The Role of NGOs in Strengthening the Foundations of South African Democracy

This paper assesses the contribution of South African nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to the process of democratic consolidation. By drawing on a 1998 survey conducted among 270 NGOs, on several expert interviews, and on an analysis of the structures and programmes of the umbrella body of South African NGOs (Sangoco), the author presents a multi-faceted picture of the activities of the South African NGO sector. The focus is on the NGOs' role as (1) schools of democracy, (2) in bridging societal cleavages, and (3) in providing channels of interest representation for the most marginalized sections of the population. The paper concludes that the contribution of South African NGOs to the process of democratic consolidation is significant, but highly dependent on an enabling external environment.     

Privilege and precarity: public scripts and self-censorship in shaping South African social science

South African social science’s close relationship with politics and policy have long provided a source of vitality and intellectual direction. Although one of the field’s greatest strengths, intimacy with socio-political and economic transformations engenders solipsism and stagnation. Ironically, it also compromises scholars’ political autonomy and intellectual ethics by blinding analysts to the emerging socio-political formations which will shape the country’s future. As demands for decolonisation and academic transformation continue, the pressures for political alignment will only grow. Drawing on over a decade of inquiry into the formal and informal governance of human mobility into and within South Africa, this article reveals the contours of such isolation and conceptual complacency. From this we can find direction for satisfying the “dual imperative:” contributing to progressive policy while maintaining scholarly autonomy. While not disengaging from politics, we must work to destabilise the language of it even where it means potential isolation from officials, peers, and personal profits. Doing so can protect social science’s autonomy while opening new opportunities for understanding the world in which we live and new tools for challenging those who seek to describe, theorise and change it. Doing otherwise risks converting the South African academic project into a policy think tank or self-referential echo chamber.     

German Muslims and their engagement in participatory culture: reflections on civic and artistic contributions to the public sphere

This paper examines publics of young German Muslims. Case studies include the singer Huelya Kandemir, the theatre group Uma Lamo and the social network Zahnräder. By focusing on spiritual music publics, theatrical comedy publics and social publics, it tries a new approach to the way in which we understand minority public engagement. In addition to examining the concept of counterpublics, it utilizes the concept of participatory culture, which offers a relevant complement. The study argues that the publics of young German Muslims display multifaceted artistic and civic engagement, which can best be understood in terms of participation in cultural or civic productions and contribution to the wider German public. Features or effects of counterpublics, such as the countering of mainstream representations of minority identities and the offering of alternative discourses, are occasionally reflected in their activities.     

Characterising civil society and its challenges in post-apartheid South Africa

Since South Africa’s transition to democracy, civil society has been considered a critical component of new inclusive “democratic” societies, acting to ensure human rights for all. Government and donor agencies require the incorporation of this sector within project documents and programmes. However, is civil society merely a loosely defined term used to satisfy the requirements of project proposals and interests of the state, donors and big business, while not directly addressing the concerns of citizens subjected to macroeconomic risks (e.g. industrial pollution, unemployment and service delivery)? Since the transition, it is mainly established civil society organisations that have become well resourced and who have developed collaborative relationships with the state and industry, which has eroded their accountability to and support from the marginalised communities they claim to serve. Can such organisations then claim to be part of an “authentic” civil society striving for inclusive development? By reviewing contemporary and historical literature on civil society, and through empirical work, this paper argues that there has been a shift in the conception of civil society since the transition, with established forms of support for the grassroots remaining doubtful. Civil society has not effectively engaged with the grassroots to project their concerns about macroeconomic risks, largely due to integration into government/donor institutions. Fragmentation within the grassroots arena has also limited coherent actions against dominant groups. Although civil society can support the grassroots to address their concerns through formal activities, for example, by employing legal strategies, there is no guarantee of success. Connections between an “authentic” civil society and coherent grassroots actions engaging in a combination of strategies (formal and informal) will be required to achieve true democracy.     

South Africa: Anti-Apartheid NGOs in Transition

Under apartheid, there were an ever-increasing number of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) concerned about challenging the South African state and furthering a nonracial democratic society. In the 1990s, with the transition to an African National Congress-led democratic government, these organizations underwent profound changes. This article describes the key dynamics of this process, outlines the challenges currently confronting the new NGO sector, and concludes that the prospects for progressive NGO work in dealing with the poor and marginalized are constrained by the prevailing neoliberal economic climate.     

The public private sphere: family narrative and democracy in Argentina and South Africa

This article explores the paradoxical prominence of seemingly private family stories and memories in the democratic public spheres emerging in the wake of the ‘Dirty War’ in Argentina and apartheid in South Africa. In part because the discourse of the family was used in these cases to both uphold and protest dictatorial regimes, individuals who lost family members to state violence became powerful moral agents in the post‐dictatorship and post‐apartheid periods. Narratives told by and about these individuals – ranging from personal testimony given in each country’s truth commission to representations in theatre, fiction and film – have worked to constitute what may be called a ‘public private sphere’. They not only express personal grief, but also (and especially in wider cultural circulation) have been emplotted and mobilised to construct democratic publics. These may or may not correspond to the nationwide publics envisioned in state discourses of reconciliation. Using genealogical fiction surrounding ‘disappeared children’ in Argentina as a lens to analyse South Africa, this article argues that stories of children attempting to piece together their family histories reveal this dynamic as they become sites for convening democratic publics and critiquing transitional politics.     

Feminist praxis,citizenship and informal politics: Reflections on South Africa's anti-eviction campaign

This article focuses on the Anti-Eviction Campaign (AEC) in Cape Town, South Africa, which is part of the larger anti-privatization movement, mobilized by disadvantaged township residents to assert their constitutional rights and resist evictions and service disconnections. It introduces the mutually constituted concepts of invited and invented spaces of citizenship and stresses the range of grassroots actions spanning those. The article also sheds light on the gender dynamics of the Campaign and how its patriarchal order is being destabilized. The AEC case study engages the pioneering feminist scholarship on citizenship that has embraced both formal and informal arenas of politics. The study points out the risk in constructing yet another binary relation between grassroots coping strategies (in invited spaces) and resistance strategies (in invented spaces). The article calls for a refinement of feminists' extended notion of politics, recognizing the oppositional practices of the poor in order to construct an inclusive citizenship. It argues that doing so better reflects the practices of the grassroots and furthers a progressive feminist praxis.     

Witchcraft as subtext: deep knowledge and the South African public sphere

Anthropologists have documented pervasive discourses about witchcraft in South Africa. The issue of witchcraft gained prominence during the latter years of apartheid when youths called ‘Comrades’ sought to cleanse rural villages in the north‐eastern provinces of witches. However, after apartheid witchcraft has only made a few brief incursions into the South African public sphere. I suggest that the absence of witchcraft in formal political discussions is not only due to censorship by a modernist government. It is also a product of the popular status of witchcraft as ‘deep knowledge’ or as a ‘subtext’ to social interaction in village and township settings. Accusations of witchcraft occur largely in private domestic spaces. Moreover, the ontological status of witchcraft as a mystical reality that transcends ordinary perception implies that it cannot meet standards of proof demanded by courts of law.     

Analysis of HIV Caregivers in South Africa: A South African Depression and Anxiety Group

ABSTRACT

The severity of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa is well documented. However, little is known regarding the well-being of caregivers of persons with HIV/AIDS in South Africa. This study sought to evaluate characteristics, similarities and differences between groups of HIV caregivers in rural, semi-rural, and urban areas of South Africa. Interesting trends were noticed in the areas of suicidality, alcohol abuse, and intimate trauma. Findings indicate a substantial need for further study in the area of suicidality, denial of or lack of desire to know HIV status and the accompanying diagnostic stigma, and the need for a support network within lay caregivers.     

INGO Accountability Deficits: The Imperatives for Further Reform

Numerous attempts have been made to remedy the accountability deficits of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs). The ‘first wave’ of accountability reforms was largely driven by powerful stakeholders such as donors and governments. An accountability culture subsequently emerged that reflected the preferences of these agents, rather than the responsibility of the INGO to abide by its mission. The ‘second wave’ of reforms acknowledged that INGOs incur a broad range of accountability responsibilities to beneficiaries, members, staff, and peer organisations. These measures have not been sufficient to promote reflective practice driven by discourse with those closest to the mission. It is argued that there is a need for a ‘third wave’ of accountability reforms, which reinforces the responsibilities of INGOs towards the communities that they purport to serve. INGOs should embrace a critically reflective accountability culture that addresses ways in which communication with their so-called ‘beneficiaries’ is distorted by unequal power relations.

Se han hecho numerosos intentos para remediar los déficits en la rendición de cuentas de las organizaciones no gubernamentales internacionales (INGOs, por sus siglas en inglés). La ‘primera ola’ de reformas a la rendición de cuentas se habían manejado por protagonistas poderosos tales como donantes y gobiernos. Una cultura de rendición de cuentas surgió subsecuentemente, que reflejaba las preferencias de estos agentes, en vez de la responsabilidad de la INGO de atenerse a su misión. La ‘segunda ola’ de reformas reconoce que los INGOs incurren en un rango amplio de responsabilidades de rendición de cuentas a los beneficiarios, miembros, personal y organizaciones paralelas. Estas medidas no han sido suficientes para promover una práctica reflexiva impulsada por discusiones con aquellos más cercanos a la misión. Se sostiene que hay una necesidad por una ‘tercera ola’ de reformas de rendición de cuentas, que refuerza las responsabilidades de los INGOs hacia las comunidades a las que pretenden servir. Los INGOs deberían abarcar una cultura de rendición de cuentas críticamente reflexiva que trata maneras en las que la comunicación con sus así llamados ‘beneficiarios’ está distorsionada por las relaciones de poderes desiguales.

人们进行了多种努力以图弥补国际非政府组织（INGOs）的责任赤字。责任改革的“第一次浪潮”主要由权力很大的诸如捐助者和政府等各种利害攸关方所驱动。随之兴起的责任文化反映了这些机构的偏好,却不是国际非政府组织遵命的责任。改革的“第二次浪潮”承认,对受益人、成员、工作人员和同行组织,INGOs 招致广泛的责任。这些措施尚不足以促进那些由最接近使命的话语所驱动的反思实践。有人主张“第三次浪潮”责任改革的必要性,此种改革可以加强INGOs针对他们声称服务的各种社区的责任。INGOs 应该乐意接受批评性反思的责任文化。这种文化致力于各种方式与方法。而在这些方式方法中,与所谓的“受益者”进行的沟通因不平等的权力关系而扭曲。

????? ??????? ????? ??????? ???? ?????? ?? ???????? ???? ???????? ??????? ??? ????????. ????? "?????? ??????" ?? ??????? ????? ???????? ?? ?????? ????? ?? ??? ????? ????? ???? ????? ??? ?????? ??????? ?????????. ????? ???? ???? ????? ?????? ?????? ?? ??????? ??? ????? ??????? ????? ?? ??????? ???????? ??????? ??? ???????? ?? ???????? ???????. ????? "?????? ???????" ?? ????????? ??? ???????? ??????? ??? ???????? ????? ?????? ????? ?? ???????? ???????? ???? ????????? ?? ??? ????????? ????????? ????????? ????????? ????????. ??? ??? ??? ????????? ?????? ?????? ??????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ?? ?????? ?????? ??? ???? ??????? ???????. ????? ??? ???? ??? ????? ??? ??? ???? ??? "???? ?????" ?? ????????? ?? ???? ????????? ???? ???????? ???????? ??????? ??? ???????? ???? ????????? ???? ?????? ?? ?????? ??? ????????. ?????? ??? ???????? ??????? ??? ???????? ?? ????? ????? ???????? ???????? ????? ????? ???? ?? ?????? ????? ??????? ?? ?? ????? ????? ??? "?????????"? ???? ???? ??? ??????? ?? ?????? ?????.

?? ??????(INGOs)?? ??? ??? ???? ?? ?? ???? ?????. ??? ??? ‘? ?? ??’? ??? ???? ??? ?? ??? ?? ???? ??? ?????. ??? ???? INGOs? ????? ??? ????? ??? ???? ??? ??? ??? ????. ??? ??? ‘? ?? ??’? INGOs? ??? ?? ??, ??, ??? ?? ????? ??? ??? ??? ?? ???? ????. ??? ???? ??? ?? ??? ????? ??? ??? ???? ??? ?????? ????? ???. ??? ??? ‘? ?? ??’? ????, ??? INGOs? ??? ?? ???? ?? ????? ?? ??? ???? ?? ??? ??? ???. INGOs? ??? ‘????’?? ??? ???? ?? ??? ??? ???? ??? ?? ???? ???? ???? ??? ??? ????? ?? ??? ??.

Были предприняты многочисленные попытки исправить дефицит ответственности международных неправительственных организаций (МНПО). “Первую волну” реформ ответственности в основном вели влиятельные заинтересованные лица, такие как дарители и правительства. Культура ответственности впоследствии появилась, отражая предпочтения этих агентов, а не обязанность МНПО соблюдать свою миссию. “Вторая волна” реформ показала, что МНПО несет широкий диапазон обязанностей и ответственности перед бенефициариями, персоналом и аналогичными организациями. Эти меры не были достаточны, чтобы продвинуть рефлексивную практику, которая обусловлена дискурсом с самыми близкими к миссии. Утверждается, что есть потребность в “третьей волне” реформ ответственности, которая укрепит обязанности МНПО перед сообществами, которым они призваны служить. МНПО должны критически охватить рефлексивную культуру ответственности, которая обращается к способам, где коммуникация с так называемыми “бенефициантами” искажена неравным соотношением сил.     

Immigration policies that include or exclude: a South African public opinion study of immigration policy preferences

South Africa is a regional hub for migration on the African continent and is home to a growing documented international migrant community. Foreigners in the country, however, often face violations of their established rights and are the victims of abuse. This paper examines public support for policies that would exclude international migrants from the country. Data from the 2013 South African Social Attitudes Survey, a nationally representative opinion poll (N = 2739) of all adults in the country, are used. This poll found that many South Africans favoured restrictive immigration policies and opposed granting foreigners the same rights as citizens. Multivariate analysis is employed to discern determinants of this opposition. Respondents’ perceptions of the population sizes of foreigners in their communities did not affect support for inclusion. It can be inferred, therefore, that the growth of the immigrant population has not provoked exclusionary attitudes in the country. Rather, results revealed, it is national pride (cultural versus political) and fears about the consequences of immigration that drive such attitudes. Programmes and policies designed to improve public perceptions of how foreigner impact society and the promotion of a nationalism characterised by inclusive multicultural civic patriotism may improve public support for the inclusion of international immigrants.     

Climate and food inequality: the South African Food Sovereignty Campaign response

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on climate and food inequalities while highlighting food sovereignty responses. It provides an analysis of climate inequalities ramifying through the world today. At the same time, food inequality is conceptually clarified as a counter approach to food security. It is argued that food inequality is consistent with the case for food sovereignty. Moreover, the combination of climate and food inequalities also highlight the complexity of climate crises and the challenges they pose for food regimes. The article further highlights the emergence of the food sovereignty response and systemic alternative. Taking this further is a case study of the transformative politics of the South African Food Sovereignty Campaign and its constitutive approach to various forms of power from below.     

Rapid change in a South African tertiary institution: Implications for occupational social work

Universities, like most organisations, are in a state of continuous transformation. The past decade has seen dramatic changes taking place at universities in South Africa, which have impacted on employees, especially academics. This article focuses on the transformations at the University of Fort Hare in the Eastern Cape, and recounts the qualitative findings of a small-scale research project, conducted by the first author, which provide a flavour of the way in which UFH academics perceived and responded to a fast changing university milieu. It examines the strengths which sustained them and argues that universities should help people to identify and utilise such strengths within their organisations by employing occupational social workers. The authors, both social work trained and former practitioners, have written this article jointly under the auspices of a three-year British Council Higher Education Link Programme between the Social Work Department at the University of Fort Hare and the Community and Criminal Justice Studies Division at De Montfort University, Leicester.     

Social media and Umbrella Movement: insurgent public sphere in formation

The study examines the role of social media during the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong that lasted from September to December 2014. By interviewing a random sample of 1011 respondents over the telephone before the end of the Umbrella Movement, it was found that social media had become an insurgent public sphere (IPS) in the protest movement. Data showed that acquisition of political news through social media was related positively to support for the Umbrella Movement and adversely with satisfaction and trust of established political authorities, including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, the Hong Kong police, and the Chinese central government. The insurgent public sphere role of social media, its implications, and likely development vis-à-vis the state and the market are discussed.     

Alcohol consumption among undergraduate social work students at a South African university

ABSTRACT

Alcohol consumption among tertiary level students is a public health problem that can adversely affect students’ performance at university. This study therefore investigated the drinking patterns; reasons for drinking; and the perceived impact of drinking on academic performance of undergraduate social work students at a South African university. Of the 145 students who completed a group administered survey questionnaire, 88% reported using alcohol mainly for social purposes and enjoyment, with two-fifths admitting to participating in binge drinking. Despite these findings, a high proportion (78%) reported not performing poorly on a test or exam due to alcohol consumption in the preceding 12 months. Recommendations are provided for the education and support of social work students as future healthcare professionals.     

The anxiety of affect: melodrama and South African film studies

This paper argues that the realist approach typically adopted in South African film studies reduces films to message‐bearing narratives in a way that ignores the specificity of the medium. Conversely, melodrama both as cinematic genre and as expressive register explicitly draws our attention away from issues of right representation to other neglected but essential dimensions of cinema. We argue that, far from being morally reductive or politically quietist, melodrama is a representational mode wholly appropriate to understanding the South African context including the painful stories of its apartheid past. To illustrate this broader critical point we offer an analysis of two films (of 2004) about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) – In My Country and Forgiveness – which, we argue, can only be adequately understood if their uses of the visual and affective strategies of melodrama, which are consonant with aspects of the TRC itself, are acknowledged.     

Framing interior: race,mobility and the image of home in South African modernity

This paper explores the depiction of dwellings in order to locate the emergence of a particular framing of the interior in South Africa. I suggest that in the first half of the twentieth century, images of domestic spaces pointed both to racially distinct interiors and racialised forms of interiority. As an aesthetic technology of the late nineteenth century, photography aided in the production of visual motifs that fixed the appearance of race in a new way, and located such an appearance in particular places. The visual intertwining of race and place – designating racially proper and improper places – was instrumental to apartheid’s attempt to curtail racial mixing and unregulated mobility. In contrast with the imposed movement engendered by migrant labour, I suggest that the figure of the interior becomes a privileged standpoint from which to view the triumph of race as a form of fixity in modern South Africa.     

Local economic development and urban poverty alleviation: the experience of post-apartheid South Africa

Urban poverty is a policy issue of growing significance in post-apartheid South Africa. In terms of the new Constitution the developmental role of local governments is given considerable attention. Against a background analysis of the best practice of local anti-poverty strategies in the developing world, this paper reviews the experience of eight case studies of local economic development (LED) initiatives. The case studies review a cluster of research findings from South African metropolitan areas (Midrand, Port Elizabeth, inner-city Durban, Khayelitsha and Winterveld) followed by issues from secondary cities (Nelspruit, Harrismith) and small towns (Stutterheim). A key conclusion from the experience of post-apartheid South Africa is that LED practitioners are currently struggling to find means to integrate their LED initiatives with the task of poverty alleviation.     

South‐South civil society partnerships: renewed ties of political contention and policy building

This article sheds light on the new sites of contestation of global capitalism and international geopolitics created by transnational ties between Brazilian and Mozambican social movements. With a special focus on the rural sector and land issues, the article examines how the internationalization of Brazil's public policies and companies set the context and opened opportunity to the rise of South‐South advocacy networks and the setting up of renewed spaces of political dialogue. Building on the politics of mobilization, it identifies two major coalitions reflecting Brazil's domestic struggles and analyzes their different mobilization strategies and objectives influencing political outcomes.     

Marx,labour and emancipation in South African sociology: a preliminary rethinking

In a university and disciplinary environment where knowledge is increasingly commodified, this paper sketches a reconstruction of the mature Marx’s analysis of capitalism. I argue that his understanding remains methodologically powerful and helps to ground sociological analyses of the present. While accepting that there are good grounds for questioning the relevance of Marx in the wake of the South African political transition and the Post‐Fordist transformation of labour, this interpretation departs significantly from how Marx has generally been interpreted by sociologists and other social scientists in the country by foregrounding the commodity as the starting point of his social critique. Indeed, I argue that ‘class’ and ‘workplaces’, long a focus of radical sociologists, are on their own inadequate to grasp Marx’s concept of capitalism. Finally, drawing on the Frankfurt School, I suggest the importance of a critique of labour and the recognition of contradiction as the starting point of an emancipatory project.