The Centre for Conflict Resolution hosted a public dialogue earlier this year on the role of Chapter Nine institutions: those organisations, as laid out in Chapter Nine of the South African Constitution, which have been set in place to guard democracy.

Chapter Nine institutions include the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities; the Commission for Gender Equality; the Auditor-General; the Electoral Commission; and an independent broadcast regulation authority.

The CCR discussion was chaired by Professor Barney Pityana, with speakers Brigalia Bam and Mfanozelwe Shozi attempting to answer the question of whether or not Chapter Nine institutions have fulfilled their constitutional mandate.

Bam is the former chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and the author of Democracy – More Than Just Elections. Reflecting on her years as the head of the IEC, Bam explains the challenges that the IEC have had to face, such as issues of independence, budgets, impartiality and so forth.

“Chapter Nine institutions do work that is specialised in a way and we find that in the particular case of the Electoral Commission some people are not familiar with the acts of the commission, with the number of things that we do,” she says, adding that there is much confusion across the board with Chapter Nine institutions on who they are, how they work and what they do.

Listen to the podcast for this fascinating look at the inner workings of the IEC in particular, and Chapter Nine institutions in general:

Brigalia Bam on the role of Chapter 9 institutions [ 19:07 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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• Listen to all the speeches: Centre for Conflict Resolution

Related links:

• The Legacy of Brigalia Bam Preserved with a R93 000 Oil Painting at NMMU

• Brigalia Bam Describes Working with Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki as Head of the IEC

• Brigalia Bam: South Africa Needs a Electoral System that is Relevant to Our Present Situation (Podcast)

• Podcast: Brigalia Bam Shares Some Memorable and Influential Moments from Her Biography

• “We Never Called Him Nelson. He was Buti Rolihlahla” – Brigalia Bam Recalls Mandela’s Early Years

• Does South Africa Need Electoral Reform? Brigalia Bam Considers the Case on a Dispatch Panel (Video)

• “The IEC Cannot Possibly Fill the Shoes of Brigalia Bam” – Lebo Keswa

 
Book details

• Democracy – More Than Just Elections by Brigalia Bam
  EAN: 9780992232931
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

Zwelinzima Vavi recently spoke to Sebenzile Nkambule on her Power FM radio show. The former general secretary of Cosatu reflected on the staggering success of the #FeesMustFall movement.

Nkambule sets out to unpack the way the protest narrative in South Africa functions, and how the recent student protests have changed this. She asks Vavi about what he thinks the students did differently to get it right, when so many workers’ protests have been less successful.

Vavi sums up the strength of the student movements in one word: “Unity”. He says: “The students were united across ideological and political differences.” This dynamic solidarity is something that trade union movements have not been able to marshal in their protests. In student politics, everyone is united in a common struggle and are clear and unrelenting about what they are fighting for.

Political interference, Vavi says, also significantly damages student and worker protests. In light of this, he comments on the relatively negligible success of politicised trade unions. He says Cosatu has been “fatally wounded” by uncomfortably close relations with manipulative politics.

Listen to the podcast:

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Book details

• Cosatu in Crisis: The Fragmentation of an African Trade Union Federation edited by Vishwas Satgar and Roger Southall
  EAN: 9780992232948
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Wiseman Nkuhlu, the first black man to qualify as a chartered accountant and subject of Wiseman Nkuhlu: a life of purpose, was recently featured on Victor Kgomoeswana’s radio show on Power FM.

The topic of Kgomoeswana’s conversation with Nkuhlu is the role the black professionals have to play in shaping Africa’s destiny, the subject of Nkuhlu’s recent Lot Ndlovu Lecture. Nkuhlu was president of the Black Management Forum at the time of South Africa’s transition in 1994, and has a uniquely encompassing understanding of the matter.

• Read: Wiseman Nkuhlu Calls for Black Management to be Less Complacent at the Lot Ndlovu Lecture

Listen to the podcast:

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Book details

• Wiseman Nkuhlu: a life of purpose by Luvuyo Wotshela
  EAN: 9780992232900
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Brigalia Bam, former IEC head and author of Democracy – More Than Just Elections, created a stir this year by proposing a alternative way of handling elections in this country.

Bam was featured on Talk Radio 702, where she explained her reasoning in a conversation with Stephen Grootes.

Bam believes that the current system of proportional representation needs to be revisited, so that people have a direct say with regards to the leadership of the parties they vote into power. She suggests a system that is “relevant to our present situation” is needed.

Listen to the podcast:

• Listen to the podcast on Talk Radio 702

As a follow up to this conversation, listen to Nompumelelo Runji’s analysis of Bam’s proposal. Runji spoke to John Maytham on CapeTalk to examine the implications of change in South Africa:

• Listen to the podcast on Talk Radio 702

Book details

• Democracy – More Than Just Elections by Brigalia Bam
  EAN: 9780992232931
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

Justice Malala, political commentator and author of Let Them Eat Cake, has a weekly spot speaking about South African political affairs for “The Burning Platform” on Cliff Central.

In the most recent edition of the show, Malala spoke about the anniversary of Nkandla, compares what is going on in South Africa to similar situations around the world, and shares who he anticipates will be the next ANC president.

“Do you know who your president is going to be in 2019,” Malala asks. “It’s going to be Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma or Cyril Ramaphosa,” he continues, adding that you could also put your money on Baleka Mbete.

Listen to the podcast:

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Book details

• Let Them Eat Cake by Justice Malala
  EAN: 9780620448888
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

Brigalia Bam was recently featured on Redi Tlhabi’s show on Talk Radio 702 to speak about her autobiography Democracy – More Than Just Elections.

Bam’s name became synonymous with the IEC; she spent 12 years at the helm of the organisation after being personally appointed by Nelson Mandela.

• Read: “We Never Called Him Nelson. He was Buti Rolihlahla” – Brigalia Bam Recalls Mandela’s Early Years

Tlhabi says Bam was “morally bound to document your history,” adding: “You couldn’t just retire from the IEC and then move on”.

Bam says that writing the biography was in the works for a long time, and was a good way close off a chapter.

She speaks about her early life in a small village and how she ended up as the youngest boarder in her boarding school. Bam, Tlhabi says, is a global citizen. She lived, worked and studied away from South Africa for more than 20 years.

Bam says she missed home terribly when she lived abroad, but the freedom and dignity of human beings made her “desperate” for equality and democracy for her own country. When she came home, she played an integral role in making this a practical reality.

Listen to the podcast:

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Book details

• Democracy – More Than Just Elections by Brigalia Bam
  EAN: 9780992232931
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

RSG recently invited political commentator Justice Malala to the Op die veepos show to speak about the role of agriculture in Africa’s transformation.

The author of Let Them Eat Cake said there are two elements pertaining to the issue of transformation in the agricultural sector – food security and a more inclusive farming industry.

“We need to make sure that we can feed our people,” he said, adding that while we need to nurture the sector we also need to find a way to include “emerging farmers, established farmers, black, white, everyone” in the process of seeking solutions to our food production problems.

Listen to the podcast:

Justice Malala on agriculture in South Africa [ 11:33 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Book details

• Let Them Eat Cake by Justice Malala
  EAN: 9780620448888
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

Justice Malala, political commentator and author of Let Them Eat Cake, was recently called on by Kieno Kammies of CapeTalk to speak about President Jacob Zuma.

Kammies says that it seems as though our president is “laughing at as, and getting away with it.” He refers to his refusal to take responsibility for the monumental costs of his private residence at Nkandla, and his embarrassing lack of embarrassment when he spoke about corruption at the World Economic Forum recently.

Malala agrees, saying that there is such a massive juncture between what Zuma does and what he says, “that you have to wonder, if he is not schizophrenic sometimes.” Malala goes on to point out examples of dubious dealings and how they should be handled.

Listen to the podcast:

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Book details

• Let Them Eat Cake by Justice Malala
  EAN: 9780620448888
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

RFI, the French current affairs radio station, spoke to Hussein Solomon, editor of Against All Odds: Opposition Political Parties in Southern Africa, about the 15-year-old girl from Cape Town who was intercepted and stopped from joining the Islamic State armed group (ISIS) in April this year.

Solomon, who also wrote Jihad: A South African Perspective, told RFI why the incident didn’t surprise him at all: “There’s an established presence of groups like Al-Shebab and Hezbollah in South Africa. More importantly there’s about 140 South Africans fighting for ISIS at the moment and so this just underlines the global threat that is ISIS.”

The academic warns that the South African goverment should stop being naive about the presence of radical extremists in the country and do more to stop it. He calls on religious leaders “to reclaim the faith as a moderate faith” and notes the importance of blocking certain website and reclaiming airwaves where communication around bona fide Muslim organisations are concerned.

Listen to the podcast, or read the article:

• Not loading? Listen on RFI

Do you think the South African government should be doing more to stop this kind of thing from happening?

Absolutely. For a long time the South African government even denied that there were radical extremists on South African soil, essentially playing ostrich. Only recently they started waking up to the threat. When I published a book two years ago pointing this out, I was attacked saying I’m making this up and so forth. And yet all my information was open source. If you look at the recent Al Jazeera leaks, the spy cable leaks, it is very apparent that the South African government knows where these paramilitary training camps are, but they’ve done nothing to stop it on South African soil.

• Complete article: RFI

Book details

• Against All Odds: Opposition Political Parties in Southern Africa edited by Hussein Solomon
  EAN: 9780620476003
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!