People of the South |
This is not a blog dedicated to the now defunct Dali Thambo's lifestyle show "People of the South" This blog is dedicated to the people of the southern region of Africa. A luta continua, vitória é certa |
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Notes"Additionally, the GCIM’s research paper reveals that many adults in SADC countries have either parents or grandparents who have worked in South Africa in the past. “In every case, nearly a quarter or more people have grandparents who had worked in South Africa…About a quarter of the people in Namibia and Zimbabwe have parents who had worked in South Africa. So did 41% of Batswana, 54% of Mozambicans and 83% of Basotho.” It is this history that compels me to argue that the South African government ought to consider extending the concept of the ZDP to other foreign nationals from the SADC region.
Based on the foregoing, people from the SADC countries have political grounds to apply for South African papers that allow them to work and live in this country. Their fathers and grandfathers, after all, were exploited, like all blacks in this country, by a white supremacist regime in order to build the South African economy. In some cases, their fathers and grandfathers paid the ultimate price, dying from pneumonia and other lung diseases on the South African mines.
Perhaps it is worth noting that many people in the SADC region live in poverty and view South Africa as a place with many economic opportunities. Although South Africa has its own problems and challenges, the truth of the matter is that South Africa is the economic powerhouse in the region (some might argue on the whole continent). In a policy brief written for the Economic Justice Network, Dale McKinley argues that SADC member states have a population of about 250 million people and a combined GDP of some US$432bn - 65 percent of which comes from South Africa alone.
Needless to point out, South Africa became the regional economic powerhouse that it is today partly on the backs of immigrant labourers from the SADC who helped build the country’s economy. Is it unreasonable for people to want to share in the fruits of what they helped create?
"The Case for Opening SADC Borders: ‘We live here, we work here, we’re staying here!’ By Mandisi Majavu
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Notes Southern Africa seen to overtake Asia as fastest growing region in a couple of yearsKUALA LUMPUR: With governments and businesses increasingly interested to discover opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa, the southern part of the continent will likely overtake Asia as the fastest growing region in a couple of years.
With that, sectors closely linked to consumers like financial services, education, retail and healthcare would benefit greatly while mobile telephony would enable southern Africa to leapfrog infrastructure issues, according to Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) country publishing director Robert Ward.
“One of the reasons (southern Africa would grow the fastest) is that China is slowing because its economy is maturing. But Asia is looking good globally and within that, Asean has slightly over 5% growth a year,” he said, adding that Asia remained a booming economy.
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(via Afro-Lize ME)
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Notes New Southern Africa Fundraising Awards - call for entriesNow for the first time, individuals who’ve developed innovative, creative and successful ways of raising funds and mobilising resources for a non-profit organisation in Southern Africa, will have an opportunity to be recognised for their achievements by entering the inaugural Southern Africa Fundraising Awards (SAFA).
Organised by the Southern Africa Institute of Fundraising (SAIF) and endorsed and supported by the Resource Alliance (UK), the Southern Africa Fundraising Awards will celebrate fundraising excellence in Southern Africa, whilst setting aspirational standards and championing best practice amongst fundraisers in the region.
Entries for the five award categories - Big Idea, Small Budget; Innovative Fundraising Campaign; Social Enterprise of the Year; Southern Africa Fundraiser of the Year; and Outstanding Volunteer - are open until 31 May 2013 for any individual or organisation within Southern Africa (i.e. South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho). -
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Notes Uneven playing fields fosters violenceUneven political playing field a cause of RENAMO violence in Mozambique and follows warnings in AfriMAP report from 2009
Is violence returning to Mozambique?
The recent outbreak of violence in Mozambique, widely suspected to be the work of RENAMO, is deeply worrying not only for Mozambique but the whole sub-region. Already calls are being made for SADC and AU to engage with the deteriorating situation after four policemen and three civilians were killed in ambushes of a truck and two buses at the weekend.
The violence has come as a shock to most people in the region but tensions have been on the increase in Mozambique for some time. Indeed, a 2009 AfriMAP/OSISA report warned about the potential dangers of the country’s uneven political playing field – and if more deadly violence ensues then there is little doubt that this will have been among the major culprits.
The debilitating 1975-92 civil war brought the country to its knees. For the last one and half decades the impact of the peace dividend has been evident – with the country attaining growth rates of more than 7 percent, the highest for non-oil producing countries. However, there have always been serious concerns that such economic growth was not translating into improved livelihoods mainly due to poor governance characterized by a neo-patrimonial political system and high levels of corruption. The public service in Mozambique has a deplorable reputation for incompetence and ineffectiveness, corruption, bureaucratic red tape, and poor service delivery.
Huge deposits of natural gas and coal – enough to supply Germany, Britain, Italy and France for the next 15 years – provide Mozambique with a real opportunity to consolidate economic development and improve the quality of life of its citizens. On the other hand if access to and distribution of such national resources is not equitable, it could easily stoke the fires of a civil war.
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Notes Labour accuses Tories of reviving memories of apartheid with South Africa aid decisionIvan Lewis says the move to end aid will leave a “bitter taste”, comparing it to the Tories’ decision to oppose sanctions on apartheid South Africa.
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Notes South Africa is Zambia’s top trading partner, says envoySOUTH Africa says Zambia is one of its top trading partners with an estimated bilateral trade value of KR3 trillion ( about 25 billion rands) in 2012. The total investment by South Africa in Zambia is more than US$2.5 billion. South African High Commissioner to Zambia Piet Mathebe said his Government is committed to working with Zambia in bringing more investment into the country.
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Notes Southern Africa: Angola, Namibia and South Africa Sign World's First Large Marine Ecosystem Legal FrameworkallAfrica: African news and information for a global audience
Benguela — With the signing of the Benguela Current Convention, Angola, Namibia and South Africa will work together on the long-term conservation and sustainable use of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem, one of the richest ecosystems on earth.
Stretching from Port Elizabeth in South Africa to the province of Cabinda in northern Angola, the Benguela Current is an area of ocean that produces goods and services estimated to be worth at least US $54.3 billion per year.
Offshore oil and gas production, marine diamond mining, coastal tourism and commercial fishing and shipping are some of the most important industrial activities that take place in the region.
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Southern Africa’s first multiracial school celebrates 50 triumphant years
Waterford school in Swaziland reflects on its historic role with a series of parades and tributes from students old and new.
Russell Palmer, a journalist from South Africa, described it as like landing on another planet, a feeling of having suddenly arrived in an environment so different from what he has known that there is overwhelming bewilderment. The place was Waterford school, just 14 miles across the border in Swaziland, but a brave new world in its attitude to race.
The first multiracial school in southern Africa was born in direct opposition to the apartheid regime, which branded it “sick” and “unnatural”, and became a haven for the children of struggle leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Desmond Tutu. On Saturday it celebrated its 50th anniversary with colourful parades, performances and reflections on its courageous role in the continent’s history.
“We were here during the era of apartheid and this school was an absolute beacon of what was to come,” former student Amanda West, a last-minute replacement for Tutu as guest speaker after he withdrew due to illness, told a gathering of alumni, donors and teachers past and present. “As a student population we were wildly involved in the politics … This is an astounding place.”
Eighty-six nationalities have studied there over the years and most were represented in a sports field parade featuring students in national dress and speaking national languages. Although it ran the gamut from Angola to Zimbabwe, the biggest cheer was reserved for the Swazi delegation.
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NotesS Africa Remembers Struggle Icon Chris Hani
The country is commemorating the 20th anniversary of struggle icon and general secretary of the South African Communist Party, Chris Hani, who was gunned down outside his home by Polish anti-communist immigrant Janusz Waluś using Clive Derby-Lewis’s gun. Both are serving life sentences.
(Source: allafrica.com)
