Download or read book Fate of the Nation written by Jakkie Cilliers and published by Jonathan Ball Publishers. This book was released on 2017-07-24 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WHAT DOES OUR FUTURE HOLD? In these uncertain times, this is the question on many South Africans' lips. Will we become more prosperous and less divided as a nation or remain hugely unequal and generally poor? Will the ANC split or eventually be forced into an alliance with the EFF after 2019? Could the DA rule the country after the 2024 elections? In Fate of the Nation Jakkie Cilliers develops three scenarios for our immediate future and beyond: Bafana Bafana, Nation Divided and Mandela Magic. Cilliers says the ANC is currently paralysed by the power struggle between what he calls the Traditionalists and the Reformers. It is this power struggle that has led to the inept leadership, policy confusion and poor service delivery that has plagued the country in recent years. Key to which scenario could become our reality is who will be elected to the ANC's top leadership at the party's national conference in December 2017. Whichever group wins there will determine what our future looks like. This is a book for all concerned South Africans.

Download or read book African Futures written by Brian Goldstone and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2017-01-31 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Civil wars, corporate exploitation, AIDS, and Ebola—but also democracy, burgeoning cities, and unprecedented communication and mobility: the future of Africa has never been more uncertain. Indeed, that future is one of the most complex issues in contemporary anthropology, as evidenced by the incredible wealth of ideas offered in this landmark volume. A consortium comprised of some of the most important scholars of Africa today, this book surveys an intellectual landscape of opposed perspectives in order to think within the contradictions that characterize this central question: Where is Africa headed? The experts in this book address Africa’s future as it is embedded within various social and cultural forms emerging on the continent today: the reconfiguration of the urban, the efflorescence of signs and wonders and gospels of prosperity, the assorted techniques of legality and illegality, lotteries and Ponzi schemes, apocalyptic visions, a yearning for exile, and many other phenomena. Bringing together social, political, religious, and economic viewpoints, the book reveals not one but multiple prospects for the future of Africa. In doing so, it offers a pathbreaking model of pluralistic and open-ended thinking and a powerful tool for addressing the vexing uncertainties that underlie so many futures around the world.

Download or read book The Future of Africa written by Jakkie Cilliers and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-04-06 with total page 429 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access textbook offers a critical introduction to human and economic development prospects in Africa revolving around three questions: where is Africa today, what explains the current state, and, given historical trends and what we know about the world, where do we think the continent will be in 2040? And, a final question: what can we do to create a better tomorrow? It models ambitious progress in health, demographics, agriculture, education, industrialization, technological leapfrogging, increased trade, greater stability, better governance and external support. The book reviews the future of work/jobs, poverty and the impact of climate change. A combined Closing the Gap scenario presents a forecast of what could be possible by 2040. Each chapter suggests which policies might accelerate prospects for each sector. Written in an accessible style, and supported by a range of pedagogical features, this textbook introduces undergraduate and graduate students to the contemporary human and economic development prospects in Africa.

Download or read book Southern African Futures written by Bertil Odén and published by Nordic Africa Institute. This book was released on 1996 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fall of apartheid in South Africa and post-cold war international development changed the preconditions for regionalization in southern Africa. From being used as an instrument in the overlaying conflict between apartheid South Africa and the rest of the region, it can now be constructively used to improve regional development. This study examines a number of decisive factors for future southern African regionalization. One of its conclusions is that the process will mainly be spontaneous, rather than politically guided. Functional integration in sectors like hydropower, water management, transport, and communication is easier to envisage than traditional trade integration. Investments rather than trade will be the driving force. Threats to the three main interrelated components of a positive scenario for the region -- high economic growth, political stability, and absence of major armed conflicts between and within the countries -- are analyzed. The risk that regionalization by default may lead to enclaves of growth and wealth in a sea of poverty is noted.

Download or read book Toxic Futures written by David Hallowes and published by University of Kwazulu Natal Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a moment of major and rapid historical change. The global elite - what used to be called the ruling class - are confronted by crises to which they have no credible response. First, the economic and political system presided over by the US is in turbulent decline. Second, within the next few years, global oil production will be in decline and, with the 'easy oil' gone, energy production is becoming dirtier than ever. Third, climate change is gathering momentum and is just one aspect of a broader environmental crisis which threatens human survival. Toxic Futures is about the world brought into being through the collusion of state and corporate power. Maintaining profit has relied on institutionalized fraud on the one hand and a war on the poor and on the environment on the other. Resistance is growing at all scales and, however chaotic, constitutes a fourth dimension of the elite crisis. This significant and timely book locates South Africa in the crisis and explores the implications for environmental, social, and economic justice. It concludes that another world is inevitable. Whether people allow the political and economic elite to lead them into a world of growing destruction or take charge to create a world of mutual solidarity is the central challenge of the age.

Download or read book The Politics of Uncertainty written by Ian Scoones and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-07-14 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why is uncertainty so important to politics today? To explore the underlying reasons, issues and challenges, this book’s chapters address finance and banking, insurance, technology regulation and critical infrastructures, as well as climate change, infectious disease responses, natural disasters, migration, crime and security and spirituality and religion. The book argues that uncertainties must be understood as complex constructions of knowledge, materiality, experience, embodiment and practice. Examining in particular how uncertainties are experienced in contexts of marginalisation and precarity, this book shows how sustainability and development are not just technical issues, but depend deeply on political values and choices. What burgeoning uncertainties require lies less in escalating efforts at control, but more in a new – more collective, mutualistic and convivial – politics of responsibility and care. If hopes of much-needed progressive transformation are to be realised, then currently blinkered understandings of uncertainty need to be met with renewed democratic struggle. Written in an accessible style and illustrated by multiple case studies from across the world, this book will appeal to a wide cross-disciplinary audience in fields ranging from economics to law to science studies to sociology to anthropology and geography, as well as professionals working in risk management, disaster risk reduction, emergencies and wider public policy fields.

Download or read book Gender Protests and Political Change in Africa written by Awino Okech and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-07-03 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book brings together conceptual debates on the impact of youth-hood and gender on state building in Africa. It offers contemporary and interdisciplinary analyses on the role of protests as an alternative route for citizens to challenge the ballot box as the only legitimate means of ensuring freedom. Drawing on case studies from seven African countries, the contributors focus on specific political moments in their respective countries to offer insights into how the state/society social contract is contested through informal channels, and how political power functions to counteract citizen’s voices. These contributions offer a different way of thinking about state-building and structural change that goes beyond the system-based approaches that dominate scholarship on democratization and political structures. In effect, it provides a basis for organizers and social movements to consider how to build solidarity beyond influencing government institutions. Chapters 3, 5, and 6 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Download or read book The Future of Mining in South Africa Sunset or Sunrise written by Valiani, Salimah and published by MISTRA. This book was released on 2018-12-28 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The future of mining in South Africa is hotly contested. Wide-ranging views from multiple quarters rarely seem to intersect, placing emphasis on different questions without engaging in holistic debate. This book aims to catalyse change by gathering together fragmented views into unifying conversations. It highlights the importance of debating the future of mining in South Africa and for reaching consensus in other countries across the mineral-dependent globe. It covers issues such as the potential of platinum to spur industrialisation, land and dispossession on the platinum belt, the roles of the state and capital in mineral development, mining in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the experiences of women in and affected by mining since the late 19th century and mine worker organising: history and lessons and how post-mine rehabilitation can be tackled. It was inspired not only by an appreciation of South Africa’s extensive mineral endowments, but also by a realisation that, while the South African mining industry performs relatively well on many technical indicators, its management of broader social issues leaves much to be desired. It needs to be deliberated whether the mining industry can play as critical a role going forward as it did in the evolution of the country’s economy.

Download or read book South Africa s Energy Transition written by Tobias Bischof-Niemz and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-07-11 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: South Africa’s energy transition has become a highly topical, emotive and politically contentious topic. Taking a systems perspective, this book offers an evidence-based roadmap for such a transition and debunks many of the myths raised about the risks of a renewable-energy-led electricity mix. Owing to its formidable solar and wind resources, South Africa has an almost unparalleled opportunity to turn solar photovoltaic and onshore wind generators into the country’s power generation workhorses – a role hitherto played by coal. This book shows that a renewables-led mix will not only provide the lowest cost, but will also create more jobs than any of the alternatives currently under consideration. In addition, it offers a glimpse of how South Africa’s low-cost and decarbonised electricity system can power a competitive industrial economy, an electric-mobility revolution and, in the long run, create new export opportunities. This book will be of great interest to energy industry practitioners, as well as students and scholars of energy policy and politics, environmental economics and sustainable development.

Download or read book Future Tense written by Tony Leon and published by Jonathan Ball Publishers. This book was released on 2021-03-03 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'From the vantage point of years in active politics, Tony Leon provides a lucid analytical balance sheet of SA Ltd 2021. Eschewing political correctness, Leon tells it as he sees it.' – Judge Dennis Davis 'Anyone who wants to understand South Africa today – a country so beautiful, yet so broken – simply has to read this book.' - Niall Ferguson, author of The Ascent of Money In his riveting new book, Future Tense, Tony Leon captures and analyses recent South African history, with a focus on the squandered and corrupted years of the past decade. With unique access and penetrating insight, Leon presents a portrait of today's South Africa and prospects for its future,based on his political involvement over thirty years with the key power players: Cyril Ramaphosa, Jacob Zuma, Thabo Mbeki, Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk. His close-up and personal view of these presidents and their history-making, and many encounters in the wider world, adds vivid colour of a country and planet in upheaval. Written during the first coronavirus lockdown, Future Tense examines the surge of the disease and the response, both of which have crashed the economy and its future prospects. As the founding leader of the Democratic Alliance, Leon also provides an insider view for the first time of the power struggles within that party, which saw the exit of its first black leader in 2019. There is every reason to fear for the future of South Africa but, as Leon argues, 'the hope for a better country remains an improbable, but not an impossible, dream'.

Download or read book Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Future of Africa and Policy Development written by Tshabangu, Icarbord and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2022-03-11 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite several idealistic efforts towards a united Africa, the term remains a hypothetical concept symbolizing a desired federal state on the continent. While globalization and interconnectedness have brought prosperity in some parts of the world, Africa has not generally benefited from global decisions. These decisions, policies, and practices have tended to be wholly influenced by the rich and powerful countries and their transnational agencies and corporations in pursuit of their national interests. Faced with such enormous external economic and political forces, the divided and powerless African states have been unable to bargain for lucrative economic deals or pursue national interests for the benefit of their people, hence the need to examine what exists in varied fields and the emerging trends for the future. Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Future of Africa and Policy Development addresses critical issues and challenges in Africa and seeks to examine and understand the future trends in Africa through a deconstructive interrogation of present trends. Covering a wide range of topics such as sustainability, equality, and democracy, it is ideal for researchers, academicians, students, economists, policymakers, political parties, trade unions, and NGOs.

Download or read book Art in South Africa written by Sue Williamson and published by David Philip Publishers. This book was released on 1996 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work documents in 60 pages of full colour the most dynamic and exciting artists and their works that have emerged since South Africa s emancipation in 1990. Sue Williamson is an artist herself; Ashraf Jamal is a writer, journalist and playwright.

Download or read book Biological Invasions in South Africa written by Brian W. van Wilgen and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-03-10 with total page 972 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access volume presents a comprehensive account of all aspects of biological invasions in South Africa, where research has been conducted over more than three decades, and where bold initiatives have been implemented in attempts to control invasions and to reduce their ecological, economic and social effects. It covers a broad range of themes, including history, policy development and implementation, the status of invasions of animals and plants in terrestrial, marine and freshwater environments, the development of a robust ecological theory around biological invasions, the effectiveness of management interventions, and scenarios for the future. The South African situation stands out because of the remarkable diversity of the country, and the wide range of problems encountered in its varied ecosystems, which has resulted in a disproportionate investment into both research and management. The South African experience holds many lessons for other parts of the world, and this book should be of immense value to researchers, students, managers, and policy-makers who deal with biological invasions and ecosystem management and conservation in most other regions.

Download or read book South Africa s Future written by A. Ginsberg and published by Springer. This book was released on 1998-11-25 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unemployment is growing. Crime is on the increase. The currency has fallen. The initial euphoria following South Africa's transition to democracy is waning as people become disillusioned with the state of the economy and government's lack of delivery on polices and promises. Where does South Africa go from here? It is not all doom and gloom and there is hope for the future. Anthony Ginsberg offers solutions to the fundamental problem of rising unemployment, crime, homelessness and poverty, all excerbated by high taxes, draconian tariffs and stagnant foreign investment. He encourages us to become informed and aware before we criticise. This book is aimed at everyone interested in contributing to South Africa' s future as a prosperous nation in the benefit of all her citizens.

Download or read book A Legacy of Liberation written by Mark Gevisser and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2009-03-31 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A gripping social history of South Africa's past and future and beautifully narrated by one of Africa's most esteemed journalists, From Struggle to Liberation sheds light on the future of the nation under a new regime. With unprecedented access to Thabo Mbeki and the top brass in the African National Congress, Mark Gevisser weaves a nuanced portrait of the black experience under apartheid. Revelations about the current president and the politics that continue to shape South Africa include: - Thabo Mbeki's difficult relationship with his own political activist and largely absent father Govan Mbeki, who was imprisoned on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela. - How the death of his son Kwanda in the diamond mines and the murder of his brother Jama directly affected his leadership and will continue to shape the governance of Africa for years to come. - The reasons behind Mbeki's puzzling refusal to admit that the HIV virus causes AIDS, which in South Africa claims 800 lives per day, and his support of corrupt governments such as Zimbabwe's. - Inside rivalry between Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, the populist leader destined to take over as president in 2009. This accessible account of a monumental period in world history is the definitive look at contemporary South Africa.

Download or read book Afrotopia written by Felwine Sarr and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 2020-03-17 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A vibrant meditation and poetic call for an African utopian philosophy of self-reinvention for the twenty-first century In the recent aftermath of colonialism, civil wars, and the AIDS crisis, a new day finally seems to be shining on the African continent. Africa has once again become a site of creative potential and a vibrant center of economic growth and production. No longer stigmatized by stereotypes or encumbered by the traumas of the past—yet unsure of the future—Africa has other options than simply to follow paths already carved out by the global economy. Instead, the philosopher Felwine Sarr urges the continent to set out on its own renewal and self-discovery—an active utopia that requires a deep historical reflection on the continent’s vast mythological universe and ancient traditions, nourishes a cultural reinvention, and embraces green technologies for tackling climate change and demographic challenges. Through a reflection on contemporary African writers, artists, intellectuals, and musicians, Sarr elaborates Africa’s unique philosophies and notions of communal value and economy deeply rooted in its ancient traditions and landscape—concepts such as ubuntu, the life force in Dogon culture; the Rwandan imihigo; and the Senegalese teranga. Sarr takes the reader on a philosophical journey that is as much inward as outward, demanding an elevation of the collective consciousness. Along the way, one sees the contours of an africanity, a contemporary Africa united as a continent through the creolization of its cultural traditions. This is Felwine Sarr’s Afrotopia.

Download or read book Rethinking and Unthinking Development written by Busani Mpofu and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2019-03-27 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Development has remained elusive in Africa. Through theoretical contributions and case studies focusing on Southern Africa’s former white settler states, South Africa and Zimbabwe, this volume responds to the current need to rethink (and unthink) development in the region. The authors explore how Africa can adapt Western development models suited to its political, economic, social and cultural circumstances, while rejecting development practices and discourses based on exploitative capitalist and colonial tendencies. Beyond the legacies of colonialism, the volume also explores other factors impacting development, including regional politics, corruption, poor policies on empowerment and indigenization, and socio-economic and cultural barriers.