The areas south of Libya have experienced more than their fair share of conflict and rapid social change. In earlier times, the main routes of trade, commerce and pilgrimage between West African and the Arab Peninsula passed through this region, also once inhabited by mighty warrior empires (see for example Bawuro 1972). However, as the empires along these routes faded away, and international ocean shipping opened up this part of Africa to the forces of global trade and capitalism, the centres of authority that once controlled this region also vanished. What remained was an almost open territory: unwelcoming and hard, but also a place of possibilities and the freedom to roam for those who had mastered the art of survival under such difficult conditions. This was the land of the Tuareg and other semi-nomadic groups who controlled cities and important trading posts such as Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal in contemporary Mali. This is the world of the Sahel and the parts of Western Africa that straddles Libya, and a region that currently includes Southern Algeria, Northern Mali, Niger, Chad, Mauritania and parts of Northern Nigeria. These are therefore also the countries and areas that have come to experience the full effect of what we define as post-Gaddafi repercussions.
{"title":"INTRODUCTION: POST-GADDAFI REPERCUSSIONS IN THE SAHEL AND WEST AFRICA","authors":"Mats Utas","doi":"10.35293/SRSA.V35I2.124","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35293/SRSA.V35I2.124","url":null,"abstract":"The areas south of Libya have experienced more than their fair share of conflict and rapid social change. In earlier times, the main routes of trade, commerce and pilgrimage between West African and the Arab Peninsula passed through this region, also once inhabited by mighty warrior empires (see for example Bawuro 1972). However, as the empires along these routes faded away, and international ocean shipping opened up this part of Africa to the forces of global trade and capitalism, the centres of authority that once controlled this region also vanished. What remained was an almost open territory: unwelcoming and hard, but also a place of possibilities and the freedom to roam for those who had mastered the art of survival under such difficult conditions. This was the land of the Tuareg and other semi-nomadic groups who controlled cities and important trading posts such as Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal in contemporary Mali. This is the world of the Sahel and the parts of Western Africa that straddles Libya, and a region that currently includes Southern Algeria, Northern Mali, Niger, Chad, Mauritania and parts of Northern Nigeria. These are therefore also the countries and areas that have come to experience the full effect of what we define as post-Gaddafi repercussions.","PeriodicalId":41892,"journal":{"name":"Strategic Review for Southern Africa","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2020-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49634047","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article explores the meaning of peace and human security from theperspective of the individual — the presumed referent point of security— and examines responses to armed conflict, a leading source of insecurity for African peoples. It identifies inherent flaws in approaches to conflict in Africa and looks to a different field — that of leadership — for a more effective formula for peacemaking. In the absence of a framework that can effectively end the cycle of conflict relapse in Africa,the paper argues that an alternative framing of leadership is needed; and that alternative leadership approaches to dealing with conflict andinsecurity offer a chance for stable peace and human security. It suggests that an expanded perspective on leadership provides a basis for exploring interventions that can potentially alter peacemaking discourses as well as the terrain in which peacemaking takes place. The article therefore asks what a focus on the individual as the referent point of security means if and when viewed from the perspective of a collection of individuals. In this regard, it presents emerging perspectives from a study of young Africans on leadership programmes in a classroom setting and attempts to extrapolate them to wider societal settings. It then explores how a different perspective of leadership might serve as a facilitator of peace and human security in Africa, drawing examples from past and on-going situations of armed conflict in Africa.
{"title":"RE-CONCEPTUALISING LEADERSHIP FOR EFFECTIVE PEACEMAKING AND HUMAN SECURITY IN AFRICA","authors":"Funmi Olonisakin","doi":"10.35293/SRSA.V37I1.213","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35293/SRSA.V37I1.213","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores the meaning of peace and human security from theperspective of the individual — the presumed referent point of security— and examines responses to armed conflict, a leading source of insecurity for African peoples. It identifies inherent flaws in approaches to conflict in Africa and looks to a different field — that of leadership — for a more effective formula for peacemaking. In the absence of a framework that can effectively end the cycle of conflict relapse in Africa,the paper argues that an alternative framing of leadership is needed; and that alternative leadership approaches to dealing with conflict andinsecurity offer a chance for stable peace and human security. It suggests that an expanded perspective on leadership provides a basis for exploring interventions that can potentially alter peacemaking discourses as well as the terrain in which peacemaking takes place. The article therefore asks what a focus on the individual as the referent point of security means if and when viewed from the perspective of a collection of individuals. In this regard, it presents emerging perspectives from a study of young Africans on leadership programmes in a classroom setting and attempts to extrapolate them to wider societal settings. It then explores how a different perspective of leadership might serve as a facilitator of peace and human security in Africa, drawing examples from past and on-going situations of armed conflict in Africa. ","PeriodicalId":41892,"journal":{"name":"Strategic Review for Southern Africa","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2020-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42079829","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Given its economic significance, agriculture has been at the centre of historical scholarship in Malawi. Yet despite the significant contribution this scholarship has made to the country’s development, there has been no effort to systematically reconstruct Malawi’s agricultural historiography. This article, therefore, takes stock of the progress that has been made by historians on research in the country’s agricultural history since the mid-1950s. The ultimate goal is to establish not only what might be regarded as the country’s agricultural historiography, but also the place of food production, which has become an important food security aspect of most Malawian peasants. After assessing the earlier works, the study observes that Malawi has an agricultural historiography which, prompted by the political and economic thoughts of the time, has conceptually evolved after the traditions of modernisation, underdevelopment and social history schools. It is argued here that, despite raising a strong case about the processes by which colonialism and capitalism disrupted peasant food economies, the historiography has made little effort to explore the patterns of peasant food production that emerged through this process, except for those studies that sought to understand the growth of famine and hunger. While resonating in many respects with the agricultural historiography of southern Africa, the Malawi case has gone beyond to include smallholder irrigation farming, which despite being globally recognised as a panacea for maintaining food production in the changing climate, has been under researched even in the dominating regional climate historiography.
{"title":"Ecological Change, Agricultural Development and Food Production in Malawi: a Historiographical Review","authors":"B. Nkhoma","doi":"10.35293/srsa.v41i2.307","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35293/srsa.v41i2.307","url":null,"abstract":"Given its economic significance, agriculture has been at the centre of historical scholarship in Malawi. Yet despite the significant contribution this scholarship has made to the country’s development, there has been no effort to systematically reconstruct Malawi’s agricultural historiography. This article, therefore, takes stock of the progress that has been made by historians on research in the country’s agricultural history since the mid-1950s. The ultimate goal is to establish not only what might be regarded as the country’s agricultural historiography, but also the place of food production, which has become an important food security aspect of most Malawian peasants. After assessing the earlier works, the study observes that Malawi has an agricultural historiography which, prompted by the political and economic thoughts of the time, has conceptually evolved after the traditions of modernisation, underdevelopment and social history schools. It is argued here that, despite raising a strong case about the processes by which colonialism and capitalism disrupted peasant food economies, the historiography has made little effort to explore the patterns of peasant food production that emerged through this process, except for those studies that sought to understand the growth of famine and hunger. While resonating in many respects with the agricultural historiography of southern Africa, the Malawi case has gone beyond to include smallholder irrigation farming, which despite being globally recognised as a panacea for maintaining food production in the changing climate, has been under researched even in the dominating regional climate historiography.","PeriodicalId":41892,"journal":{"name":"Strategic Review for Southern Africa","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2020-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49001603","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
1. Introduction In November 2015, the Third Joint Nordic Conference on Development Research was organised by the School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg (Sweden). Development research has a long (and rather strong) history in the Nordic (1) countries. In fact, Nordic development studies have been able to respond continuously (and to some extent jointly) to the challenges over the last 50 years by producing thought-provoking research--as evidenced by a range of new approaches, new methodologies, new theories, extending both mono- and cross/ interdisciplinary areas of study and innovative development policies. Between the 1970s and 1990s, there was a fairly strong sense of 'Nordic-ness' among both researchers and policymakers. However, the so-called 'crisis of development studies' in the 1980s and 1990s impacted negatively on Nordic cooperation and both research and policy became more varied and fragmented. In the early 2000s, attempts were made by leading Nordic development researchers to revitalise cooperation, which resulted in the First Joint Nordic Conference on Development Research in Copenhagen in 2011. The general purpose of the joint conferences is to bring together researchers and practitioners from the Nordic countries (and beyond) to debate and rethink contemporary issues in development research and policy. The inaugural conference of this 'new era of Nordic cooperation', held in Copenhagen in 2011, focused on the contribution of the Nordic perspectives and approaches to development/development studies visa-vis global and other approaches to development. Subsequent bi annual conferences have continued to explore the Nordic approach to development policy and research while at the same time addressing other critical issues in development research. The second Joint Nordic Conference in Helsinki in 2013 focused on the role of knowledge production in and for development while the third held in Gothenburg in 2015 continued and deepened the discussions from previous conferences through the theme "A Changing Global Development Agenda?". It aimed, in particular, to address the development implications of global recovery, emerging powers, new patterns of vulnerability, as well as of economic crisis, environmental crises, urbanisation, and humanitarian and governance crises. The conference also reflected on the significance, content, and possible implications for the post-2015 global development agenda and the future of sustainable development. Attracting more than 200 participants from 18 countries, the conference in Gothenburg was organised around 17 working groups that involved more than 100 paper presentations, four thematic roundtables, and two keynote speeches by Professor Inge Kaul and Professor Adebayo Olukoshi. The purpose of this report is to reflect on the status of Nordic development studies in light of the experience of the last conference in Gothenburg. To that end, we reflect on two themes that we consider as essential to
{"title":"NORDIC DEVELOPMENT STUDIES: LESSONS, PITFALLS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS","authors":"W. Coetzee, F. Söderbaum","doi":"10.35293/SRSA.V38I1.298","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35293/SRSA.V38I1.298","url":null,"abstract":"1. Introduction In November 2015, the Third Joint Nordic Conference on Development Research was organised by the School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg (Sweden). Development research has a long (and rather strong) history in the Nordic (1) countries. In fact, Nordic development studies have been able to respond continuously (and to some extent jointly) to the challenges over the last 50 years by producing thought-provoking research--as evidenced by a range of new approaches, new methodologies, new theories, extending both mono- and cross/ interdisciplinary areas of study and innovative development policies. Between the 1970s and 1990s, there was a fairly strong sense of 'Nordic-ness' among both researchers and policymakers. However, the so-called 'crisis of development studies' in the 1980s and 1990s impacted negatively on Nordic cooperation and both research and policy became more varied and fragmented. In the early 2000s, attempts were made by leading Nordic development researchers to revitalise cooperation, which resulted in the First Joint Nordic Conference on Development Research in Copenhagen in 2011. The general purpose of the joint conferences is to bring together researchers and practitioners from the Nordic countries (and beyond) to debate and rethink contemporary issues in development research and policy. The inaugural conference of this 'new era of Nordic cooperation', held in Copenhagen in 2011, focused on the contribution of the Nordic perspectives and approaches to development/development studies visa-vis global and other approaches to development. Subsequent bi annual conferences have continued to explore the Nordic approach to development policy and research while at the same time addressing other critical issues in development research. The second Joint Nordic Conference in Helsinki in 2013 focused on the role of knowledge production in and for development while the third held in Gothenburg in 2015 continued and deepened the discussions from previous conferences through the theme \"A Changing Global Development Agenda?\". It aimed, in particular, to address the development implications of global recovery, emerging powers, new patterns of vulnerability, as well as of economic crisis, environmental crises, urbanisation, and humanitarian and governance crises. The conference also reflected on the significance, content, and possible implications for the post-2015 global development agenda and the future of sustainable development. Attracting more than 200 participants from 18 countries, the conference in Gothenburg was organised around 17 working groups that involved more than 100 paper presentations, four thematic roundtables, and two keynote speeches by Professor Inge Kaul and Professor Adebayo Olukoshi. The purpose of this report is to reflect on the status of Nordic development studies in light of the experience of the last conference in Gothenburg. To that end, we reflect on two themes that we consider as essential to","PeriodicalId":41892,"journal":{"name":"Strategic Review for Southern Africa","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2020-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41708466","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
1. Introduction A recent case count of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa published by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) put the total number of deaths at 9 194 (CDC, 12 February 2015). Still counting, these figures will not be the last as the people of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone continue to battle the Ebola virus day by day. Until a community or a country spends 42 days (double the 21-day incubation period of the Ebola virus) without a new case and the last patient in isolation becomes laboratory negative, that country or community will not be declared Ebola-free (CDC 2015). Attaining this status has been the goal of many communities affected by Ebola in West Africa today. There are many stakeholders who share this goal and are working to help the communities. The focus of this commentary is, however, on the role played by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in tackling Ebola. The Ebola epidemic is, in the first instance, a regional concern for ECOWAS, affecting three of its member states and threatening the others. Although ECOWAS has played an important role in the fight against Ebola, the narratives of other more resourced stakeholders, such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations (UN) agencies, have largely overshadowed this effort. This commentary therefore, examines the ECOWAS response by answering the following questions: how did ECOWAS respond to the Ebola virus? What lessons can be learned from the response? Using a timeline analysis, it argues that ECOWAS played a leading role in tackling the disease. However, the response of ECOWAS was hampered by its initial approach of over-reliance on the member states and their institutions, most of which lack adequate capacity, to control and contain the virus, and then by the slow process of adapting the response to regional interventionism. 2. Ebola: A threat to human security? More than violence, deadly, communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Ebola threaten humanity in an unprecedented way. On Ebola, the head of WHO, Margaret Chan, said: I have never seen a health event threaten the very survival of societies and governments in already very poor countries, I have never seen an infectious disease contribute so strongly to potential state failure (The BBC, 13 October 2014). This statement underscores the human security implication of deadly diseases, and rightly supports an expanded conceptualisation of security. Ebola not only threatens the lives of the people, but also the survival of the state. Without a healthy, productive population, state survival is imperilled. The Ebola virus disease (EVD), also known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans (WHO 2014). The origin of Ebola virus has been traced to wild animals, which transmits the virus to people, and then unleashes a chain of human-to-human transmission. The fatality rate is as high as 90 per cent in the recent outbreaks (WHO 2014). It ha
{"title":"HUMAN SECURITY IN PRACTICE: SECURING PEOPLE FROM THE THREAT OF EPIDEMIC — WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE ECOWAS RESPONSE TO EBOLA?","authors":"Habibu Yaya Bappah","doi":"10.35293/SRSA.V37I1.221","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35293/SRSA.V37I1.221","url":null,"abstract":"1. Introduction A recent case count of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa published by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) put the total number of deaths at 9 194 (CDC, 12 February 2015). Still counting, these figures will not be the last as the people of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone continue to battle the Ebola virus day by day. Until a community or a country spends 42 days (double the 21-day incubation period of the Ebola virus) without a new case and the last patient in isolation becomes laboratory negative, that country or community will not be declared Ebola-free (CDC 2015). Attaining this status has been the goal of many communities affected by Ebola in West Africa today. There are many stakeholders who share this goal and are working to help the communities. The focus of this commentary is, however, on the role played by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in tackling Ebola. The Ebola epidemic is, in the first instance, a regional concern for ECOWAS, affecting three of its member states and threatening the others. Although ECOWAS has played an important role in the fight against Ebola, the narratives of other more resourced stakeholders, such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations (UN) agencies, have largely overshadowed this effort. This commentary therefore, examines the ECOWAS response by answering the following questions: how did ECOWAS respond to the Ebola virus? What lessons can be learned from the response? Using a timeline analysis, it argues that ECOWAS played a leading role in tackling the disease. However, the response of ECOWAS was hampered by its initial approach of over-reliance on the member states and their institutions, most of which lack adequate capacity, to control and contain the virus, and then by the slow process of adapting the response to regional interventionism. 2. Ebola: A threat to human security? More than violence, deadly, communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Ebola threaten humanity in an unprecedented way. On Ebola, the head of WHO, Margaret Chan, said: I have never seen a health event threaten the very survival of societies and governments in already very poor countries, I have never seen an infectious disease contribute so strongly to potential state failure (The BBC, 13 October 2014). This statement underscores the human security implication of deadly diseases, and rightly supports an expanded conceptualisation of security. Ebola not only threatens the lives of the people, but also the survival of the state. Without a healthy, productive population, state survival is imperilled. The Ebola virus disease (EVD), also known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans (WHO 2014). The origin of Ebola virus has been traced to wild animals, which transmits the virus to people, and then unleashes a chain of human-to-human transmission. The fatality rate is as high as 90 per cent in the recent outbreaks (WHO 2014). It ha","PeriodicalId":41892,"journal":{"name":"Strategic Review for Southern Africa","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2020-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44442632","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The article aims to explain the reasons and ways South Africa aimed to project influence and power on the African continent. It analyses the ways that SA projected influence through its foreign polices at the international and multilateral levels as well as the ways it used its military in support of its foreign policy goals. Case studies in this regard which are discussed include its involvement in Burundi, Darfur, Sudan, Libya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan. It is concluded that South Africa remained committed to its foreign policy goals but struggled to influence international and multilateral institutions to become involved or support these goals. Lastly, it concludes that South Africa’s aim to project power in Africa was unsuccessful. Therefore, South Africa could no longer be seen as middlepower but rather as an ever-weakening State.
{"title":"South Africa’s efforts to Project Influence and Power in Africa (2000 to 2017)","authors":"Barend Prinsloo","doi":"10.35293/srsa.v41i1.233","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35293/srsa.v41i1.233","url":null,"abstract":"The article aims to explain the reasons and ways South Africa aimed to project influence and power on the African continent. It analyses the ways that SA projected influence through its foreign polices at the international and multilateral levels as well as the ways it used its military in support of its foreign policy goals. Case studies in this regard which are discussed include its involvement in Burundi, Darfur, Sudan, Libya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan. It is concluded that South Africa remained committed to its foreign policy goals but struggled to influence international and multilateral institutions to become involved or support these goals. Lastly, it concludes that South Africa’s aim to project power in Africa was unsuccessful. Therefore, South Africa could no longer be seen as middlepower but rather as an ever-weakening State.","PeriodicalId":41892,"journal":{"name":"Strategic Review for Southern Africa","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2020-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45018504","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
1. Introduction The constitutionalisation and justiciability of socio-economic rights has always been debated among scholars and practitioners. While everyone agrees that every constitution should encompass socio-economic rights there is still disagreement on whether they should be under the Bill of Rights or Principles of State Policy. The constitutional debate in Zimbabwe also included such discussions which resulted in the inclusion of socio-economic rights as both National Objectives (Principles of State Policy) and Declaration of Human Rights (Bill of Rights), under chapter two and four respectively. Though this is a welcome move towards the progressive realisation of socio-economic rights the big question remains whether this will improve the protection and promotion of these rights, subsequently bringing change to people's lives. This overview provides a critical analysis of the new constitution and offers recommendations for the improvement of the socio-economic rights regime in Zimbabwe through courts, state institutions and government. 2. The new Constitution The preamble of the new constitution (1)) recognises the supremacy of God and gives special recognition to the liberation struggle, natural resources, diverse culture, democratic values, rule of law and fundamental human rights. It values the principles of rule of law, fundamental human rights and freedoms, gender equality, good governance and representation of the electorate and places an obligation to the State to protect and promote these values and principles. Though the preamble of the constitution has no legal standing it spells out the purpose of the constitution and it reflects the goals and commitment of government. It is an introductory statement and courts can refer to it on cases pertaining to the constitution as reliable evidence of what the state has promised to achieve and provide for citizens. The preamble commits the state to uphold and defend fundamental human rights and freedoms, which include socio-economic rights. The protection and promotion of socio-economic rights serve to support the commitments set in the preamble, such as transparency, freedom, tradition and culture, fairness and equality. In countries such as South Africa where the preamble is not legally binding, the courts have interpreted the commitments highlighted in the preamble in, for example, the Bato Star Fishing (PTY) LTD vs Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism case, interpreting the commitments in the preamble as an obligation on the state. In addition to traditional civil and political rights, the new constitution contains a full catalogue of economic, social, cultural and environmental rights. This includes every person's right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being (section 73); and an obligation to protect the environment for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures. Section 75 (rights to educati
{"title":"SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS IN ZIMBABWE'S NEW CONSTITUTION","authors":"Theophilous Chiviru","doi":"10.35293/SRSA.V36I1.155","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35293/SRSA.V36I1.155","url":null,"abstract":"1. Introduction The constitutionalisation and justiciability of socio-economic rights has always been debated among scholars and practitioners. While everyone agrees that every constitution should encompass socio-economic rights there is still disagreement on whether they should be under the Bill of Rights or Principles of State Policy. The constitutional debate in Zimbabwe also included such discussions which resulted in the inclusion of socio-economic rights as both National Objectives (Principles of State Policy) and Declaration of Human Rights (Bill of Rights), under chapter two and four respectively. Though this is a welcome move towards the progressive realisation of socio-economic rights the big question remains whether this will improve the protection and promotion of these rights, subsequently bringing change to people's lives. This overview provides a critical analysis of the new constitution and offers recommendations for the improvement of the socio-economic rights regime in Zimbabwe through courts, state institutions and government. 2. The new Constitution The preamble of the new constitution (1)) recognises the supremacy of God and gives special recognition to the liberation struggle, natural resources, diverse culture, democratic values, rule of law and fundamental human rights. It values the principles of rule of law, fundamental human rights and freedoms, gender equality, good governance and representation of the electorate and places an obligation to the State to protect and promote these values and principles. Though the preamble of the constitution has no legal standing it spells out the purpose of the constitution and it reflects the goals and commitment of government. It is an introductory statement and courts can refer to it on cases pertaining to the constitution as reliable evidence of what the state has promised to achieve and provide for citizens. The preamble commits the state to uphold and defend fundamental human rights and freedoms, which include socio-economic rights. The protection and promotion of socio-economic rights serve to support the commitments set in the preamble, such as transparency, freedom, tradition and culture, fairness and equality. In countries such as South Africa where the preamble is not legally binding, the courts have interpreted the commitments highlighted in the preamble in, for example, the Bato Star Fishing (PTY) LTD vs Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism case, interpreting the commitments in the preamble as an obligation on the state. In addition to traditional civil and political rights, the new constitution contains a full catalogue of economic, social, cultural and environmental rights. This includes every person's right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being (section 73); and an obligation to protect the environment for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures. Section 75 (rights to educati","PeriodicalId":41892,"journal":{"name":"Strategic Review for Southern Africa","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2020-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49329894","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Adebajo, Adekeye/Whiteman, Kaye (eds), The EU and Africa. From Eurafrique to Afro-Europa. Johannesburg: Wits University Press 2012, 531 pp.","authors":"G. Piccolino","doi":"10.35293/srsa.v35i2.145","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35293/srsa.v35i2.145","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41892,"journal":{"name":"Strategic Review for Southern Africa","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2020-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45937209","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Fall of the ANC: What Next? (Prince Mashele and Mzukisi Qobo)","authors":"G. L. Pere","doi":"10.35293/srsa.v36i2.188","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35293/srsa.v36i2.188","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41892,"journal":{"name":"Strategic Review for Southern Africa","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2020-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46453481","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Arab Spring, which brought an end to the authoritarian regimes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, was greeted with so much expectation, especially as it gave hope for the expansion of democracy. Unfortunately, however, the Arab Spring has only helped to bring about a period of political uncertainty in the affected countries and created the opportunity for political instability in the Sahel and Sub-Saharan Africa. The fragility of states in Africa with the attendant governance deficits have also created the platform for non-state armed actors to penetrate the Sahel and Sub-Saharan Africa, which ultimately impacts negatively on the region. This study, therefore, seeks to investigate the implication of the Arab Spring for peace and development in the Sahel and SubSaharan Africa.
{"title":"THE AFTERMATH OF THE ARAB SPRING AND ITS IMPLICATION FOR PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE SAHEL AND SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA","authors":"N. Danjibo","doi":"10.35293/SRSA.V35I2.135","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35293/SRSA.V35I2.135","url":null,"abstract":"The Arab Spring, which brought an end to the authoritarian regimes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, was greeted with so much expectation, especially as it gave hope for the expansion of democracy. Unfortunately, however, the Arab Spring has only helped to bring about a period of political uncertainty in the affected countries and created the opportunity for political instability in the Sahel and Sub-Saharan Africa. The fragility of states in Africa with the attendant governance deficits have also created the platform for non-state armed actors to penetrate the Sahel and Sub-Saharan Africa, which ultimately impacts negatively on the region. This study, therefore, seeks to investigate the implication of the Arab Spring for peace and development in the Sahel and SubSaharan Africa.","PeriodicalId":41892,"journal":{"name":"Strategic Review for Southern Africa","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2020-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48532008","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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