NPC – new framework for policy and delivery in SA

Imagine a common vision for development across the country?  Perhaps this could be the start.  Trevor Manuel (Minister in the Presidency for National Planning) released the Green Paper on national strategic planning in early September, which aims to provide a co-ordinated, coherent plan for government delivery. See more analysis below.
By Justin Sylvester

Since President Jacob Zuma [...]

What did they spend? Party Funding and Campaigns in SA …

By: Judith February
With the elections over and the African National Congress celebrating its victory, it is clear that, along with the people, the money has also spoken.
Estimates put the ANC’s election spending at between R200million and R400m. No one can be sure of the actual amount, given the lack of transparency in the funding of [...]

The State of SA’s Democratic Institutions

- By Shameela Seedat -
Media coverage leading up to next month’s national elections would leave many of us convinced of a dramatic plunge over the past few years in the level of public trust in South African democratic institutions.
Several significant events have led to such dwindling enthusiasm. These events include, to mention a few, [...]

Are food parcels being abused to manipulate voters?

By Christi van der Westhuizen
www.electionmonitoringnetwork.org
‘‘I‘m going to make sure that if you advertise (sic) an article about my name on the newspaper I will deal with you… If you go to the paper with that thing you’re going to deal with the consequences thereafter… I am not threatening you, you are threatening yourself. You cannot [...]

Know Your Decision Makers – Zimbabwe

To know your ministers, is to know your powerful decision makers.  Understand more about the dynamics in the Zimbabwean government in the profiles of Ministers.  See these on the Idasa website here; and the Zimbabwean Times site here.

Source – Zimbabwe Times

A Quick Guide to the Jacob Zuma Matter

See this quick guide to the basics on the Jacob Zuma matter … why did the NPA bring charges? Why did they drop charges? Is this the end of the case? What legal precedents are being set and what is their significance?

Race and Class Impact on the Elections

South Africa’s stark levels of inequality are highly racialised. Fifteen years of democracy have shown an increase in inequality within race groups, particularly among black South Africans.
So what impact will this have on the election in April?
Read more to explore the notion that party identification in South Africa may be driven more by class interests [...]

Politics Trumps Justice? Zuma and the NPA

The piecemeal manner in which the NPA has chosen to deal with these issues has unfortunately left many questions unresolved and has also posed a raft of new questions. Foremost among these is whether we will ever definitively know Jacob Zuma’s guilt or innocence, and whether the NPA’s unpersuasive ‘policy’ rationale is indicative of another instance of inappropriate political pressure trumping purely legal considerations?

Managing Conflict in Elections

South Africans are keen to have a peaceful, free and fair election. The Election Monitoring Network has developed a toolkit for organisations who want to contribute to the prevention, management and mitigation of violence over the election period.

Elections and Human Rights

While the definition of human rights seems simple and makes perfect sense to most of us, this unfortunately does not mean that all people everywhere have enjoyed equal rights through the ages. Human rights have always been, and continue to be, at the root of many struggles for national, group and personal freedom. As elections [...]