DOCSLIB.ORG

Regional Inter-Agency Standing Committee (RIASCO), Southern Africa

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Humanitarian Trends in Southern Africa: Challenges and Opportunities Regional Inter-Agency Standing Committeei (RIASCO), Southern Africa Humanitarian Trends in Southern Africa: Challenges and Opportunities FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT Disaster Mitigation for Sustainable Livelihoods Programme Stellenbosch University Private Bag x1 Matieland, 7602 South Africa [email protected] PLEASE CITE AS: Holloway A., Chasi V., de Waal J., Drimie S., Fortune G., Mafuleka G., Morojele M., Penicela Nhambiu B., Randrianalijaona M., Vogel C. and Zweig P. 2013. Humanitarian Trends in Southern Africa: Challenges and Opportunities. Regional Interagency Standing Committee, Southern Africa. Rome, FAO. COVER IMAGE CAPTION “PRECIOUS BUNDLE: An as-yet-unnamed baby who was born on the back of a bakkie (pick- up truck) just days ago during the deluge is carried gently across the water by a farmworker” – courtesy of Antione de Ras, The Star, January 25, 2013. i The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of FAO. ISBN 978-0-620-57485-3 © FAO, 2013 FAO encourages the use, reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product. Except where otherwise indicated, material may be copied, downloaded and printed for private study, research and teaching purposes, or for use in non-commercial products or services, provided that appropriate acknowledgement of FAO as the source and copyright holder is given and that FAO’s endorsement of users’ views, products or services is not implied in any way. All requests for translation and adaptation rights, and for resale and other commercial use rights should be made via www.fao.org/contact-us/licence-request or addressed to [email protected]. FAO information products are available on the FAO website (www.fao.org/publications) and can be purchased through [email protected]. ii FOREWORD Southern Africa is vulnerable to a variety of slow- and sudden-onset disasters: floods, drought, disease epidemics, food and energy insecurity, political unrest and many others. In an average year, millions of people are affected by food insecurity and hundreds of thousands by floods alone. “Humanitarian Trends in Southern Africa: Challenges and Opportunities” was born out of the realization that humanitarian dynamics in the region are changing rapidly. Population growth, migration, urbanization, water scarcity, climate change and environmental degradation are but some of the forces that now must be taken into account in any conceptual model of humanitarian conditions. There has also been profound progress in our understanding of the role humanitarians can and should play. No longer can we treat emergencies as isolated events, or respond to crises without considering their underlying structural causes and their inter-connectedness within wider socio-economic contexts. We see this paradigm shift in efforts to strengthen disaster risk reduction, address the vulnerability of communities and build resilience by linking humanitarian action to a wider developmental context. Ensuring that mitigation, preparedness, humanitarian response and development are integrated not only builds sustainability but also better prepares us for the next disaster. Therefore, any kind of action must have as an ultimate objective the development of institutional, economic and community structures which can effectively and systematically minimize the impact of any emergency and contribute to the development of southern Africa. This study is part of these efforts at improving the effectiveness of humanitarian action. It provides a basis on which we can identify the skills and capacities needed in the new humanitarian world, and also offers an invaluable opportunity for partnership among public, private and civil society sectors in the region by allowing for a shared understanding of the threats and challenges we must face together. iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Study rationale – the changing character of humanitarian emergencies This research was prompted by a growing consensus that “the nature of humanitarian emergencies is changing” (UNOCHA, 2011a), with future emergencies increasingly driven over time by “a combination of complex and inter-related circumstances”, rather than single, identifiable shocks (ibid). Such observations resonate closely with those of humanitarian actors within southern Africa who increasingly face new, ‘atypical’ challenges. Members of southern Africa’s Regional Interagency Standing Committee (RIASCO) have long acknowledged that effective humanitarian planning presupposes a clear understanding of the region’s risk profile. This prompted a call to investigate the threats to lives and livelihoods likely to confront southern Africa over the next decade, along with available capacities to address these challenges. RIASCO also sought greater clarity on the causal processes that may exacerbate population displacement, food insecurity, health emergencies, livelihood loss, as well as at-risk groups, including children and people living with HIV/AIDS. Such concerns led RIASCO, through the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), to formally commission a regional research team to investigate likely future humanitarian challenges in southern African and their associated implications for programming. Stellenbosch University (SU), through the Disaster Mitigation for Sustainable Livelihoods Programme (DiMP) coordinated the study. This southern African project also complements more wide-ranging, systematic efforts to characterise emerging global humanitarian challenges and vulnerabilities to complex stresses. The broader Global Challenges Study, commissioned by UNOCHA and implemented by DARA, seeks to better anticipate and prepare for future humanitarian challenges. Mobilising new collaborations – southern African universities as research partners The research was carried out during 2012 by 33 researchers through four research hubs across the region. These involved the University of Antananarivo (Madagascar), North-West University (South Africa), Stellenbosch University (South Africa), the Technical University of Mozambique, along with independent researchers in Lesotho, Malawi and Johannesburg. The research adopted a ‘mixed-methods’ approach at regional, national and sub-national scales. This incorporated the collection of quantitative and qualitative data, drawing extensively on both secondary and primary information sources. Specifically, the research design involved a desk-top review of relevant reports and published literature on emerging disaster risk and humanitarian assistance issues. This was complemented by primary data collection in thirteen countries, with more than 200 interviews. The research design incorporated detailed analysis of all humanitarian emergencies that generated consolidated and flash appeals from 2000 – 2012, departing from the established practice of separating more environmentally-induced disasters from those of social, political and economic origin. This recognised that risks in southern Africa escalate due to the interplay of multiple risk and vulnerability drivers at different scales. Diverse emergency patterns – and increasingly complex Contrary to perceptions that southern Africa has a homogeneous and ‘low-risk’ profile, research results indicate a region exposed to a range of environmental and social pressures. Excluding the protracted humanitarian situations in Angola and Zimbabwe, 47 iv defined international humanitarian emergencies were identified between 2000 and 2012. The research shows that 37 of these were associated with an identifiable environmental shock/stressor, while seven were linked to socio-political triggers and three to epidemics. Environmental emergencies led to 26 flood-related appeals, each of which reportedly assisted more than 500,000 people. Many of these were due to identifiable weather systems, such as Cyclone Eline in 2000 or Cyclone Favio in 2007. Others were the result of locally occurring floods and humanitarian situations aggravated by constrained national and regional governance. From 2000-2012, more than 14 million people reportedly required international humanitarian assistance for flood-related events, including the five million who were affected by Cyclone Eline. The results highlight the short recurrence intervals for major shocks for many countries and the annual co-occurrence of multiple shocks, even in countries that do not seek external assistance. During the past decade, large numbers of southern Africans have been affected by human- induced emergencies. The research signals a transition from conditions of armed conflict seen in the 1980s and 1990s to social conflicts. These often occur in in urban areas, particularly in national capitals. Humanitarian intervention was triggered by a wide spectrum of social, political
Recommended publications
  • Country Guide South Africa

    Country Guide South Africa

    Human Rights and Business Country Guide South Africa March 2015 Table of Contents How to Use this Guide .................................................................................. 3 Background & Context ................................................................................. 7 Rights Holders at Risk ........................................................................... 15 Rights Holders at Risk in the Workplace ..................................................... 15 Rights Holders at Risk in the Community ................................................... 25 Labour Standards ................................................................................. 35 Child Labour ............................................................................................... 35 Forced Labour ............................................................................................ 39 Occupational Health & Safety .................................................................... 42 Trade Unions .............................................................................................. 49 Working Conditions .................................................................................... 56 Community Impacts ............................................................................. 64 Environment ............................................................................................... 64 Land & Property ......................................................................................... 72 Revenue Transparency
  • Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) Madagascar: Tropical Cyclone Haruna

    Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) Madagascar: Tropical Cyclone Haruna

    Disaster relief emergency fund (DREF) Madagascar: Tropical cyclone Haruna DREF operation n° MDRMG009 GLIDE n° TC-2013-000022-MDG 01 March, 2013 The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) is a source of un-earmarked money created by the Federation in 1985 to ensure that immediate financial support is available for Red Cross and Red Crescent emergency response. The DREF is a vital part of the International Federation’s disaster response system and increases the ability of National Societies to respond to disasters. CHF 298,747 has been allocated from the IFRC’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support Madagascar Red Cross Society in delivering immediate assistance to some 10,000 beneficiaries. Unearmarked funds to repay DREF are encouraged. Summary: Tropical cyclone Haruna brought heavy rains to the west coast of Madagascar for several days before making landfall on 22 February, 2013. Information from the National Office for Disaster Management, Ministry of Interior (BNGRC) indicates that as of 25 February, Morombe and Toliara are the most affected while Sakaraha, Miandrivazo and MRCS volunteers helped to evacuate families stranded by the floods due to the cyclone. Photo: MRCS Antananarivo are moderately affected. To date, BNGRC has registered 23 deaths, with 16 people missing, 81 people injured and 22,498 others affected, with the numbers increasing every day. Malagasy Red Cross Society (MRCS) activated its contingency plan and mobilized its national disaster response team (NDRT) to assist affected families. Volunteers from its branches assisted with evacuations in the days leading up to the cyclone making landfall, and provided psychosocial support as well as hygiene awareness in the aftermath.
  • Small Island Developing States SIDS Saving Paradise Ensuring Sustainable Development Small Island Developing States

    Small Island Developing States SIDS Saving Paradise Ensuring Sustainable Development Small Island Developing States

    SIDS Saving paradise Ensuring sustainable development Small Island Developing States SIDS Saving paradise Ensuring sustainable development Small Island Developing States WMO-No. 973 WMO-No. 973 © 2005, World Meteorological Organization ISBN 92-63-10973-7 NOTE The designations employed and the presentation of mate- rial in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the World Meteorological Organization concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitations of its frontiers or boundaries. Saving paradise Contents Foreword iv Introduction 1 Climate change and sea-level rise 5 Natural and environmental hazards 7 Coastal zone management 12 Freshwater 16 Energy 18 Tourism 20 National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and regional cooperation 21 paradise Conclusion 24 Saving iii Ensuring sustainable development Foreword Since the adoption of the Barbados Foreword Programme of Action (BPoA) for the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in 1994, consid- erable efforts have been deployed to implement the high-priority programme areas defined therein. Today, the achievements may seem meagre when compared to the objectives of the BPoA and the increasing challenges faced by SIDS in areas of trade, security and environment. This is true for most developing countries, but particularly so for SIDS. The impediments are daunting, whether they be natural, indigenous or originate from global conditions. While the responsibility for meeting their socio-economic aspirations should rest primarily with the SIDS themselves, the world community, including strategic part- ners, UN system organizations and the private as well as in climate variability and change and sector, have the duty to commit resources and their impacts on sea-level rise.
  • The African National Congress Centenary: a Long and Difficult Journey

    The African National Congress Centenary: a Long and Difficult Journey

    The African National Congress centenary: a long and difficult journey RAYMOND SUTTNER* The current political pre-eminence of the African National Congress in South Africa was not inevitable. The ANC was often overshadowed by other organiza- tions and there were moments in its history when it nearly collapsed. Sometimes it was ‘more of an onlooker than an active participant in events’.$ It came into being, as the South African Native National Congress (SANNC)," in $&$", at a time of realignment within both the white and the conquered black communities. In the aftermath of their victory over the Boers in the South African War ($(&&-$&#"), the British were anxious to set about reconciling their former enemies to British rule. This included allowing former Boer territories to continue denying franchise and other rights to Africans, thus disappointing the hopes raised by British under- takings to the black population during the war years. For Africans, this ‘betrayal’ signified that extension of the Cape franchise, which at that time did not discrimi- nate on racial grounds, to the rest of South Africa was unlikely. Indeed, when the Act of Union of $&$# transferred sovereignty to the white population even the Cape franchise was open to elimination through constitutional change—and in course of time it was indeed abolished. The rise of the ANC in context From the onset of white settlement of Africa in $*/", but with particular intensity in the nineteenth century, land was seized and African chiefdoms crushed one by one as they sought to retain their autonomy. The conquests helped address the demand for African labour both by white farmers and, after the discovery of diamonds and gold in $(*% and $((* respectively, by the mining industry.' * I am indebted to Christopher Saunders and Peter Limb for valuable comments, and to Albert Grundlingh and Sandra Swart for insightful discussions.
  • Madagascar Systematic Country Diagnostic

    Madagascar Systematic Country Diagnostic

    Public Disclosure Authorized Madagascar Systematic Country Diagnostic August 25, 2015 Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized The World Bank Group Acknowledgements This Systematic Country Diagnostic was led by Keiko Kubota (Lead Economist, IBRD) with a core team comprising of Satyam Ramnauth (IFC), Southwest Indian Ocean Program Leaders (Julio Revilla, Cristina Santos and Mark Austin), Coralie Gevers (Country Manager for Madagascar). The table below lists those who made written contributions by GP/CCSA. Others have played an important role in providing expert input throughout the SCD process. Global Practice/ CCSA/Unit Contributors IFC Magdi Amin and Frank Douamba Energy Isabel Neto and Vonjy Rakotondramanana Extractives Remi Pelon Environment and Natural Resources Giovanni Ruta and Maminiaina Rasamoelina Disaster Risk Management and Climate Doekle Geert Wielinga Change Transport Noro Rabefaniraka ICT Charles Hurpy Urban Salim Rouhana Agriculture Jan Nijhoff, Ziva Razafintsalama and David Treguer Land André Teyssier Fisheries Xavier Vincent and Benjamin Garnaud PPP Jeffrey Delmon Gender Daniel Kirkwood Education Harisoa Rasolonjatovo Health, Nutrition, and Population Jumana Qamruddin and Voahirana Rajoela Social Protection and Labor Andrea Vermehren Fragility Catalina Quintero and Radhika Srinivasan Macro-Fiscal Enrique Blanco Armas, Faniry Razafimanantsoa, Abdoulaye Sy and Quentin Gouzien Poverty Theresa Osborne and Patrick Randriankolona Governance Anne-Lucie Lefevbre, Hugues Agossou, Sarah Lavin, Joel Turkewitz, Hajarivony Andriamarofara and Rado Razafimandimby Finance and Markets Francesco Strobbe and Noro Andriamihaja Trade and Competitiveness Michael Engman, Johanne Buba, Mombert Hoppe, Eneida Fernandes and Clive Harris The team is grateful to the peer reviewers Raju Singh (Program Leader, LCC8C) and Lars Sondergaard (Program Leader, EACTF) for their insightful and constructive comments, and to Rondro Rajaobelison and Madeleine Chungkong who ably assisted the team.
  • ECHOMDGBUD200701000 Dec

    ECHOMDGBUD200701000 Dec

    EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AID - ECHO Emergency Humanitarian Aid Decision 23 02 01 Title: Humanitarian aid for the victims of flooding in Madagascar Location of operation: Madagascar Amount of Decision: EUR 1,500,000 Decision reference number: ECHO/MDG/BUD/2007/01000 Explanatory Memorandum 1 - Rationale, needs and target population. 1.1. - Rationale: Madagascar, an island off the southeast coast of Africa, east of Mozambique, suffers periodically the impact of cyclones while the southern part of the island is regularly affected by drought. The climate of Madagascar is tropical along the coast, temperate inland, and arid in the south. The weather is dominated by the southeastern winds that originate in the Indian Ocean anticyclone, a center of high atmospheric pressure that seasonally changes its position over the ocean. The east coast, being most directly exposed to the winds, is notorious for the destructive cyclones that occur during the rainy season, from November to April. Since December 2006, various regions of Madagascar were hit by cyclone Bondo, tropical storms Clovis, Enok, Favio and cyclone Gamede, which caused an exceptionally heavy rainfall affecting, in particular, the infrastructures of communication, health and agriculture. In the meantime, this year's rainy season has brought exceptional rains to most of the island. These conditions have contributed to heavy flooding in large, populated and cultivated areas throughout the country, resulting in over 90,000 hectares of agricultural land affected1, over 85,000 metric tones (MT) of rice harvest lost (against an annual production of approximately 3,600,000 MT) and at least 33,000 displaced people.
  • Seychelles Post Disaster Needs Assessment Tropical Cyclone Fantala

    Seychelles Post Disaster Needs Assessment Tropical Cyclone Fantala

    Seychelles Post Disaster Needs Assessment Tropical Cyclone Fantala April 2016 A Report by the Government of Seychelles With support from the European Union, the United Nations, and the World Bank A report prepared by the Government of Seychelles, with technical and financial support from the European Union (EU), the World Bank (WB), the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and the United Nations (UN). Photos: Courtesy of: Government of Seychelles, Virgine Duvat, Adrian Skerrett, and Doekle Wielinga. Disclaimer: (PDNA) Report. The Boundaries, colors, denominations and any other information shown on this map do not imply, on the part of the World Bank Group, any judgement on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement of acceptance of such boundaries. © 2016 Seychelles Post Disaster Needs Assessment Tropical Cyclone Fantala April 2016 A Report by the Government of Seychelles With support from the European Union, the United Nations, and the World Bank FOREWORD The tropical cyclone, Fantala, formed over the southwestern Indian Ocean on 11 April, 2016. It passed near Farquhar Atoll on April 17, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 241 km/h. On April 19, it sustained maximum wind speeds of 157 km/h, causing widespread damage. Tropical cyclone Fantala made landfall on the evening of Sunday 17 with winds up to 350 km/h. Significant damage was reported on Farquhar Island's environment, physical infrastructure, and coconut palm tree groves. On April 20, the Government of Seychelles declared the Farquhar group area, including Providence Atoll and St. Pierre a disaster area. The government is grateful that no one was killed or seriously injured from this disaster, thanks to adequate preparedness measures taken by the Government and the Islands Development Company.
  • Unique Aspects of the Vanilla Market MARKET + OUTLOOK MARKET + OUTLOOK

    Unique Aspects of the Vanilla Market MARKET + OUTLOOK MARKET + OUTLOOK

    MARKET MARKET OUTLOOK OUTLOOK Unique Aspects of the Vanilla Market MARKET + OUTLOOK MARKET + OUTLOOK + Daniel Aviles Commodity Information Analyst McKeany-Flavell Commodities. Ingredients. Intelligence. McKeany-Flavell © 2018 McKeany-Flavell Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Commodities. Ingredients. Intelligence. Distribution is prohibited without written permission from McKeany-Flavell. McKeany-Flavell Unique Aspects of the Vanilla Market Commodities. Ingredients. Intelligence. Unique Aspects of the Vanilla Market “Money is the best fertilizer” and “the cure for high prices is high prices” may sound like commodity clichés, but they are not mere truisms. Every market will eventually return to these rules, a lesson we advise our clients to remember. Yet there is always an exception: For vanilla, it often seems that the rules are reversed, and price shifts have counterintuitive effects. This ingredient is a challenge for all players, from growers through processors to end users, but understanding vanilla’s supply cycle and pricing dynamics may at least partially demystify this market. What sets the vanilla market apart: + Difficulty: Cultivation is extremely labor Vanilla fruit, pod, or bean with closeup of seeds intensive, and a high degree of expertise is needed to grow the plants and process the pods (beans). + Vulnerability: Production is significantly What Is Vanilla? concentrated in one origin, Madagascar, which has in the past crowded out A quick introduction: Vanilla is a flavor made from the pod-like competing origins. The natural food trend fruit of some members of the vanilla genus of the orchid family, has now made demand less elastic, and pricing may follow suit. the only orchid that yields an edible fruit commercially cultivated for food use; vanilla fruit is widely referred to as a “bean,” a + Price pressures: Early harvest is commercially viable and is encouraged convention that we follow here.
  • GROWING SEASON STATUS Rainfall, Vegetation and Crop Monitoring

    GROWING SEASON STATUS Rainfall, Vegetation and Crop Monitoring

    REGIONAL FOOD SECURITY PROGRAMME GROWING SEASON STATUS Rainfall, Vegetation and Crop Monitoring 2006/2007 Issue 5 March 2007 Release date: 24 April 2007 Highlights Contents • Good rainfall performance in the northern half of the SADC region, but poor rains in the southern parts by the end of March Rainfall Performance … Pg. 1 2007. Vegetation Pg. 2 Performance… • The prolonged dry spells develop into drought affecting Regional Dry Spells, Pg. 2 Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland, southern Mozambique Floods & Cyclones … and southern Zimbabwe. Water Requirement Pg. 2 Satisfaction Index … • Food security prospects at both (some) national and regional level uncertain as drought sets in. FAO/WFP Crop and Food Rainfall Estimates … Pg. 3 Supply Assessments to take place in some of the drought affected countries Vegetation Maps … Pg. 4 • Persistent heavy rains resulted in widespread floods in Zambia, Rainfall Time Series + Madagascar and central Mozambique. Country Updates Pg. 6 January to March 2007 rainfall totals as Rainfall Performance percentage of average Cumulative rainfall analysis (Figure 1) shows that the southern half of the region has had a poor second half of the rainfall season. January to March rainfall totals have been below average for Botswana, Lesotho, eastern Namibia, Swaziland, South Africa and southern Zimbabwe. On the other hand, the northern parts of the region, including Malawi, northern Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, and parts of northern Zimbabwe, have had good accumulations of rainfall, conducive to good crop development and good pasture. However, in some of these areas excess rainfall has been detrimental to crop growth, and has caused widespread flooding in some of the main river basins of the region, particularly the Zambezi river basin.
  • World Bank Document

    World Bank Document

    2017 Public Disclosure Authorized South West Indian Ocean Public Disclosure Authorized Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative (SWIO-RAFI) SUMMARY REPORT Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized © 2017 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank 1818 H Street NW Washington DC 20433 Telephone: 202-473-1000 Internet: www.worldbank.org All rights reserved This publication is a product of the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this volume do not necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Rights and Permissions The material in this publication is copyrighted. Copying and/or transmitting portions or all of this work without permission may be a violation of applicable law. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank encourages dissemination of its work and will normally grant permission to reproduce portions of the work promptly. For permission to photocopy or reprint any part of this work, please send a request with complete information to the Copyright Clearance Center Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA; telephone: 978-750-8400; fax: 978-750-4470; Internet: www.copyright.com. All other queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to the Office of the Publisher, The World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433.
  • E Grassroots Transformation of the African National Congress in the 1940S-1950S

    E Grassroots Transformation of the African National Congress in the 1940S-1950S

    THE JOURNAL OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH University of Kansas | Summer 2008 !e Grassroots Transformation of the African National Congress in the 1940s-1950s Nelson Mandela’s 1994 inaugu- ing the latent power of the frustrated ration as South Africa’s "rst demo- urban masses, new leadership in the cratically elected president soothed ANC incorporated organic strikes and decades of racial tensions in that boycotts in the 1940s into a more co- country. State-sanctioned racism, herent and durable movement during known as apartheid, crumbled under the 1950s. !e masses and leadership the spasms of the violence that shook developed a symbiotic relationship; Johannesburg and other cities in the the former o$ered economic leverage 1980s, but apartheid’s eventual de- and popular legitimacy, while the lat- struction became possible because of ter articulated a vision of racial equal- strategic changes among the left in the ity to counter the Nationalists’ oppres- 1940s and 1950s. !e African National sive paternalism. !e state cracked Congress (ANC), originally founded down on the better organized ANC-led as an interest group for the educated movement in the 1960s, but the closer African elite, in the 1940s and 1950s relationship between the ANC leader- forged a wide coalition of workers and ship and grassroots carried the move- intellectuals to challenge apartheid’s ment through its di#cult times on the legitimacy. Together with the South long walk to freedom. South Africa still African Communist Party (SACP), the faces serious racial disparities, but its mid-century ANC became a broad- progress from the apartheid age shows based grassroots organization com- the e#cacy of a broad-based move- mitted to nonracial democracy.
  • We Were Cut Off from the Comprehension of Our Surroundings

    We Were Cut Off from the Comprehension of Our Surroundings

    Black Peril, White Fear – Representations of Violence and Race in South Africa’s English Press, 1976-2002, and Their Influence on Public Opinion Inauguraldissertation zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde der Philosophischen Fakultät der Universität zu Köln vorgelegt von Christine Ullmann Institut für Völkerkunde Universität zu Köln Köln, Mai 2005 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The work presented here is the result of years of research, writing, re-writing and editing. It was a long time in the making, and may not have been completed at all had it not been for the support of a great number of people, all of whom have my deep appreciation. In particular, I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Michael Bollig, Prof. Dr. Richard Janney, Dr. Melanie Moll, Professor Keyan Tomaselli, Professor Ruth Teer-Tomaselli, and Prof. Dr. Teun A. van Dijk for their help, encouragement, and constructive criticism. My special thanks to Dr Petr Skalník for his unflinching support and encouraging supervision, and to Mark Loftus for his proof-reading and help with all language issues. I am equally grateful to all who welcomed me to South Africa and dedicated their time, knowledge and effort to helping me. The warmth and support I received was incredible. Special thanks to the Burch family for their help settling in, and my dear friend in George for showing me the nature of determination. Finally, without the unstinting support of my two colleagues, Angelika Kitzmantel and Silke Olig, and the moral and financial backing of my family, I would surely have despaired. Thank you all for being there for me. We were cut off from the comprehension of our surroundings; we glided past like phantoms, wondering and secretly appalled, as sane men would be before an enthusiastic outbreak in a madhouse.