southern Africa; African Media and Telecommunications; and Citizens and Democratisation.

See these releases here.

Zuma and His Cabinet

- By Judith February -  South Africans’ capacity for magnanimity has been well-displayed these past weeks. Jacob Zuma is our President. Despite the cloud of corruption which will continue to hang over his head despite occupying the highest office, we, the people, have a responsibility not only to demand accountability but to put our shoulders to the wheel. In Zapiro-speak, the shower-head has been suspended. Temporarily.

Zuma and his cabinet

-By Judith February – South Africans’ capacity for magnanimity has been well-displayed these past weeks. Jacob Zuma is our President. Despite the cloud of corruption which will continue to hang over his head despite occupying the highest office, we, the people, have a responsibility not only to demand accountability but to put our shoulders to the wheel. In Zapiro-speak, the shower-head has been suspended. Temporarily.