Idasa responds to Land Bank announcement

The Public Expenditure and Smallholder Agriculture Project in African democracy institute, Idasa, has welcomed the Land Bank’s commitment to spend 1 billion rands on emerging farmers in the next two years as a move to unlock the long-term potential growth of agriculture as one of the pillars of South Africa’s economic development. Please read attached [...]

Where to now for the youth who led South Sudan’s struggle?

The youth of South Sudan played a major role in the independence struggle, bringing new technology and modern ideas to rally support for succession. Yet these same young people now face huge difficulties that are obstructing their participation in constructing their new country – lack of education and job opportunities among them. Maddy Halyard, an [...]

Keeping secrets is not the way to make friends

South Africa’s proposed Protection of Information Bill, now back with the adhoc parliamentary committee for redrafting, is chillingly similar to Zimbabwe’s Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, warns Maddy Halyard of Idasa’s States in Transition Observatory (SITO). It could turn everyday citizens who posses protected intelligence, even unknowingly, into common criminals, while exempting [...]

What is happening to our country as we lose our leaders of old

Russel made some good points (read them below) when he paid tribute to Kader Asmal who died last week. Following Ma Sisulu’s death, and with the older generation of leadership passing on, South Africans are asking who is left as the guardian of the ANC heritage. Comment here and let’s get a blog discussion going.

Idasa questions judgement of Director of Public prosecution in arms deal

African democracy institute Idasa is questioning the judgement of former national director of public prosecutions, Menzi Simelane, who decided not to investigate Fana Hlongwane, an adviser to then defence minister Joe Modise, who we recently learned took a R24m payback  from a SAAB subsidiary Saab in its bid to supply Gripen fighter jets to SA. [...]

SITO’s first Election Watch for Zimbabwe

The Election Watch is based on the SADC principles and guidelines for conducting elections. It holds countries to the standards that they originated and agreed to abide by as members of the regional community. It will be released on a monthly basis in order to track progress towards or divergence from the SADC standard. Read [...]

What is Zimbabwe’s Global Political Agreement?

If intended as a ceasefire agreement, Zimbabwe’s GPA has failed to deliver, but as a power-sharing mechanism it could well be guaranteed of success For those who viewed the Global Political Agreement as amounting to a viable political agreement, the resurgence of serious political differences among the key protagonists is evidence of the failure of [...]

Idasa challenges municipal election candidates to disclose their campaign funding

4 May 2011 For Immediate Release Idasa challenges municipal election candidates to disclose their campaign funding South Africa will be holding countrywide municipal elections on Wednesday 18 May 2011. They will be held against a background of many years of mounting dissatisfaction with service delivery, manifested in increasingly widespread protests and rates boycotts.

African Charter campaign mounts pressure for successful elections

There are 17 presidential and legislative elections due to take place in Africa this year, and after the violent electoral standoff in Côte d’Ivoire the time has come for African leaders and institutions to take elections seriously.  Idasa’s campaign to promote the African Union Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance needs ratification from 15 more [...]

Idasa remembers Chris Hani – read Nic Borain’s reminiscences here

For a brief time in the late 1980′s I had occasion to spend some time with Chris Hani, then Chief of Staff of the ANC’s uMkhonto we Sizwe and Secretary General of the South African Communist Party. I was working for the Institute for a Democratic Alternative for South Africa (IDASA) and a meeting between [...]