Publications

South Africa has voted

ANC loses support – Ramaphosa does not

Despite a significant loss in votes, the African National Congress (ANC) is the clear winner of the 8 May national and provincial elections. President Ramaphosa receives a five-year mandate to pull the country out its economic doldrums. The next months will show whether the 57.5% of votes cast in favour of the ANC grant Ramaphosa enough power to marginalize his party opponents, many of which have an undesirable and corrupt reputation even within their own party. With regards to opposition parties, the radical left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) managed to win over many of the lost ANC voters, while electoral support for the liberal Democratic Alliance (DA) slightly declined for the first time. A low voter turnout of only 66 percent can be read as an expression of voter dissatisfaction in both ruling and opposition parties. Over the longer term, the country will transition to coalition governments, as indicated by the election result in the economic heartland of Gauteng: here, the ANC scraped into a position of absolute majority by only the thinnest of margins.

Foreign Policy Forum: Leaders or Laggards? The Role of the Elective Ten in the UN Security Council

Regional Powers in Global Politics

Trump demanding America first, the British leaving the European Union, Russia annexing Crimea – we have seen multilateralism eroding and nationalism gaining strength in several regions over the last years. International institutions like the UN Security Council (UNSC) are as important as seldom before in history. The round table discussion on 15 May 2019 dealt with this crucial issue and the impact regional powers can have on it. The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) and the Canadian High Commission funded this event which forms part of a series of six roundtables. Thereby the event series accompanies South Africa´s and Germany´s membership in the UNSC in 2019-2020. In Johannesburg, local and international experts and academics discussed the challenges and opportunities which non-permanent members or Elective Ten (E10) are facing. On the one hand, some of those countries have more in common with some of the per-manent members of the UNSC (P5) than with other E10. On the other hand, the lack of ideas and constructive leadership on an international level creates possibilities for regional powers like South Africa and Germany to step in and have a positive impact.

FW de Klerk Annual Conference 2019: Addressing Inequality

This year marks the 25th anniversary of South Africa's non-racial constitutional democracy. The FW de Klerk Foundation's Annual Conference took the opportunity to elaborate on one of the core principles enshrined in the preamble of the South African Constitution – to undo the injustices of the past by actively promoting equal opportunities for all South Africans irrespective of race, culture, gender or economic status quo. The conference, jointly hosted by the FW de Klerk Foundation and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), was held on 1th February 2019 in Cape Town.

Growth with Obstacles

Highlights on the Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa

Barely any issues in Germany have witnessed such an increase of attention over the past few years as the economic development of Africa. Africa’s increasing relevance to Germany and Europe brings up matters on the agenda that used to be considered niche issues. Numerous initiatives notably attest to this new attention. For instance, the “Compact with Africa”, ratified under the German presidency of the G20, aims at more private investment in Africa that is to be translated into local growth and employment.

National and Provincial Elections on May 8th 2019

Key questions

On the 25th of April 2019, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChl), the Dullah Omar Institute, and the University of the Western Cape’s (UWC) Department of Political Studies hosted an international conference with four panel discussions focusing on key questions in the upcoming elections. The event was part of a discussion series on Good Governance, Local Governance, and Human Rights.

#AfricanDemocracy

The contribution of parliamentarians to democracy and prosperity in Sub-Saharan Africa

The KAS hosts the first Sub-Saharan Africa Conference.

Fäuste, Frust und Fremdenhass in Südafrikas Wahlkampf

Mit dem herannahenden Wahltermin am 8. Mai nehmen Nervosität und Spannung in Südafrikas Wahlkampf zu. Ausschreitungen gegen Ausländer stellen die Strategien der Parteien in Frage, die nahezu allesamt mit einem einwanderungskritischen Diskurs auf Wählerfang sind. Gleichzeitig offenbaren Aufrufe zu Verbrennungen von Büchern des Journalisten Pieter-Louis Myburgh die Dünnhäutigkeit in Teilen der Regierungspartei African National Congress (ANC), da die Enthüllungen Myburghs die systematische Korruption im ANC anprangern. Zwar deuten Umfragen darauf hin, dass ANC-Präsident Ramaphosa weiterhin regieren wird, doch die allgemeine Unzufriedenheit mit der Regierung und der Frust in breiten Teilen der Wählerschichten sind allgegenwärtig.

Panel Discussion: Digital Democracy vs. Digital Dictatorship

On April 17th 2019 the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung in cooperation with SAIIA (South African Institute for International Affairs) and CAMM (Center for African Management and Markets) hosted a panel discussion on “Digital Democracy vs Digital Dictatorship”, discussing the use of social media and the balance between positive aspects like the ability to foster transparency between citizens and the government but also propaganda and misuse connected to social media in recent years.

CUD Roundtable Series 2019 - Nummer 1: "What Will Count in the 2019 Elections?"

On the 28th of March 2019, the Centre for Unity in Diversity (CUD) in cooperation with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) hosted a discussion on “What will count in the 2019 elections?” in Cape Town.

Does South Africa Welcome African Refugees?

South African Institute for Advanced Constitutional, Public, Human Rights and International Law (SAIFAC) a partner of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) has started a new initiative in 2019 which is funded by KAS named SAIFAC Africa Forum. This will be a se-ries of four events which will draw on the experience of South Africa and connect it with developments in a par-ticular country or group of countries.