The World Through My Eyes

Academics and political enthusiasts alike are cracking their heads writing papers on and giving (sometimes not-so-correct) predictions over the coming 2024 South African General Elections. Over the last decade, elections in South Africa, whether National or Local Government, have exposed a disheartening trend: there is a decline in voter turnout. In fact, this phenomenon of eligible voters employing ‘silent voting’ has become common in the SADC region and one might argue, throughout the continent.  This body of work focuses on the growth of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) or rather its lack thereof. Perhaps we can liken this to how Kaiser Chiefs fills up NFB stadium now and then but never wins? I do not believe the party’s history and roots narration is necessary but I do want to point out that there was some level of skepticism about its long-term survival owing to the belief that there was no room for the party’s ideologies and principles in the Rainbow Nation.  A study ...

Although instability and in extreme cases, coups d’etat are not a foreign nor new concept in Africa, the continent has collectively put very little effective actionable solutions in place to prevent and resolve these forces majeures, what happens then when governments have their powers threatened by armed militias? (Photo credit to Deutsche Welle) “We do not negotiate with terrorists”  These are words that have dominated the United States of America’s Foreign Policy Making since the 1970s under the leadership of President Richard Nixon and have further been intensified in the International Relations arena since the 9/11 attacks but how effective is this approach for African countries?  Our point of departure should be an emphasis on how we need to adopt and implement African solutions to African problems, it cannot be stressed enough just how important this principle is. This approach of resorting to force at the slightest inconvenience was first adopted by the United States o...

"Men at some time are masters of their fates. / The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in ourselves, that we are underlings” (Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene III L. 139–141). This famous quote by Elizabethan playwright William Shakespeare, although written possibly between 1599 and 1600 and loosely translated to mean that 'we are responsible for our own actions and not fate', stands as relevant in today's politics and life as it did centuries ago.  Today, the wedge between the African National Congress (ANC) and the people has grown exponentially, not because of fate but simply due to the former's own actions. This, I believe, is the raison d'etre of the President's letter to the Deputy President of both the ANC and the Republic of South Africa, Paul Mashatile.  Before the actual contents of the 17-pages long letter could be dissected, there was a lot of hullabaloo surrounding its recipient or rather why it seemed to bypass the Secretary General (SG...

I have always had the privilege of being taught by some of the best lecturers in my fields and that is something I do not take for granted, today's piece will somewhat be a dedication to one of my favourite lecturers who has unfortunately since retired.  He is so brilliant that I still remember things that he taught us in first year which meant I was always excited for class, in fact I think this is the only time I can speak like a Comrade and speak on behalf of my classmates and say there is no one in my school that is not in awe of the man.  I remember writing him an email in the AMs in the last week of the academic year prompting him to consider applying to the Higher Courts because I am so confident that the country can benefit so much for his vast knowledge and expertise. Anyway, today I would like to share with you a few things regarding the Law of Succession because the 'my people perish [insert suffer] because of lack of knowledge' saying is very common when people ...

“I think the people have a sufficient sense of what the Mandela and the others struggled for, and when they look at certain things that are happening, for instance the issue you are mentioning […] quite correctly, it is a matter of corruption…  When they see this corruption in the country, which seems to be increasing, at all levels of government, the people are aggrieved, they are saying ‘but this is not what freedom was for’.” (Mbeki, 2013)  I am once again quoting Former President Thabo Mbeki on a matter related to corruption in the Republic, the usage of this quote in this article is in response to the low levels of voter turnout in the last elections we had in the country or even arguably the decline that we’ve been seeing in voter turnouts as we hold more and more elections.  In its Founding Provisions, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 108 of 1996 (forthwith ‘the Constitution’) declares the Republic as ‘one, sovereign, democratic state’ founded o...

"Sometimes we think that today will forever be today, not remembering that today will be tomorrow and tomorrow will be different" These are the beautiful words of President Thabo Mbeki that I want each of us to carry and remember when faced with gloomy days. I thought it would be befitting that my first piece for the year should look at some of the work of one of Africa's best minds.   This piece intends to serve as an analysis of the Zimbabwean crisis in the early 2000s, the South African government's policy towards the matter under the leadership of President Mbeki, if there were alternatives available and if they should have been explored. I would be doing a huge disservice both to myself and to you if I did not start off by loosely defining what foreign policy is and its importance; so we can look at foreign policy as a set of guidelines that a state (or national government, I'm using the terms interchangeably here) uses to guide its relations and interactions...

It may or may not be the case that the reason Lindiwe Sisulu & Zweli Mkhize were absent in today's Parliamentary Voting on the s89 Panel Report was because they were advised that if they voted "yes" then they'd face suspension\expulsion from the party. I cannot prove nor disprove this as I am quite far from being in a position where I'd be certain of such 'sensitive' information. It doesn't sound too far fetched though if you consider that there's been threats of "internal party processes" to follow for "those that voted yes". While I do understand and respect that joining an organization\political party requires one to discard personal interests together with individualism, after all the whole point of becoming part of a movement that shares the same values and principles as you is to let go of "self" for the greater good of society. As much as I respect this, I do not believe it is wise that whenever members of a...

  As the rest of the world enjoys or at the very least rushes towards the 4th Industrial Revolution, I comfortably sit in the dark with a candle lit as if it's protesting its overuse. I'm not sure if I am to find comfort in that soon France & possibly the USA will follow suit. This contrast between "us" and "them" doesn't only concern resources but is also found in our definition of and approach to democracy. This is going to be a very short piece, I'm not yet sure on what exactly but perhaps you, as the reader, will help me decipher as you read along. It will, however, be on the lines of how having a hundred drillion political parties is counterproductive and defeats the purpose of what these initiators seek to achieve.  Political issues are clear and straight forward, it's black & white, there's no grey area around it. If you understand what it is you stand for both as an individual and as a collective, what it is you want to achiev...

It is an open secret that the ANC has been on the brink of its demise for the past 14+ years, former President Jacob Zuma's implication and participation in the State Capture seemed to worsen the state of the party & the confidence its constituency has. It seems to be common cause now that the party's top officials find themselves in hot water every now and then, one could even say it seems to be a rite of passage. It is therefore no surprise that people get so desperate for a level-headed leader with an actionable vision even if this sends us scrabbling at the past.  My guess is that this is where the strong suggestion and yearning amongst some members of society who believe that former President Thabo Mbeki ought to return to the highest seat in the land comes from. Of course this would be impossible owing to section 88(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa which reads "no person may hold office as President for more than two terms, but when a person...

"This systematic criminality, where does it come from? [And] I think all of us have had a sense of this problem that over the years this phenomenon of loss of respect for the law has become more and more widespread..." These are the words of Former President Thabo Mbeki in a lecture given in 2019 titled "Only Human Capital Can Change Society For The Better".   I've noticed there's a growing trend amongst International Relations, Political Science & Law students and young professionals who seemingly want to be the only ones that have an opinion on the happenings of the country & as a result, believe their opinions hold more value and to be quite honest, I do not understand the logic behind this. After all, you don't get more affected by politics just because you've studied Political Science, at the end of the day, we're all victims of the harsh reality created and perpetuated by politicians whose sole purpose is to address 'politics of...

  Procurement processes raising eyebrows is nothing new in our shores, if you remember correctly former President Jacob Zuma set up a Commission of Inquiry in 2011 in terms of s84(2)(f) of the Constitution to look into, what the government at the time called, "allegations" of fraud, corruption, impropriety or irregularity in the Strategic Defence Procurement Package (SDPP). This Commission, widely known as the Arms Deal Commission or the Seriti Commission, was to look at the processes undertaken in acquiring arms for the SANDF, the rationale behind this and ultimately, if it made any economic sense. We will look at this Commission in detail in another piece, today we shine the spotlight on the newly appointed scandalous Finance Minister.  The National Treasury recently published changes to Preferential Procurement Regulations (PPR), these give State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) to have their own Preferential Procurement Policies - no longer subjecting them to doing business with ...

About a week ago, I put up a piece which intended to compare the crime rates between South Africa and Zambia, I figured it was unfair to do so without giving somewhat of a ‘context’ on these two countries so here we are today, looking at relations between the two states. As with all African states with the exception of Ethiopia and Liberia, Zambia and South Africa share a common history: colonialism. This has influenced and shaped the politics of the country itself as well as how it relates to its counterparts.  The former protectorate of Northern Rhodesia was not exempt from an inevitable name-change, in 1964, Northern Rhodesia, Barotseland and the Kingdom of the Lozi people merged to form one independent sovereign state named Zambia (after the Zambezi River). 16 years later, in 1980, the country hosted the formation of the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC), which later reformed into the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a Regional Economic ...

I spend about 20% of my day scrolling through Twitter. Actually, the truth has been altered here, it's way more than that, I'm just too ashamed to admit it. Naturally, I'll come across a new character or two in a day and the beauty of social media is that in 30 seconds, you would've already known what they do for a living, where they work, if they are homophobes or they occasionally want to choke their helper for frying 2 eggs and even, not too surprisingly since we attach our worth to our wealth, how much they take home. It's insane. Actually, scary is more fitting. I'm rambling, this post is not about people oversharing if they enjoy hiking up the Table Mountain during weekends or if they spend the very little time they have here on earth gulping down a bottle of Hunter's Dry while loudly singing along to Adiwele all the while ducking and diving gunshots. The latter is actually quite relevant here since we're talking about crime, specifically looking a...

Just this evening, I read somewhere that a Member of the Parliament of the Republic of Zimbabwe was just denied his 8th bail application although there’s proof that he is not a flight risk and that November marks his 4th month in prison with no trial nor ‘real’ charges. A claim was made by the Original Poster that this is some form of a weaponisation of law against opposition MPs, all of this taking place just as General Elections are nearing. It seems to be the culture really, nothing new in the continent.   None of us are to be surprised really because, let me shock you, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs in Zimbabwe, of course his name shall not be mentioned for fear of contravening the POPI Act, wrote a Twitter thread which can be quoted as saying “politics always takes precedence over the law”. Just this line alone made me have a deeper appreciation for our somewhat shaky but very sensible Constitution.  Can you believe that? Politics taking precedence over the law...

The Constitution of The Republic of South Africa has been hailed as the best Constitution in the world but some might argue that in our pursuit of being the model country in terms of human rights protection and promotion, this is oftentimes to the detriment of our citizens. I am the 'some', by the way.  The Constitution Court recently handed down a judgment which, in layman terms, looked at the relationship between minors and the usage of dagga. The first (informal) reporting of this judgment was a bit misleading, I think I first came across on the ConCourt's Twitter page and in their defense, there isn't much sensible reporting that can be worded properly in 280 characters. The impression given by the initial tweet was that the Court was dealing with the legalization of the usage of marijuana amongst minors and that, dear reader, was not at all what the Cenre for Child Law was arguing before court. The court was more concerned about the repercussions of the use and/or ...

 

A few years ago, I read one of Chimamanda Adichie Ngozi's works and there was a part where the characters were complaining about being without power for 12 hours. It's a fictional story set in Nigeria but my mind just could not even comprehend the possibility of a country going for so long without power, it just didn't make sense how those entrusted with power could run the country into the ground like that. Fast forward to September 2022, more than 15 years after loadshedding was first introduced in South Africa and guess what? We, too, go for so long without power. France and the US are also expected to take the load loadshedding & reduction route too. Eskom defines loadshedding as planned [electricity] supply interruptions which take place when the demand [for electricity] exceeds the available supply. But what does the law say about the planned darkness we're subjected to?  The Constitution does not explicitly provide for the right to electricity but as common s...

Section 35 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 108 of 1996 (throughout this blog, it will just be referred to as 'the Constitution') is the cornerstone of Criminal Law in South Africa as it deals with the rights of arrested, detained and accused persons. We've all often heard of the praise (read phrase) that our Constitution is the best in the world, that is because not only does it recognize and protect the rights of citizens but also whoever finds themselves in the land, legally or otherwise. Alleged criminals are no exception either owing to our stringent belief in "innocent until proven guilty", now let's look at this section in detail. s35(1) reads that "everyone who is arrested for allegedly committing an offence has the right— (a) to remain silent; b) to be informed promptly—       (i) of the right to remain silent; and       (ii) of the consequences of not remaining silent;" American movies are a perfect depiction of th...

It is currently 23:58 on a September 13 night, it is dark, loadshedding has hit and as a result, I am trying to read. I stumbled upon little notes (and comments?) I had made on Adv. Tembeka Ngcukaitobi's controversial Land Matters. This is a book I've been reading for a few months now, I am often forced to put it down and focus on my academics because really, it's a book I'm reading for pleasure. Ngcukaitobi is basically tackling the infamous land question in South Africa, he's looking at the past, present and the bleak future of same. He starts by giving much needed history on Africa's communal systems of land-ownership, goes on to assess the 1913 Land Act and subsequent forced removes of natives from their homesteads. Fast forward, he looks at what the government has achieved, if anything, as well as its failures in "bringing back the land." In Part III: Land Trials And Errors: Restitution, Redistribution And Tenure. Chapter 11 titled 'Our Myster...

I think I downplayed just how strenuous a process it would be to come up with a research topic as even before starting my degree, I knew I wanted to specialize in Human Rights Law so to be here, a few years later, stuck on the topic I'll be doing for my research was not only embarrassing but really confusing as well. I am excited to announce that after sending endless emails to my lecturer, often at odd times, I have finally managed to come up with a research topic that not only makes academic sense but also speaks to the true reason I decided to pursue a degree in Law. I've never been an individual that sticks to doing one thing at a time, if I were to self-diagnose, I'd say I have ADHD but we're not there, at least not yet. I'm halfway through my degree and I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I've enjoyed parts of the law I've never an interest in before i.e. Criminal Law and Labour Law but that's what life is about, right? Finding, as you go along...