|
Lead out in cuffs posted:Yep. That said, the idea of the ANC losing the power to rubber stamp every piece of legislation is actually kinda appealing to me. Although ... how Westminster-ish is the SA parliament? In the event of being the party with most votes but fewer than 50%, does the ANC need a coalition to be able to form a government? They'll need to win support from some party in the contest to elect the president, it would eventually eliminate down to a two horse race probably between the DA and ANC - they would need to convince I guess the EFF to support their candidate at that stage, if the alternative is the DA that might be sellable. They wouldn't have to give them any ministers but I could see a couple of deputy spots or maybe full ministries being tossed their way, remember when FF+ used to have a deputy minister a few years back? They'd be able to form a government but not being able to rubber stamp legislation will make things difficult for them
|
#
?
Nov 29, 2016 19:19
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 25, 2024 12:36 |
|
|
It seems like every 2 weeks or so there is a threat from the ANC to fire Zuma but the ANC are nothing if not incompetent wanks so no matter how bad things get, whether via from the State Capture report or just general ineptitude from Zuma they will keep him on in the name of party unity. The party on the whole will probably still get enough votes in 2019 with people hoping that Zuma was the lowest so things can only go up, but the DA and (shudder) EFF will probably make so major in roads. I am expecting Gauteng to go DA soon.
|
|
#
?
Nov 29, 2016 19:23
|
|
|
Madkal posted:It seems like every 2 weeks or so there is a threat from the ANC to fire Zuma but the ANC are nothing if not incompetent wanks so no matter how bad things get, whether via from the State Capture report or just general ineptitude from Zuma they will keep him on in the name of party unity. Yeah, read my earlier post about Zuma being an ex-spymaster, and how he's consolidated his power within the ANC and government. I don't think it's incompetence so much as a combination of fear and the fact that many dissenters have already been purged. Thankfully the ANC is still fairly democratic internally, and Zuma can't purge the whole party.
|
|
#
?
Nov 29, 2016 20:18
|
|
|
Lead out in cuffs posted:and Zuma can't purge the whole party. Speaking of purges, how's zimbabwe these days?
|
|
#
?
Nov 29, 2016 20:22
|
|
|
awesmoe posted:Speaking of purges, how's zimbabwe these days?
|
|
#
?
Nov 29, 2016 21:11
|
|
|
kustomkarkommando posted:2017 is the ANC conference to select the next president of the ANC in December, the winner will then go on to be president after the 2019 election with a brief period of Zuma as president of the republic and another figure as party president. The constitution limits the president to two terms so the ANC needs to shuffle the chairs around in advance to replace Zuma. Is there anyone Zuma clearly wants to succeed him?
|
|
#
?
Nov 29, 2016 21:36
|
|
|
Badger of Basra posted:Is there anyone Zuma clearly wants to succeed him? 6 people have put their names forward but the internal anc rules prevent open campaigning but theres a pretty good idea who the main ones are. The two chief candidates are current deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa and former minister and current AU chair Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, who is considered Zuma's first choice. Ramaphosa was Mandela's initial pick to succeed him; he's an erudite law graduate and trade union activist who built the largest union in the country, led the ANCs negotiating team during the multiparty talks leading to the unity government and oversaw the crafting of the constitution. He's an "inxile" though (part of the anti-apartheid movement inside the country as opposed to the exiled ANC leadership) and was out manoeuvres by Mbeki who had been anointed leader in waiting by Tambo before his death. Ramaphosa peaced out of active politics after that and went into the private sector and subsequently became one of South Africa's richest men, he was lured back by Zuma who gave him the deputy presidency after a failed heave against him left the spot open. Ramaphosa is favoured by the anti-zuma crowd who think his business credentials could restore some confidence in the economy, his struggle credentials are strong enough to appeal to their normal base and his general air of sophistication compared to Zuma may win back some of the "clever blacks" defecting to the DA. Big old honking skeleton though is Ramaphosa's role in Marikana, a bunch of emails where revealed during the inquiry showing he was in constant contact with the board of Lonmin who ran the mine at centre of the dispute and pushed the government to take action - at the time he was non executive director of Lonmin and a shareholder. The EFF in particular have been keen to keep attacks on him from this front. He's also recently won the backing of COSATU, the labour congress and labour element of the Tripartite alliance alongside the ANC and SACP. Then there's Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma who was made it clear she is not seeking another term as AU chair and seems to be favoured by the Zuma camp - along with the youth league and women's congress. She's got the experience and the chops and is a hell if a lot more competent that Zuma, some people can't see beyond the fact she used to be married to Zuma (though they divorced almost 20 years ago) and think she remains too close to him There are a couple of others floating on the edges but those are the two front runners
|
|
#
?
Nov 29, 2016 21:57
|
|
|
kustomkarkommando posted:6 people have put their names forward but the internal anc rules prevent open campaigning but theres a pretty good idea who the main ones are. The two chief candidates are current deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa and former minister and current AU chair Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, who is considered Zuma's first choice. It took me a while to remember it when I saw Nkosazana Zuma's name there but holy poo poo....Sarafina II. I know means nothing know but man that brings back good memories, when the biggest scandal against her and the ANC was giving millions of rands towards producing a play about AIDS that was hardly seen.
|
|
#
?
Nov 29, 2016 22:27
|
|
|
The only other names i've seen are Baleka Mbete (ugghhh), Gwede Mantashe and Zweli Mkhize who have all been implemented in some degree of scandal. Zweli Mkhize seems to be rising as a possible compromise candidate because a) his last name does not contain Zuma b) he can get the KZN branch behind him and probably some of the premiers c) he pushed Zuma to appoint Gordhan and spoke out loudly in his defence and d) no one really hates him, Of course there's all those kickback scandals...
|
|
#
?
Nov 29, 2016 22:40
|
|
|
kustomkarkommando posted:6 people have put their names forward but the internal anc rules prevent open campaigning but theres a pretty good idea who the main ones are. The two chief candidates are current deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa and former minister and current AU chair Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, who is considered Zuma's first choice. Not gonna lie, the possibility of South Africa getting a woman president before the Americans is kinda appealing. On that note, did you know South Africa is in the top ten countries in the world in terms of gender representation in the national parliament? http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SG.GEN.PARL.ZS?end=2016&start=2016&view=bar&year_high_desc=true
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2016 05:52
|
|
|
Speaking of South Africa, what does Nelson Mandela mean to the people there? I mean what was his "revolution" about? Outsiders think it was just about race, but I've heard it was more than just that.
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2016 07:23
|
|
|
punk rebel ecks posted:Speaking of South Africa, what does Nelson Mandela mean to the people there? I mean what was his "revolution" about? Outsiders think it was just about race, but I've heard it was more than just that. In terms of what he stood for, the Bill of Rights chapter of the South African Constitution is worth a read, since it was the main product of that revolution. (As an aside, while Nelson Mandela is certainly the most identifiable hero-figure of the Struggle, I think he would have been the first to say that it was not "his" revolution, but that of the millions who joined the general strikes and mass protests). Another document worth looking into is the Freedom Charter. That was made in an earlier time, in a hyper-democratic process (contributions were taken from all over the country and from a huge range of protest organisations). Much of the Freedom Charter made it into the Constitution, with the exception of the (very socialist) clauses about sharing the land and the country's wealth among the people. Anyway, the Constitution is pretty explicit about guaranteeing a lot of rights which seem to be topics of debate and politicking in the United States (e.g. the South African Constitutional Court recognised same-sex marriage as an inalienable right well over ten years ago). So yeah, definitely about more than just race (although racism was obviously the primary injustice being fought against). E: For more examples: Reproductive rights (including government-funded reproductive health clinics), union rights, environmental rights (there's a law whereby the purchaser of a bankrupt business also has to clean up any ecological damage made by that business), freedom of speech/press but with the exception of bigotry, the provision of social security and health care. These are all enshrined in the Constitution. Lead out in cuffs fucked around with this message at 08:22 on Nov 30, 2016 |
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2016 08:12
|
|
|
punk rebel ecks posted:Speaking of South Africa, what does Nelson Mandela mean to the people there? I mean what was his "revolution" about? Outsiders think it was just about race, but I've heard it was more than just that. Pretty much treated as the benevolent father figure of the country. I do think it was a shame that some of the other people in the struggle got sidelined (unless they were killed) but Mandela became a figure head and pretty much someone most people could rally around (unless, for instance, you align yourself with the AWB). A few of the things Mandela did right to gain trust was he worked hard to make connections with the white population (for instance I know the movie Invictus is a bit over played and simplified and Mandela's thoughts on white rugby was a bit more manipulative but rugby is definitely a big deal in the white community and the Springbok is a national symbol and Mandela fought to keep that symbol even though many any his own party saw it as a symbol of oppression); and he knew not to become a dictator. South African presidents can only sit for two terms and Mandela insisted that that would be the same for him. This is a big deal when you see what happens in the rest of Africa with leaders holding on to their power long after they should have let go. Mandela is pretty much beloved in the country, which is a good thing (sets a common focus for people), but can also be a bad thing as in every freaking time the ANC would bring up his name as a get out of jail card for every time they screwed up. Sadly many people, for right or wrong, see the ANC as Mandela's party which means that they are more willing to excuse the ANC's bad behaviour more often than not, at least in the past.
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2016 18:39
|
|
|
Is there actually any chance Jammeh could lose in The Gambia? The Guardian has published like four stories on the election this week about how It's Time For Change but it seems kind of far fetched to me. Also they had a paragraph about how the economy was weak because of high taxes deterring foreign investment which seemed like a weird thing to insert in one of those stories.
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2016 19:12
|
|
|
Interesting article (in French) on weapons traffic in sub-saharan Africa: http://www.liberation.fr/planete/2016/11/16/sahel-une-enquete-fait-parler-les-armes_1528830 The main points: - Weapons are no longer mostly smuggled from Libya, with the two reasons for that being that people in Libya now need them to fight each other, and that Operation Barkhane has made it harder to do large scale smuggling. - However, weapons stolen from the Malian and Ivorian military are on the rise in smuggling circuits. - A third source of smuggled weapons is Sudan. Here the situation is different: Sudan has a domestic weapon industry, and it also import Chinese weapons to immediately reexport them. This, despite an arms embargo on the country since 2011. Notably, a bunch of AK-56-1 rifles with serial numbers indicating they all come from the same Chinese factory have been found used in the Radisson Blu attack in Bamako, the Cappuccino Café in Ouagadougou, Grand Bassam near Abidjan, and Kobani in Syria.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 10:11
|
|
|
Badger of Basra posted:Is there actually any chance Jammeh could lose in The Gambia? The Guardian has published like four stories on the election this week about how It's Time For Change but it seems kind of far fetched to me. Apparently he has lost. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-38183906 quote:Yahya Jammeh, The Gambia's authoritarian president of 22 years, has suffered a surprise defeat in presidential elections.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 18:09
|
|
|
Hitlers Gay Secret posted:Apparently he has lost. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-38183906
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 18:30
|
|
|
Grouchio posted:Is the Gambia technically small enough that a western economic stimulus/modernization package could hypothetically elevate it into a newly industrialized country? I'm pretty sure the Marshall Plan was a one-off thing, for Europeans only. IMF stimulus has tended to take the form of neocolonialism - providing ways for Western corporations to plunder a country's natural resources while driving the country into debt.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 19:03
|
|
|
There where those recent German noises about a "Marshall plan for Africa"... To stop the immigrant hordes!! Of course its proposed target is to develop the private sector primarily and doesn't really deal with illicit outflows and will probably demand the target countries have EPAs allowing EU internal market access
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 19:29
|
|
|
It will almost inarguably involve a great deal of privatization of public assets, prolonging the status quo of underdevelopment and neocolonialism.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 20:55
|
|
|
Badger of Basra posted:Also they had a paragraph about how the economy was weak because of high taxes deterring foreign investment which seemed like a weird thing to insert in one of those stories. It's "weird" in the sense of demonstrating a lovely neoliberal attitude towards African countries (whereby a lot of Western politicians/people in power view them as piggy banks). Sadly, it's not "weird" in the sense of unusual, even from the Graun. The Economist is the worst for this -- they keep running "welfare queens!" style articles complaining that South Africa is spending too much on social security. Come to think of it, those are "left-wing" publications. Right-wing rags seem to prefer some good old colonialist imperialism (see the Daily Mail's hard-on for the British Empire).
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2016 21:24
|
|
|
Lead out in cuffs posted:I'm pretty sure the Marshall Plan was a one-off thing, for Europeans only. IMF stimulus has tended to take the form of neocolonialism - providing ways for Western corporations to plunder a country's natural resources while driving the country into debt.
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2016 00:50
|
|
|
Grouchio posted:Then how does Africa manage to successfully industrialize and modernize? Slowly throughout time? Under the status quo, it's never. By design.
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2016 02:45
|
|
|
Grouchio posted:Then how does Africa manage to successfully industrialize and modernize? Slowly throughout time? Africa as a whole has slowly modernized more as a result of an articulation with the world economy,rather than through clever governance (with a few exceptions). While you can definitely point to the success stories of nations (Botswana, Cameroon, South Africa), you can also point to a heaping pile of failure (Niger, CAR, the Congo, Zimbabwe). If anything, Africa has managed to modernize in spite of furious government kleptocracy, endless civil disturbance, and a world that's generally tried their best to completely gently caress over African nations (especially the French and the Chinese).
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2016 02:46
|
|
|
A White Guy posted:Africa as a whole has slowly modernized more as a result of an articulation with the world economy,rather than through clever governance (with a few exceptions). While you can definitely point to the success stories of nations (Botswana, Cameroon, South Africa), you can also point to a heaping pile of failure (Niger, CAR, the Congo, Zimbabwe). If anything, Africa has managed to modernize in spite of furious government kleptocracy, endless civil disturbance, and a world that's generally tried their best to completely gently caress over African nations (especially the French and the Chinese). The current state of the Congo is the direct result of 50+ years of external manipulation, including the execution of their first democratically elected prime minister and the installation of a dictator who was literally the reason "kleptocracy" is in our lexicon. Similar stories apply to the other failures you mentioned as well.
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2016 02:58
|
|
|
Madkal posted:Pretty much treated as the benevolent father figure of the country. I do think it was a shame that some of the other people in the struggle got sidelined (unless they were killed) but Mandela became a figure head and pretty much someone most people could rally around (unless, for instance, you align yourself with the AWB). I always saw Mandela's revolution as bringing South Africa to the modern world. While most of Africa is engaging in third world backwardness, insane corruption, and autocracy, South Africa is actually participating with other developed nations in having a democratic state and focusing on general issues that truly effect the people. That said the country has a lot of problems, but still leans toward the "modern" spectrum. I always saw South Africa as "the Brazil of Africa" so to speak in which while in many ways the country works like many first world nations, it has many things holding it back.
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2016 06:06
|
|
|
Nevermind, y'all. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/10/the-gambia-troops-deployed-to-streets-as-president-rejects-election-defeat quote:Troops have been deployed to the streets of Banjul, the capital of the Gambia, after the autocratic president, Yahya Jammeh, unexpectedly rejected his defeat in an election last week and called for a fresh vote.
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2016 18:00
|
|
|
Something tells me that African neoliberalism and an opposition politician who just so happens to be a property developer might go hand-in-hand in Gambia- if he isn't coup'd out of his position, that is.
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2016 20:58
|
|
|
Badger of Basra posted:Nevermind, y'all. Ugh. Can't someone just Gaddafi this fucker and be done with it
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2016 21:10
|
|
|
DarkCrawler posted:Ugh. Can't someone just Gaddafi this fucker and be done with it What makes you think that would turn out any better for The Gambia than it did for Libya?
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2016 21:17
|
|
|
get that OUT of my face posted:Something tells me that African neoliberalism and an opposition politician who just so happens to be a property developer might go hand-in-hand in Gambia- if he isn't coup'd out of his position, that is. If he gets into it at all, considering how Jammeh is in all likelihood going to declare the results a fraud. Also, I just spent a week in Bangui, CAR, and Lagos and Abuja, Nigeria. While my perspective is obviously limited, if there's any questions I'd be happy to try to take a stab at them.
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2016 21:18
|
|
|
Badger of Basra posted:What makes you think that would turn out any better for The Gambia than it did for Libya? One is by African standards, weed-level chill tiny river country with less people then Nebraska, the other is well, Libya. I mean the current dictator was 29 when he captured power and is literally bugfuck insane to the point that his own bodyguards tried to coup him. The army is literally smaller and worse equipped then the police force of the city I live in, if it ever gets to street killings levels Senegal is going to send a division to a light week-long stroll if only to deflect a refugee crisis. Seriously a well disclipined street gang could probably take over the Gambia if they really put their heart to it. (I have relatives there)
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2016 22:50
|
|
|
Just read that guy's Wikipedia page and... what the hell is with African countries and their attitudes toward homosexuality? Not only do they seem to really hate it, it seems like a lot of African countries are in a constant battle to hate homosexuality the most and punish it the most harshly.
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2016 23:52
|
|
|
PT6A posted:Just read that guy's Wikipedia page and... what the hell is with African countries and their attitudes toward homosexuality? Not only do they seem to really hate it, it seems like a lot of African countries are in a constant battle to hate homosexuality the most and punish it the most harshly. I'd love to know the answer to this. I love to travel and would love to see parts of Africa, but I'm a trans woman so I think most of the continent is off limits...
|
|
#
?
Dec 11, 2016 00:40
|
|
|
PT6A posted:Just read that guy's Wikipedia page and... what the hell is with African countries and their attitudes toward homosexuality? Not only do they seem to really hate it, it seems like a lot of African countries are in a constant battle to hate homosexuality the most and punish it the most harshly. You know, going through the list of legislation by country, its kinda not true. The vast majority of countries with laws banning homosexuality have had those on the books since the colonial era, and about an equal number of countries have acted to repeal those laws as have enacted new ones. Also a lot of countries with anti-gay laws on the books don't actually enforce them (similar to The overall situation is kinda lovely though:  That said, it's worth noting that parts of the UK still banned homosexual activities until 1996, and parts of the United States until 2002, so in a lot of African countries the situation is really only 20 or so years behind the West.
|
|
#
?
Dec 11, 2016 01:18
|
|
|
Its by no means universal but several post-colonial african nationalist movements had an indirect masculine fixation, if colonialism is understood as a systematic infantalization and emasculation as advanced by fanon in black skin, white masks (and colonialism undeniable did reduce men to "boys" and you can write books on its sexual dimensions) the duty of post-colonial nationalism was to rebuild an african masculinity free from submission - this may not have been explicitly stated politically but more than a few theorists have drawn this strand out . Cue panic about male homosexuality as inherently counter-revolutionary, the idea that homosexuality is Un-Africa and a western import connected to colonialism is wide spread enough in the African political elite and is something that has to be actively countered - homosexuality is painted not just as a "moral failing" but as something inherently antagonistic to African self determination
kustomkarkommando fucked around with this message at 01:51 on Dec 11, 2016 |
|
#
?
Dec 11, 2016 01:48
|
|
|
suboptimal posted:If he gets into it at all, considering how Jammeh is in all likelihood going to declare the results a fraud. What language do they speak in each of those cities in the market or for business etc? Could you speak English with any random Nigerian off the street or was communication more difficult?
|
|
#
?
Dec 11, 2016 05:38
|
|
|
Ah, good ol' Guyana, the only orange part of South America, where the vaguely-defined term of "buggery" is punishable by life in prison. It doesn't help that they're further away culturally from Latin America than they are from the former British Caribbean, which is possibly the second-most homophobic part of the world after the Middle East. It's also worth noting that India's laws against homosexuality weren't enforced until courts recognized the validity of a colonial-era law against it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 11, 2016 08:22
|
|
|
Squalid posted:What language do they speak in each of those cities in the market or for business etc? Could you speak English with any random Nigerian off the street or was communication more difficult? In Bangui, most people speak Sango, which is kind of the national language that's understood and spoken throughout the region. Older people, who are more likely to have had formal education than the younger generations, generally speak or at least understand French. In Nigeria, most urban dwelling people seem to have some command of English because it's taught in schools. In addition to all of the regional dialects, people also speak pidgin English with one another. I never had a problem making myself understood or being able to understand any of the Nigerians I was talking with, but again, my perspective is different because I was in a huge city and the purpose-built administrative capital.
|
|
#
?
Dec 11, 2016 11:57
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 25, 2024 12:36 |
|
|
So you could get by with just English in Lagos? I'll be there for a month next year...
|
|
#
?
Dec 11, 2016 20:19
|
|