Focus 55 Chapters

Focus 43 - 3rd Quarter 2006

Succession: balancing continuity with change: Editorial: Withdrawal from the ANC alliance in the offing : Patrick Laurence appraises the possibility of a black nationalist withdrawal from the tripartite alliance.

Focus 47 - 3rd Quarter 2007

The new look Focus is substantively different from its predecessors and has a completely different look and feel. In this edition we focus on Parliament as our cover feature, launch our new book corner and carry a variety of articles across the political spectrum. We hope that our readers will enjoy reading it as much as we enjoy bringing you a new quality product.

Focus 48 - 4th Quarter 2007 (Part 1)

Some countries have the rare gift of the lives of spectacular individuals at different epochs of history and their national narratives. These individuals offer them examples, give the necessary voice to key issues confronting societies and, very often, sacrifice much en route to the changes that they inevitably seek. This PDF has been split due to its size.

Focus 48 - 4th Quarter 2007 (Part 2)

Some countries have the rare gift of the lives of spectacular individuals at different epochs of history and their national narratives. These individuals offer them examples, give the necessary voice to key issues confronting societies and, very often, sacrifice much en route to the changes that they inevitably seek. This PDF has been split due to its size.

Focus 50 - 2nd Quarter 2008

Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday is both a poignant moment in history and a time to reflect on current political trends in South Africa We celebrate Mandela’s crowning achievements, but simultaneously have to ask ourselves as a country what we intend to do with his legacy. Mandela himself in recent months has asked tough questions of the new leadership group and, in the wake of the spate of violent attacks on foreigners and South Africans alike, called for a renewed commitment to unity on Youth Day.

Focus 51 - 3rd Quarter 2008

In 1999, Mr Global Reconciliation Statesman handed the reins of power and policy formulation to Mr Delivery. What we will see in 2009 is a handover from Mr Delivery to Mr Complexity. For if the degree of delivery accomplished in the past ten years is arguable, there can be no doubt about the degree of complexity the new administration will face.

Focus 52 - 4th Quarter 2008

South Africa is rapidly approaching its fourth democratic poll and there is a tangible and undeniable Obama-esque sense of change in the air. Voters registered in record numbers during the Independent Electoral Commission’s first bout of voter registration in November. One could almost hear the silent chants of ‘Yes we can!’ echo through the very firmament of our democracy as younger generations of voters lined up, free of the demons of the past.

Focus 53 - 1st Quarter 2009 - Suzman Tribute Edition

This edition of FOCUS marks a solemn and sad event – the passing of our beloved Patron-in-Chief Helen Suzman. It is a moment of bereavement we wish to mark by publishing a special Helen Suzman Tribute edition as a fitting honour to a life well-lived with a sound moral compass.

Focus 54 - 2nd Quarter 2009 - Post Poll Politics

South Africa’s vibrancy as a democracy is attested to by the fact that not a single edition of FOCUS goes by without a considerable number of significant political events occurring within the scope of a quarter – every single quarter! This past quarter is no different.

Editorial

‘Justice’ is a protean concept. ‘Law and order’ are maintained by governments and ruling elites in its name.

Education and Injustice

Education has the potential to play a key role in addressing societal injustice by equalising opportunities, facilitating development, and strengthening democracy.

Focus 55 - November 2009 - Images of Justice

‘Justice’ is a protean concept. ‘Law and order’ are maintained by governments and ruling elites in its name. Revolutions and popular insurrections are conducted under its legitimating aegis.

‘History to the defeated May say Alas, but cannot help or pardon’

Revolutionary wars became a feature of modern history after the American Revolution of 1776. It is no accident that the word “guerrilla” – whose original meaning was mini-war – derives from precisely such an experience in the mountains of Spain during the Napoleonic Wars.

People’s War: New Light on the Struggle for South Africa

The Greek poet Archilochus offers an illuminating prism though which to view Anthea Jeffery’s voluminous and illuminating book on the struggle for South Africa that led eventually to the triumph of the African National Congress and its installation as the governing party in 1994, even though Archilochus lived in the seventh century BC.

People’s War: New Light on the Struggle for South Africa

Anthea Jeffery’s central thesis in her book, People’s War: New Light on the Struggle for South Africa, that the ANC deliberately killed thousands of South Africans in a scorched earth strategy to capture power at all costs from the Nationalist government in the dying days of apartheid, is simply not true.

Pervasive Impunity

Nation-wide reaction to the court proceedings against the ‘Reitz four’ students, and the University of the Free State’s dropping of internal charges against them for their degrading treatment of the University’s female employees has recently highlighted the possible connection between the template of forgiveness central to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and attitudes and events shaping contemporary South African society.

Procedural Justice

This article focuses primarily on procedural justice with particular reference to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996 and the justice system in South Africa.

Social Welfare: Social Stasis

South Africa’s democratic transition in 1994 was not only a transformative change to political institutions and political process.

The State and Transformation

It is now familiar that under Thabo Mbeki the democratic project experienced several major reversals.