The weak domestic base of South Africa's good global citizenship

Abstract: The self-appointed role of good international citizen that South Africa has played since 1994 is the external corollary of its supposed good governance at home. Weaknesses in domestic governance have, however, been evident since early in the life of democratic South Africa. These problems have become more acute, and internal dissatisfaction with and external awareness of ‘poor service delivery’ in South Africa have grown since 2009 when Jacob Zuma became president. The article illustrates that South Africa fails to meet core criteria of good governance and considers the implications of weak governance for the Republic’s good international citizenship

Suid-Afrika se internasionale norm-entrepreneurskap

The ambitious foreign policy that democratic South Africa has pursued since 1994 contains a strong element of international norm-entrepreneurship. This largely selfimposed undertaking can involve a set of related tasks: upholding, formulating, promoting and enforcing internationally accepted norms of state conduct. South Africa has indeed taken up all four responsibilities. The country has established an exemplary record in respecting universal norms both domestically and in its foreign relations. South Africa features prominently as a norm formulator in multilateral forums, especially in Africa. The missionary zeal with which the new South Africa had originally promoted norms abroad has, however, been tempered by a pragmatism that tends to favour money over morality. The Republic has shown even less enthusiasm for norm enforcement. Contentious international issues like Zimbabwe and Myanmar revealed inconsistencies and prevarication in South Africa’s norm entrepreneurship. Instead of watering down its initiatives even further, South Africa ought to embark on a more robust form of norm entrepreneurship abroad

Hand-rearing, release and survival of african penguin chicks abandoned before independence by moulting parents

The African penguin Spheniscus demersus has an ‘Endangered’ conservation status and a decreasing population. Following abandonment, 841 African penguin chicks in 2006 and 481 in 2007 were admitted to SANCCOB (Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds) for hand-rearing from colonies in the Western Cape, South Africa, after large numbers of breeding adults commenced moult with chicks still in the nest. Of those admitted, 91% and 73% respectively were released into the wild. There were veterinary concerns about avian malaria, airsacculitis and pneumonia, feather-loss and pododermatitis (bumblefoot). Post-release juvenile (0.32, s.e. = 0.08) and adult (0.76, s.e. = 0.10) survival rates were similar to African penguin chicks reared after oil spills and to recent survival rates recorded for naturally-reared birds. By December 2012, 12 birds had bred, six at their colony of origin, and the apparent recruitment rate was 0.11 (s.e. = 0.03). Hand-rearing of abandoned penguin chicks is recommended as a conservation tool to limit mortality and to bolster the population at specific colonies. The feasibility of conservation translocations for the creation of new colonies for this species using hand-reared chicks warrants investigation. Any such programme would be predicated on adequate disease surveillance programmes established to minimise the risk of disease introduction to wild birds

The evolution of South Africa's democracy promotion in Africa : from idealism to pragmatism

Abstract: South Africa is an emerging power with fairly strong democratic institutions that were crafted during the transition from minority to majority rule twenty years ago. How has South Africa used its position and power to promote democracy in Africa? Against the backdrop of debates on democracy promotion by emerging powers, this article probes attempts by successive post-apartheid governments to promote democracy in Africa. We argue that although democracy promotion featured prominently in South Africa’s policy toward Africa in the immediate post-apartheid period under Nelson Mandela, the administrations of Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma faltered in advancing democratic norms. This is largely because South Africa has confronted pressures to maximize pragmatic national interests, which have compromised a democratic ethos in a continental environment where these values have yet to find steady footing

Rebuffing Royals? Afrikaners and the royal visit to South Africa in 1947’

This article traces the responses of Afrikaners to the symbolism and political purposes of the 1947 royal visit to Southern Africa, the first post-war royal tour and the first visit of a reigning sovereign to the Union of South Africa. Taking place in the aftermath of a war that had caused bitter political divisions within Afrikaner ranks and stimulated radical populist nationalism, a royal tour intended to express the crown's gratitude for South Africa's participation in that war was bound to be contentious. Drawing on press accounts, biographies, autobiographies and archival sources, this article argues that the layered reactions of Afrikaners demonstrate that, even on the eve of the National Party's electoral victory on a republican and apartheid platform, attitudes towards monarchy and the British connection were more fluid and ambiguous than either contemporary propaganda or recent accounts have allowed. The diverse meanings attributed to this iconic royal tour reveal a process of intense contestation and reflection about South Africa's place in an empire that was in the throes of post-war redefinition and transformation, and confirm recent characterisations of the 1940s as one of manifold possibilities such that outcomes, like the electoral victory of the National Party in the following year, was far from pre-determined

Werksbevrediging en motivering met verwysing na die inligtingstegnologiebedryf : 'n kritiese evaluaring.

Workers who are adequately motivated derive satisfaction from their jobs. Their productivity is enhanced and therefore employees’ job satisfaction deserves serious attention from managers and researchers in various disciplines [DO95]. Human behaviour is complex and the study of motivation searches for answers to perplexing questions that revolve around human nature. Numerous theories of motivation have been developed and those of some of the best-known authors such as Maslow, Herzberg, McGregor, McClelland, Atkinson, Hackman and Oldham, Vroom and Porter and Lawler will be discussed. Possible implications of the application and manifestation of the theories in an information technology environment are also thrashed out, and the potential integration of the existing theories and the relationship between motivation and job satisfaction, are considered. The function of an information technology environment is to provide a professional service to internal as well as external customers and successful companies manage much more than their assets and records. The focus is also on relationships with clients, employees, shareholders, and stakeholders and how well this service will be rendered depends upon the self-motivation of the employees. Job satisfaction within an institution serves as an indicator of morale as well as of a successful operation and findings of motivation and job satisfaction can be very useful to both management and their staff. Many businesses are still structured according to an outdated business model of management style that has become obsolete in an information age. Management must seriously address job satisfaction issues if the company wants to prosper and survive.Prof. W. Backe

O ESTADO ISLÂMICO (EI): UM ESTADO CONTESTADO ÚNICO

Contested states are entities whose claims to statehood are challenged by the international community, resulting in a lack of de jure recognition. In 2014 the Islamic State (IS) became the latest addition to the current clutch of contested states. Its contemporaries included Abkhazia, South Ossetia, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Kosovo and Somaliland. The IS’s recognition deficit was worse than that of most other contested states, but like the rest it too displayed standard features of statehood. These similarities were, however, overshadowed by the profound differences between the IS state and its counterparts.Estados contestados são entidades cujas reivindicações de Estado são desafiadas pelacomunidade internacional, resultando em falta de reconhecimento de jure. Em 2014,o Estado Islâmico (IS) tornou-se a mais recente adição à dinâmica atual de Estadoscontestados. Seus contemporâneos incluem a Abecásia, a Ossétia do Sul, a RepúblicaTurca do Norte de Chipre, a República Democrática Árabe Saaraui, o Kosovo e aSomalilândia. O déficit de reconhecimento do EI foi maior que o da maioria dos outrosEstados contestados, mas, como os demais, também apresentava característicaspadrão de Estado. Essas semelhanças foram, no entanto, ofuscadas pelas profundasdiferenças entre o Estado do EI e suas contrapartes

Suid-Afrika se internasionale norm-entrepreneurskap

The ambitious foreign policy that democratic South Africa has pursued since 1994 contains a strong element of international norm-entrepreneurship. This largely selfimposed undertaking can involve a set of related tasks: upholding, formulating, promoting and enforcing internationally accepted norms of state conduct. South Africa has indeed taken up all four responsibilities. The country has established an exemplary record in respecting universal norms both domestically and in its foreign relations. South Africa features prominently as a norm formulator in multilateralforums, especially in Africa. The missionary zeal with which the new South Africa had originally promoted norms abroad has, however, been tempered by a pragmatism that tends to favour money over morality. The Republic has shown even less enthusiasm for norm enforcement. Contentious international issues like Zimbabwe and Myanmar revealed inconsistencies and prevarication in South Africa’s norm entrepreneurship. Instead of watering down its initiatives even further, South Africa ought to embark on a more robust form of norm entrepreneurship abroad