Browsing by Author "Nene, Sanele Ashel."

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Analysis of Pretoria's peace democracy in Africa from 1994-2014.
(2015) Mhlongo, Bavuksile Hanna.; Nene, Sanele Ashel.
Pretoria’s foreign policy has undergone evolution since the advent of democracy as the ANC government has moved to take its place in the international relations arena. This evolution has seen South Africa establish itself as a significant role player in peace diplomacy in the African continent. From the time Pretoria started engaging in peace diplomacy, its efforts have met many challenges. For instance, in the 1990s, the democratic government created enemies in the continent after Pretoria publicly criticised the Nigerian government for executing the Ogoni activists, who included writer Ken Saro-Wiwa. As a result after 1999, Pretoria emphasised respecting other African nations’ sovereignty. South Africa resolved that it would engage in conflict resolution when invited by its counterparts. Through the launch of the African Renaissance, a continent’s renewal programme, South Africa has engaged in peace diplomacy through multilateralism. This way Pretoria has managed to achieve its goal of promoting Africa’s development on the one hand and on the other hand avoid to be seen as meddling in other African nations’ domestic affairs. Pretoria has also received praise for its peace diplomacy in countries such as Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). And many observers attribute South Africa’s success in peace mediation to the role Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma have played as principal foreign policy actors during their presidencies. While many foreign policy observers claim that Pretoria’s foreign policy was rooted in the idealistic approach during Mandela’s presidency, Mbeki’s was based on realistic approach and Jacob Zuma has followed in the footsteps of his predecessor, this is not entirely true. There is evidence that classifying Pretoria’s foreign policy as such is a simplistic understanding of the country’s international relations. Many observers also contend that while the post-apartheid government continues to make its mark as a peace mediator in the continent, South Africa’s foreign policy is still full of contradictions.
Conflict transformation in post-apartheid South Africa from 1994-2013.
(2013) Rwebangira, Redempta Kokusiima.; Nene, Sanele Ashel.
With South Africa’s momentous transition to democratic rule in 1994, the Nelson Mandela administration significantly underscored the need to erect the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) as a mechanism to address the grievances, racial discrimination and violence that characterized the apartheid era. The South African government and the TRC have initiated policies to expedite reconciliation among its different races with the primary objective to recompense those who were previously marginalized and abused by the apartheid regime. Such attempts include: economic and land restitution and affirmative action. Despite these strides however, there are still enormous challenges, especially with regards to socio-economic imbalances, racial skirmishes, violence, and unresolved grievances among the victims of the apartheid era. Conceived in this way, the primary purpose of this research is to offer a broad analysis of rationale to transform some of the apartheid structural arrangements to a more egalitarian structure. 1994 heralded a new era of democratization in South Africa after long years of apartheid regime. The transition from autocratic rule to democracy has often been an excruciating one. It is no doubt that the challenges of transformation and reconciliation have resulted in the changing of the character of conflict and violence in post-apartheid South African society. This study also intends to analyse the current nature of conflict in post-apartheid South Africa such as; black on black, political assassinations and taxi violence. Although the nature of violent conflict in South Africa has transformed since post-apartheid, ostensibly, these conflicts are nevertheless rooted in apartheid. Given the foregoing, it appears that the full recovery from the apartheid era is still a far cry. In order for this recovery to take place, some of the structures of the apartheid era must be removed and multi-racial groups fully integrated.
Democracy or efficiency : the impact of public participation on local government service delivery in Msunduzi Local Municipality and eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality.
(2019) Nene, Sanele Ashel.; Francis, Suzanne.
Conventional thinking in participatory democracy theory contends that public participation improves the quality and effectiveness of government. Effective public participation promotes accountability, transparency, inclusivity and responsiveness in governance. The assumption is that the benefits of public participation are to be found in the efficiency of service delivery by municipalities. This dissertation investigates the idea that the benefits of public participation are outweighed by the cost to efficiency in service delivery. Public participation has negative effects on service delivery in local government due to the time and resources required for effective public participation. It is argued that the correlation between public participation and service delivery efficiency is also mainly theoretical, and not based on convincing empirical evidence. Service delivery efficiency in local government is influenced by other factors such as the ability of the municipal management and governance structures to resist party political interference through structural design, the capacity of the municipality to plan and deliver basic services within its jurisdiction, and the economic and financial resources available to the municipality. The dissertation concludes that there is a need to thoroughly investigate the impact of intergovernmental relations on local government service delivery, given the legislative positioning of municipalities in relation to other spheres of government. The functionality and efficiency of local municipalities is dependent on the relations between the local government and the district municipality, or the local government and the provincial government. The role of district municipalities is therefore questioned, and it is suggested that further research on the subject is imperative.
Rebellions in the DRC : hindrance or catalyst to the process of democratization.
(2014) Mutonji, Kabwe Didier.; Nene, Sanele Ashel.
The present study is an analytical investigation of the impact of rebellions on the process of democratization in the DRC. It is concentrated principally on the Ceasefire Agreement signed in 1999 in Lusaka (Zambia) between main rebel groups, central government, opposition political parties, civil society and representatives of countries involved in conflict. The stipulations of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement which provided the Inter-Congolese Dialogue widely affected the course of events in many ways. This study assesses with rigor whether rebellions in the DRC hindered or catalysed the process of democratization. Opportunity approach is selected as the theoretical framework of this study; it gives a variety of tools to analyze the dimensions of the political environment which provides incentives for leaders to initiate actions that can affect their expectations. The tools of historical and qualitative analysis of different texts of various Scientifics and non-Scientifics have been used in this study. Different aspects of rebellions and the process of democratization in the DRC have been analyzed comprising the process of democratization before the rebellions of 1996-1997 and those of 1998 which culminated in the signature of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement by all belligerents. The result of this study stipulates that, rebellions in the DRC played a catalytic role in boosting the process of democratization by pushing the central government to agree on the Inclusive Global Accord which provided a transitional government composed of main rebel groups‟ representatives; central government and opposition political parties. This adds proof to scientific findings that democratization is connected with possible diminution of rebellion, as well as co-relation between that stage of development and democracy in combating rebellion (Morrisson, 2003). Recommendations are made at the end of this study in order to tackle obstacles that could obstruct the process of democratization in the DRC.