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A Coup or not a Coup: That is the Question in Zimbabwe https://doi.org/10.31920/2056-5658/2018/v5n1a1
Lucky E. Asuelime5
The November 2017 military intervention in Zimbabwe attracted global attention. The intervention culminated in the resignation of long-time leader, President Robert Mugabe, and his replacement by his former vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa. Internally, the military action was received with approval, while externally, the international society called for calm while tacitly accepting the intervention which normally is contrary to regional and international norms. This paper argues that the so-called military intervention in Zimbabwe was a coup. The paper notes that the international community welcomed the new dispensation in Zimbabwe based on their vested interests and not international relations and security norms and ethics. The conclusions were made from data collected from a keen following of events on various media, academic articles and interactions with Zimbabweans.
Unity is an essential ingredient for Africa’s progress; a necessity if the continent is to develop. Pro-unity African leaders and scholars believe that Africa’s backwardness is tied to its disintegration at the 1884 Berlin Conference in Germany. This school of thought has under different dais, voted for a unified and visa-free Africa, holding that when the 54 African states undo the arbitrary colonial borders and its attendant consequences, Africa will reconnect self with natural strength, destiny, and will succeed.
Another school of thought holds that the African Union and African Heads of States are two sources of Africa’s problem. Through a review of literature, this paper finds that the conundrum behind achieving the United States of Africa (USA) is not connected to bad policy per se but poor implementation. The paper concludes that Africa should unite through regional economic organisations.
MNCs’ activities in Africa have dominated academic discussions from the 1970s till date. Their corporate social responsibility (CSR), in the form of bringing development to areas of their operations, has received mixed reactions. While some believe that MNCs are sources of economic development, employment opportunities, and general development to the host communities, others hold a view that the reverse is the case. Supports received from home governments because of their economic development in the form of profit repatriation to the tune of almost 100% as well as the creation of employment through outsourcing for the citizens of their home countries explain why their philanthropic activities are questionable. It is the intention of this paper to examine their activities in Africa. In doing this, issues of mal-development, de-industrialisation, unemployment, and environmental crises are to receive academic interrogation. Employing critical theory, qualitative analysis and secondary data collection, the paper concludes that CSR hardly brings development to Africa. Therefore, there is a need to look for African solution to Africa problems.
This article highlights strategic factors that ought to be taken into consideration in order for Africa to reap dividends that are offered by the tourism sector. Noting that 2017 was the international year of tourism for sustainable development, the article purports that apart from various challenges that continue to face the continent, there are some tourism sector blind spots that require constant monitoring. In this context, illicit financial flows, evolution of technology and global risks are identified as some of the blind spots that require the attention of tourism policy makers. This article utilises text analysis with particular emphasis on thorough scrutiny and heavy reliance on key developmental reports produced by credible institutions like the World Bank, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) as well as reports from the United Nations and the African Union (AU). The idea is to draw inferences from data to systematically identify key messages pertaining to tourism development in Africa. The revelation thereof is that while it is necessary to nurture the tourism sector for long-term benefits, it is equally imperative to understand potential blind spots to the tourism sector and their impact on the intended developmental contribution of the sector in Africa.
In democratic politics, parliaments, by reference to their mandates as stipulated by state constitutions, have the responsibility to ensure accountability in their actions. In modern times, states cannot afford to think they do not need intelligent, vibrant and dedicated parliamentary parties whose aim is to uphold the principles of democracy as well as the national interest of the state. In most democracies though, parliamentarian conflict over accountability to the people, is inevitable, as lines are blurred by state and political party interests of the parliamentarians. This has become more evident in the South African parliamentary politics where political party interests are arguably promoted more than that of the state in major issues and deliberations. Using interactive methodology, this paper intends to answer the question of accountability by examining the roles of the African National Congress (ANC) vis-à-vis its management of political pressure in the form of demand for accountability.
Since South Africa’s acceptance into the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in 1994, after the end of apartheid rule and becoming a more inclusive democratic state, it is observed that there has been a renewed interest in South Africa to create strong regional economic integration (REI) mechanisms which promote socio-economic growth. Regional integration became a necessity for southern Africa due to the domestic imperatives of economic regional development. South Africa’s economy since 1994 has achieved both social and economic development since becoming a democratic state. Nevertheless, South Africa benefits more than neighbouring states from the Southern Africa integration. This study assesses South Africa’s management of regional integration objectives with its economic investment and political position in the sub-region fostered by the SADC factor. We find that South Africa’s membership of the SADC is a strategy for achieving its national development.
The academic success of black students has been a major concern for the higher education sector since the end of apartheid in 1994. Driven by the need for transformation and redress, both the Department of Higher Education and Training and institutions of higher learning have embarked on a number of strategies to enhance access, participation and success among black students. Apart from increasing the number of African students accessing higher education institutions, the agenda of transformation is also extended to enforcing mechanisms that can enhance their success. For the past two decades, there has been an exponential growth in the number of black African students gaining admission into various institutions of higher learning. Accompanying this growth has been the rise of attrition rates amongst them and this has rendered the discourse of transformation complex. This article attempts to interrogate reasons behind this phenomenon, as well as discuss the extent to which these have affected the goals of transformation in a rapidly changing South African society. The study employs the systematic literature review methodology to explain black student attrition and advances a conceptual framework that is relevant to the South African context. Underpinned by Astin’s theory of involvement and Tinto’s theory of student departure/attrition, the article accounts for reasons behind black student attrition. While there is a significant body of literature accounting for student attrition, we argue that many of these reasons are couched on the deficit model, which blames student attrition on background factors. This article critically proposes the need to develop a broader understanding to address the complexities surrounding student attrition, and the extent to which this affects the agenda of transformation in South African higher education.
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