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Constitutional Authority and Its Limitations: the Politics of Sexuality in South Africa
South Africa Constitutional Authority and its Limitations: The Politics of Sexuality in South Africa Belinda Beresford Helen Schneider Robert Sember Vagner Almeida “While the newly enfranchised have much to gain by supporting their government, they also have much to lose.” Adebe Zegeye (2001) A history of the future: Constitutional rights South Africa’s Constitutional Court is housed in an architecturally innovative complex on Constitution Hill, a 100-acre site in central Johannesburg. The site is adjacent to Hillbrow, a neighborhood of high-rise apartment buildings into which are crowded thousands of mi- grants from across the country and the continent. This is one of the country’s most densely populated, cosmopolitan and severely blighted urban areas. From its position atop Constitu- tion Hill, the Court offers views of Hillbrow’s high-rises and the distant northern suburbs where the established white elite and increasing numbers of newly affluent non-white South Africans live. Thus, while the light-filled, colorful and contemporary Constitutional Court buildings reflect the progressive and optimistic vision of post-apartheid South Africa the lo- cation is a reminder of the deeply entrenched inequalities that continue to define the rights of the majority of people in the country and the continent. CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY AND ITS LIMITATIONS: THE POLITICS OF SEXUALITY IN SOUTH AFRICA 197 From the late 1800s to 1983 Constitution Hill was the location of Johannesburg’s central prison, the remains of which now lie in the shadow of the new court buildings. Former prison buildings include a fort built by the Boers (descendents of Dutch settlers) in the late 1800s to defend themselves against the thousands of men and women who arrived following the discovery of the area’s expansive gold deposits. -
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 -
The Quest for Liberation in South Africa: Contending Visions and Civil Strife, Diaspora and Transition to an Emerging Democracy
Scientia Militaria, South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol 30, Nr 2, 2000. http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za The Quest for Liberation in South Africa: Contending Visions and Civil Strife, Diaspora and Transition to an Emerging Democracy Ian Liebenberg Introduction: Purpose of this contribution To write an inclusive history of liberation and transition to democracy in South Africa is almost impossible. To do so in the course of one paper is even more demanding, if not daunting. Not only does "the liberation struggle" in South Africa in its broadest sense span more than a century. It also saw the coming and going of movements, the merging and evolving of others and a series of principled and/or pragmatic pacts in the process. The author is attempting here to provide a rather descriptive (and as far as possible, chronological) look at and rudimentary outline to the main organisational levels of liberation in South Africa since roughly the 1870' s. I will draw on my own 2 work in the field lover the past fifteen years as well as other sources • A wide variety of sources and personal experiences inform this contribution, even if they are not mentioned here. Also needless to say, one's own subjectivities may arise - even if an attempt is made towards intersubjecti vity. This article is an attempt to outline and describe the organisations (and where applicable personalities) in an inclusive and descriptive research approach in See Liebenberg (1990), ldeologie in Konjlik, Emmerentia: Taurus Uitgewers; Liebenberg & Van der Merwe (1991), Die Wordingsgeskiedenis van Apartheid, Joernaal vir Eietydse Geskiedenis, vol 16(2): 1-24; Liebenberg (1994), Resistance by the SANNC and the ANC, 1912 - 1960, in Liebenberg et al (Eds.) The Long March: The Story of the Struggle for Liberation in South Africa. -
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. -
Economic Ascendance Is/As Moral Rightness: the New Religious Political Right in Post-Apartheid South Africa Part
Economic Ascendance is/as Moral Rightness: The New Religious Political Right in Post-apartheid South Africa Part One: The Political Introduction If one were to go by the paucity of academic scholarship on the broad New Right in the post-apartheid South African context, one would not be remiss for thinking that the country is immune from this global phenomenon. I say broad because there is some academic scholarship that deals only with the existence of right wing organisations at the end of the apartheid era (du Toit 1991, Grobbelaar et al. 1989, Schönteich 2004, Schönteich and Boshoff 2003, van Rooyen 1994, Visser 2007, Welsh 1988, 1989,1995, Zille 1988). In this older context, this work focuses on a number of white Right organisations, including their ideas of nationalism, the role of Christianity in their ideologies, as well as their opposition to reform in South Africa, especially the significance of the idea of partition in these organisations. Helen Zille’s list, for example, includes the Herstigte Nasionale Party, Conservative Party, Afrikaner People’s Guard, South African Bureau of Racial Affairs (SABRA), Society of Orange Workers, Forum for the Future, Stallard Foundation, Afrikaner Resistance Movement (AWB), and the White Liberation Movement (BBB). There is also literature that deals with New Right ideology and its impact on South African education in the transition era by drawing on the broader literature on how the New Right was using education as a primary battleground globally (Fataar 1997, Kallaway 1989). Moreover, another narrow and newer literature exists that continues the focus on primarily extreme right organisations in South Africa that have found resonance in the global context of the rise of the so-called Alternative Right that rejects mainstream conservatism. -
The Black Sash
THE BLACK SASH THE BLACK SASH MINUTES OF THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE 1990 CONTENTS: Minutes Appendix Appendix 4. Appendix A - Register B - Resolutions, Statements and Proposals C - Miscellaneous issued by the National Executive 5 Long Street Mowbray 7700 MINUTES OF THE BLACK SASH NATIONAL CONFERENCE 1990 - GRAHAMSTOWN SESSION 1: FRIDAY 2 MARCH 1990 14:00 - 16:00 (ROSEMARY VAN WYK SMITH IN THE CHAIR) I. The National President, Mary Burton, welcomed everyone present. 1.2 The Dedication was read by Val Letcher of Albany 1.3 Rosemary van wyk Smith, a National Vice President, took the chair and called upon the conference to observe a minute's silence in memory of all those who have died in police custody and in detention. She also asked the conference to remember Moira Henderson and Netty Davidoff, who were among the first members of the Black Sash and who had both died during 1989. 1.4 Rosemary van wyk Smith welcomed everyone to Grahamstown and expressed the conference's regrets that Ann Colvin and Jillian Nicholson were unable to be present because of illness and that Audrey Coleman was unable to come. All members of conference were asked to introduce themselves and a roll call was held. (See Appendix A - Register for attendance list.) 1.5 Messages had been received from Errol Moorcroft, Jean Sinclair, Ann Burroughs and Zilla Herries-Baird. Messages of greetings were sent to Jean Sinclair, Ray and Jack Simons who would be returning to Cape Town from exile that weekend. A message of support to the family of Anton Lubowski was approved for dispatch in the light of the allegations of the Minister of Defence made under the shelter of parliamentary privilege. -
From the Ground, Revolution in South Africa 8195
FROM THE GROUND, REVOLUTION IN SOUTH AFRICA 8195 Like the United States, SOUTH AFRICA is a wealthy, industrial nation; one with a mild climate and gorgeous terrain; one of the world's richest in gold, diamonds and natural resources; a nation able to sustain itself~ despite universal international condemnation - because it grows its own food, builds its own arms and is generally self-sufficent. In the 1600s European settlers came to SA seeking its (wealth\ landl and beauty; first came the Dutch and later the British and others. Over time Europeans took the land by force and turned local farmers into sharecroppers. Like those who came to America, most Europeans didn't believe then that Africans were "human." They built a dual system based on race and religion, as was slavery. Blacks at times took up arms in pro test, but could never match theiire power and guns. SA slowly but surely beeame a _ / golden mecca for whites and a horror for blacks. """'£tvr~ ~ f1t-,OJ In the 1940s, SA constitutionalized a system with roots 300 years old. It was called APARTHEID - a Dutch term meaning separateness. Imposed by whites on native Africans, apartheid was unique to SA, but the racism.4 upon which it was based is no stranger to the world (i:aeism meaning suppre~sion of one race over another). Thousands in the de:tfc~ement were locked up in apartheid jails, where many like Steven Biko died. Others were simply assassinated. Tens of thousands fled into exile. In the 1950s when a young Nelson Mandela was convicted of treason for oppos ing apartheid tyranny, he was sent to Robbin Island and BANNED. -
South Africa and the African Renaissance
South Africa and the African Renaissance PETER VALE* AND SIPHO MASEKO On May , immediately prior to the adoption of South Africa’s new con- stitution,Thabo Mbeki, Nelson Mandela’s chosen successor, opened his address to the country’s Constitutional Assembly with the words ‘I am an African!’. In an inclusionary speech, symptomatic of post-apartheid South Africa, Mbeki drew strands of the country’s many histories together. His words evoked great emotion within the assembly chamber, and later throughout the country: across the political spectrum, South Africans strongly associated themselves with the spirit of reconciliation and outreach caught in his words. South Africa’s reunification with the rest of the continent had been a significant sub-narrative within the processes which led to negotiation over the ending of apartheid. That South Africa would become part of the African community was, of course, beyond doubt; what was at issue was both the sequence of events by which this would happen and the conditionalities attached to its happening.The continent’s enthusiasm for the peace process in South Africa was initially uneven: the Organization of African Unity (OAU) summit in June decided to retain sanctions against South Africa although the Nigerian leader, General Ibrahim Babingida, expressed an interest in meet- ing South Africa’s then President, F.W.de Klerk, if such an occasion ‘would help bring about majority rule.’ The political prize attached to uniting South Africa with the rest of the continent explains why South Africa’s outgoing minority government, despite energetic and expensive diplomatic effort, was unable to deliver its own version of South Africa in Africa. -
200 1. Voortrekkers Were Groups of Nineteenth- Century Afrikaners Who
Notes 1. Voortrekkers were groups of nineteenth- century Afrikaners who migrated north from the Cape colony into the South African interior to escape British rule. 2. ‘Township’ is the name given by colonial and later apartheid authorities to underdeveloped, badly resourced urban living areas, usually on the outskirts of white towns and cities, which were set aside for the black workforce. 3. See, for example, Liz Gunner on Zulu radio drama since 1941 (2000), David Coplan on township music and theatre (1985) and Isabel Hofmeyr on the long- established Afrikaans magazine Huisgenoot (1987). 4. In 1984 the NP launched what it called a ‘tricameral’ parliament, a flawed and divisive attempt at reforming the political system. After a referendum among white voters it gave limited political representation to people classi- fied as coloured and Indian, although black South Africans remained com- pletely excluded. Opposition to the system came from both the left and right and voting rates among non- whites remained extremely low, in a show of disapproval of what many viewed as puppet MPs. 5. The State of Emergency was declared in 1985 in 36 magisterial districts. It was extended across the whole country in 1986 and given an extra year to run in 1989. New measures brought in included the notorious 90- day law, in which suspects could be held without trial for 90 days, after which many were released and then re- arrested as they left the prison. 6. According to André Brink, ‘The widespread notion of “traditional Afrikaner unity” is based on a false reading of history: strife and division within Afrikanerdom has been much more in evidence than unity during the first three centuries of white South African history’ (1983, 17). -
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report: Volume 2
VOLUME TWO Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report The report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was presented to President Nelson Mandela on 29 October 1998. Archbishop Desmond Tutu Ms Hlengiwe Mkhize Chairperson Dr Alex Boraine Mr Dumisa Ntsebeza Vice-Chairperson Ms Mary Burton Dr Wendy Orr Revd Bongani Finca Adv Denzil Potgieter Ms Sisi Khampepe Dr Fazel Randera Mr Richard Lyster Ms Yasmin Sooka Mr Wynand Malan* Ms Glenda Wildschut Dr Khoza Mgojo * Subject to minority position. See volume 5. Chief Executive Officer: Dr Biki Minyuku I CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chapter 6 National Overview .......................................... 1 Special Investigation The Death of President Samora Machel ................................................ 488 Chapter 2 The State outside Special Investigation South Africa (1960-1990).......................... 42 Helderberg Crash ........................................... 497 Special Investigation Chemical and Biological Warfare........ 504 Chapter 3 The State inside South Africa (1960-1990).......................... 165 Special Investigation Appendix: State Security Forces: Directory Secret State Funding................................... 518 of Organisations and Structures........................ 313 Special Investigation Exhumations....................................................... 537 Chapter 4 The Liberation Movements from 1960 to 1990 ..................................................... 325 Special Investigation Appendix: Organisational structures and The Mandela United -
Year of Fire, Year of Ash. the Soweto Revolt: Roots of a Revolution?
Year of fire, year of ash. The Soweto revolt: roots of a revolution? http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.ESRSA00029 Use of the Aluka digital library is subject to Aluka’s Terms and Conditions, available at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/termsConditions.jsp. By using Aluka, you agree that you have read and will abide by the Terms and Conditions. Among other things, the Terms and Conditions provide that the content in the Aluka digital library is only for personal, non-commercial use by authorized users of Aluka in connection with research, scholarship, and education. The content in the Aluka digital library is subject to copyright, with the exception of certain governmental works and very old materials that may be in the public domain under applicable law. Permission must be sought from Aluka and/or the applicable copyright holder in connection with any duplication or distribution of these materials where required by applicable law. Aluka is a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of materials about and from the developing world. For more information about Aluka, please see http://www.aluka.org Year of fire, year of ash. The Soweto revolt: roots of a revolution? Author/Creator Hirson, Baruch Publisher Zed Books, Ltd. (London) Date 1979 Resource type Books Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) South Africa Coverage (temporal) 1799-1977 Source Enuga S. Reddy Rights By kind permission of the Estate of Baruch Hirson and Zed Books Ltd. Description Table of Contents: -
2001 Lecture
THE JAMES BACKHOUSE LECTURE 2001 RECONCILING OPPOSITES: REFLECTIONS ON PEACEMAKING IN SOUTH AFRICA Hendrik W van der Merwe The James Backhouse Lectures The lectures were instituted by Australia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) on the its establishment of that Yearly Meeting in 1964. James Backhouse and his companion, George Washington Walker were English Friends who visited Australia from 1832 to 1838. They travelled widely, but spent most of their time in Tasmania. It was through their visit that Quaker Meetings were first established in Australia. Coming to Australia under a concern for the conditions of convicts, the two men had access to people with authority in the young colonies, and with influence in Britain, both in Parliament and in the social reform movement. In meticulous reports and personal letters, they made practical suggestions and urged legislative action on penal reform, on the rum trade, and on land rights and the treatment of Aborigines. James Backhouse was a general naturalist and a botanist. He made careful observations and published full accounts of what he saw, in addition to encouraging Friends in the colonies and following the deep concern that had brought him to Australia. Australian Friends hope that this series of Lectures will bring fresh insights into the Truth, and speak to the needs and aspirations of Australian Quakerism. This particular lecture was delivered in Melbourne on 8 January 2001, during the annual meeting of the Society. Colin Wendell-Smith Presiding Clerk Australia Yearly Meeting © Copyright 2001 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia Incorporated.