Crude politics : the ANC, the shipping research bureau and the anti-apartheid oil boycott

Abstract: The workings of the anti-apartheid oil boycott have attracted little scholarly attention to date. Their symbolic importance and contribution to the significant escalation of financial cost for the Apartheid state has been noted, as has the role of Western states and multinational oil companies and Middle Eastern oil states in undermining the boycott. This article focuses on an aspect of the boycott which has received insufficient attention: the role in the boycott of the African National Congress (ANC) and of the Shipping Research Bureau (SRB), the Dutch anti-apartheid organisation specially established in 1979 to trace oil shipments to South Africa. Through a close reading of under-utilised source materials, the article analyses the ANC’s handling of the SRB’s identification of Middle Eastern anti-apartheid allies as the primary source of oil supplies to South Africa throughout the length of the boycott. The SRB’s ‘anti-apartheid forensics’ was hamstrung by the ANC’s asymmetrical emphasis on the collaboration of Western oil companies with Apartheid. Dependence on invaluable anti- Apartheid solidarities of various kinds constrained the ANC’s ability to act vis-à-vis allies, who in pursuing their own interests, were in violation of the boycott

Between ‘artificial economics’ and ‘the discipline of the market’: Sasol from parastatal to privatisation

Abstract: Please refer to full text to view abstrac

The Informal Sector In Sub-Saharan Africa: Out Of The Shadows To Foster Sustainable Employment And Equity?

Over the past twenty years or so, there has been a debate that basically asks “…whether the informal sector should really be seen as a marginalized, ‘survival’ sector, which mops up excess or entrenched workers, or as a vibrant, entrepreneurial part of the economy which can stimulate economic growth and job creation.” (African Union 2008). This paper argues the latter. Further, this paper argues that employment in the informal sector is no longer a journey, but has become the destination of many. If the aim is to create jobs and reduce poverty, the informal sector must be included in the debate. Indeed, this paper recommends that the debate about the advantages of formal sector vs. the informal sector needs to end.  Governments need to unequivocally recognize and admit the importance of the informal sector and finds ways to encourage its growth. They also need, at the same time, to decide how to strengthen the formal sector and extend benefits to those in the informal sector, while removing barriers to the formal sector to allow more to participate.  Specifically, there are at least five major areas where changes need to be made:  1) Establish an enabling environment and supportive regulatory framework, 2) Provide access to appropriate training, 3) Improve basic facilities and amenities and infrastructure, 4) Increase ability to obtain property title and access to credit, and 5) Improve national databases and establish uniform standards

Developing CSR in professional football clubs: drivers and phases

Purpose: Given that professional football organizations have become particularly strong socio-political business institutions, often home to numerous social and business relationships, the purpose of this paper is to advance our understanding of how CSR develops within professional football clubs, along with its organizational implications, phases, drivers and barriers for corporate governance. Additionally it aims to to consider CSR development generally drawing specifically on examples from Scottish professional football whilst answering two key research questions: (1) what kind of drivers do clubs identify as reasons to develop CSR?, and (2) can developmental phases be identified during this process? Design/methodology/approach: The paper builds on a qualitative case study methodology that draws on primary and secondary data collected across 12 Scottish Premier League (SPL) football clubs. Three stages of data collection were set out including interviews, web content analysis and annual/CSR reports analysis. Findings: This research highlights internal and external drivers of change in Scottish football clubs along with institutional barriers and organizational (developmental) phases of CSR and corporate governance. Research limitations/implications: This research is limited on the CSR development across 12 SPL clubs Originality/value: The paper is the first to consider CSR in professional football clubs from a developmental point of view. Six phases of CSR development are identified and defined - volunteering, regulation, socialization, corporatization, separation, and integration - and implications for football and general corporate governance are presented

The peculiarities of South African history : Thompsonian social history and the limits of colonialism

Abstract: From the late 1970s, South Africanist social history of broadly Thompsonian characteristics richly explicated the experiences of South Africa’s African population under ‘racial capitalism’. This article asks what value this scholarship might have in a moment when South African universities (like their British and American counterparts) face calls for the decolonisation of curricula. Social historians delineated the peculiar nature of South Africa’s precocious but uneven capitalist transformation under colonial conditions, accounting for the preservation and resilience of communal rural areas falling under the control of chiefs and the dominance of oscillating migrant labour. Where structuralists saw a political economy tailor-made for mining capital, social historians identified important limits to the powers of capital and colonialism in the region -- limits set, in large part, by the region’s African communities. Underlining the tragic irony of the powerful symbiosis between the patriarchal and ethnically defined livelihood strategies of (male) African migrant labourers and the interests of mining capital and segregationists, South Africanist social historians advanced a significantly less romantic vision of ‘the commons’ than that typically found in Thompson’s work or the work of his students

'Stink, maar uit die verkeerde rigting' : pollution, politics and petroleum refining in South Africa, 1948-1960.

Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004This dissertation analyses the history of the politics of pollution and petroleum refining in South Africa during the first decade of Apartheid, focusing on the country's first two oil refineries, both of which were built by multinational oil companies in Durban in the 1950s and 60s. It traces the origins of the development of environmental regulation in relation to oil refinery pollution. The dissertation outlines the development of a sense of disillusionment caused by the persistence of pollution problems associated with petroleum refining in the face of failed attempts at technological and expert interventions. The study identifies the existence of a civic culture amongst Bluff residents founded on ratepayer and landowner identities, through which they were able to exercise considerable purchase on the local State. Ultimately, the story of how two petroleum refineries ended up in the midst of residential communities in south Durban's represents a reiteration of the importance of race to the development of local urban landscapes during Apartheid

Sustaining Daily Management with Gemba Walks: A Scheduling Model

SUSTAINING DAILY MANAGEMENT WITH GEMBA WALKS: A SCHEDULING MODEL At an academic tertiary care medical center, there are 110 Operational Excellence teams across 4 campuses. Every weekday, 10 GEMBA walks occur with the 11th on Wednesdays. The expanding program has made daily leadership visits to all KPIs challenging. As a result, consideration of reduced gemba walks to departments who have met specific maturity/performance criteria. The scope of the eight-week pilot consisted of 13 pre-identified teams that have weekly workflows. The teams must have met a baseline level of performance. Performance was scored for 9 variables measuring engagement, PDSA, use of daily management and infrastructure. Teams also must have been live on Operational Excellence for minimum of 6 months The main objective was that teams would maintain or advance their current performance level with the KPI process. A root cause analysis identified barriers to gemba walk participation for frontline and senior leaders. Several countermeasures were developed to include a feedback survey for department leaders one month post pilot start and weekly evaluation of pilot teams. The outcomes supported the conclusion that pilot team performance was similar to teams receiving daily gemba walks. Next steps include continued coaching the pilot teams to ensure performance advancement and conduct quarterly audits. In addition, look to add other units to the adjusted frequency walk that meet the performance criteria