Durban: South Africa, host to this year's summit of the emerging BRICS countries in just a few days time, is not a model for sustainable development on the African continent. That is to say, the country, in contrast to Brazil for example, has not made convincing social progress in important areas, such as education, health, social inclusion and unemployment, whereas other African countries are catching up and becoming more attractive to the BRICS countries. This is the conclusion reached by an international comparative study of the BRICS countries by the German Bertelsmann Foundation.
Europeans who came to the New World were preoccupied with the ways in which the it was not like Europe. Eurocentric thought was second nature with them. Over the centuries that followed, there developed a body of work known as American Exceptionalism. The benchmark text for this scholarship is the mid-19th century reflection on America by the French aristocrat and political theorist, Alexis de Tocqueville, was the benchmark for the body of work that focused on American exceptionalism. Even today, Democracy in America is required reading in most programs in political theory or American politics.
President Jacob Zuma will on 23 October 2012 host His Excellency President Joseph Kabila Kabange of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on the occasion of the 8th Session of the Bi-National Commission (BNC) between South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The 8th SA/DRC BNC will be preceded by the ministerial meeting to be held on the 22 October 2012.
BRITISH investors in South Africa were not fazed by recent developments in the country, such as the disruptive strikes on the mines, the UK business secretary Vincent Cable said on Thursday.
South Africa and African countries generally have not taken to using the DSU to enforce their rights in the WTO. The constraints faced by African countries include human resource and financial constraints, which often lead to an inability to defend their interests, and a fear of backlash from the world's larger trading powers, including advanced developing countries. These constraints are particularly notable in the multilateral trading system, which is becoming more complex. In view of this, no African country has ever requested consultations against another WTO Member.
In this policy brief, I account for the emerging Chinese perspective on security in Africa and argue that in terms of Beijing securing its economic interests in Africa, it supports South Africa as the African hegemon and will likely be supportive of South Africa's bid for an UNSC permanent seat. This article is in two parts.
South Africa's 'second coming' as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council has inevitably spawned a revisiting of its first stint on the Security Council. Given the controversies surrounding Pretoria's 2007-08 tenure, there is a tendency towards critical speculation on its second tenure that may be suggestive of a 'fighting the last war' syndrome given the radically different context that awaits South Africa in 2011-12.
Local furniture manufacturers yesterday accused their South African counterparts of pushing them out of business by importing sub-standard Chinese products into the country.
