Philanthropy and Development in Southern Africa: Executive Summary

The Rosetta Stone, created in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic era under the reign of King Ptolemy V, is an archaeological gem for history buffs, documenting a decree in three ancient scripts: demotic, hieroglyphics, and ancient Greek. It is credited as the key to understanding the language of the ancient empire. But it was also key to their economics: the Stone was a virtual tax agreement granting mega exemptions to priests, military and other elites, and in the process, shifting the tax burden to the poor and the slaves. Operationalising poverty required governance: it would fall to the priests and other philanthropists to provide carefully managed 'relief' when things became unbearable. The purpose, of course, was maintaining the system rather than changing it

Economic empowerment in firms : evidence from the eThekwini medium & large firm survey.

This work is based on the research supported by the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and National Research Foundation of South Africa. The work was also produced with the assistance of the Programme to Support Pro-Poor Policy Development (PSPPD Phase II) a Partnership between the Presidency, the Republic of South Africa and the European Union under the project Analysis of 2014 firm survey data, from the greater Durban area, in order to contribute evidence to local, provincial and national policy for manufacturing firms to contribute to inclusive growth Europe Aid/134258/M/ACT/ZA PSPPD2/CfP2/2014/15/60 The contents of this work are the sole responsibility of the authors and can in no way be taken to reflect neither the views of the European Union nor the National Research Foundation.Abstract not available

Exploring the informal business sector in Clairwood, Durban, South Africa,

This work is based on research supported by the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and National Research Foundation (DST/NRF) of South Africa.This paper aims to investigate alternative measures of value amongst marginalised citizens in South Africa. More specifically, the objective of this study is to understand the value of informal business within the under privileged area of Clairwood, Durban. The rationale is to explore the under-reported economic activities and advantages of micro enterprises operated by low income households. These livelihood and small enterprise activities are at risk by changing infrastructural developments which threaten displacement to this community, which is based within an industrial complex. This study highlights the contribution that informal traders make to the city and re-imagines sustainable development in the urban low-income context. This locally driven micro economy provides sufficient resources to raise many out of poverty. Clairwood is one of these unique scenarios: a mix of formal, yet declining manufacturing industries, surrounded by complementary micro informal businesses, as well as formal to informal dwelling settlements. These characteristics somehow work symbiotically and in harmony to support each other, benefiting residents’ financial and work needs. Findings show that Clairwood residents are not necessarily unsupportive of economic activities in their community, but that they are concerned about the encroaching and non-participatory nature of national infrastructure and specifically port sector imperatives which further debilitate their efforts to preserve their heritage and economic livelihoods. Worryingly, residents feel continuously framed as uncooperative and unable to participate. Such perceptions miss the true value of the economic and participatory contributions of the local community of Clairwood. This study offers an alternative that hears the voice of this diverse community and allows them to express their values, further contributing to an alternative vision of low carbon, sustainable development

A review of contested perspectives on climate change finance.

This work is based on the research supported by the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and National Research Foundation (DST/NRF) of South Africa (Grant No 71220). The work was also produced with the assistance of the Programme to Support Pro-Poor Policy Development (PSPPD Phase II) a partnership between the Presidency, the Republic of South Africa and the European Union under the project addressing the poverty and inequality challenge, grant for climate change adaptation and poverty reduction co-benefits: human capabilities toward green micro-enterprise. The contents of this work are the sole responsibility of the authors and can in no way be taken to reflect neither the views of the European Union nor the National Research Foundation.There is an overwhelming consensus that climate change is a reality that requires urgent attention through mitigation and adaptation strategies. A slow rise in aggregate funding and investment towards projects which incorporate adaptation with respect to the consequences of climate change or mitigation of the known causes of climate change has occurred globally. This illustrates the increased intention of the public and private sectors to find appropriate interventions which work towards the lowering of carbon emissions or finding ways for the public to adapt their current behaviour to the eminent changes of climate. In this report, we present a critical review of literature on climate change financing. The review engages the meaning, sources and monitoring of the flow of climate finance. We also present discourses on issues related to the evaluation of the social impacts of climate finance on intended beneficiaries. These debates are contextualised in eThekwini Municipality’s approach to climate change adaption and mitigation. We note that there are many concerns regarding climate change finance that require further attention. These issues range from whether or not climate finance should form part of official development assistance (ODA), how funds should be distributed and who should climate change initiatives benefit. These issues could hamper the implementation of many useful strategies and much needed finance could end up funding projects that are not for public benefit. Furthermore, there is a conspicuous absence of appropriate and standard criteria for projects to meet in order to qualify as a climate change initiative. The lack of explicit requirements for projects to provide co-benefits to communities remains an unsettling problem and allows for substantial room for funding of unsuitable and in some cases, non-existent climate change projects. Much work still needs to be done to setup the identification criteria and measurement frameworks to help with issues of transparency, accountability and tracking of climate finance. This is especially needed in developing countries in order to curtail the misuse of climate funds in all tiers of government. There is also an urgent need to create a system that will govern, prescribe and monitor the use of climate funds for the betterment of the eco-systems, non –human species and humans

Uma análise pós-estruturalista do discurso para a corrupção

RESUMEN: Este artículo argumenta que un análisis discursivo post-estructuralista del concepto “corrupción” nos ayuda a entender las implicaciones políticas de los discursos anticorrupción mejor que el análisis de la corrupción a través de los enfoques dominantes en la ciencia política. Con este propósito, primero expone las limitaciones del análisis de la corrupción en las perspectivas dominantes en la ciencia política. Segundo, desarrolla un marco teórico del análisis discursivo de la corrupción usando las herramientas conceptuales de las perspectivas teóricas de Foucault y Laclau y Mouffe. Finalmente, se utiliza un análisis discursivo post estructuralista para mostrar cómo la estrategia anticorrupción del Banco Mundial y el Índice de la Percepción de la Corrupción de Transparencia Internacional sirvieron para legitimar el orden neoliberal y reproducir la relación asimétrica entre el Primer y el Tercer Mundo.ABSTRACT: This article argues that a post-structuralist discourse analysis to the concept of “corruption” offers important insights into the political implications of anti-corruption discourses that are not captured by other dominant approaches in the field. To do so, the article first provides an overview of the dominant perspectives on corruption in political science and their limitations. Second, it develops a theoretical framework for a post-structuralist discourse analysis of corruption building on the conceptual tools of Foucault, Laclau and Mouffe. Finally, the theoretical framework is used to highlight a hidden agenda in the anticorruption strategy of the World Bank and the Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International that has legitimized a neoliberal order and perpetuated the asymmetric relation between the First a and the Third worlds