Brazil’s Populist Pendulum: The Outcome and Lessons

SAIIA Speakers Meeting

Can Africa learn from Brazil´s history? Brazil and Africa; a country versus a whole continent, but nevertheless with common features. They have similar GDPs, but the population of Africa is about five times bigger than the population of Brazil. The effect is that Brazil's income per person is higher. Both Brazil and Africa have a historically similar low growth rates and share the ignominious character of globally leading wealth and income inequality.

Transformative Leadership confronts the past to shape the future we want

SA UBUNTU Networking Breakfast with Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng

The networking breakfast with Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng on 08 November 2019 focused on the topic “Transformative leadership confronts the past to shape the future we want”. The event was jointly hosted by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the SA Ubuntu Foundation and is part of a series of networking breakfasts in the year 2019.

Can Democracy and Peace finally come to Mozambique?

SAIFAC Africa Forum Series

On 13 November the fourth and last event in the SAIFAC Africa Forum series for 2019 was held at Constitution Hill. The topic was “Can democracy and peace finally come to Mozambique?”. The series aims to draw on the experience of South Africa and connect it with developments in a particular country or group of countries. The speakers are legal and non-legal experts who provide critical analysis of their societies and an understanding of how to move them forward. The series is funded by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.

Catalysing Indigenous Languages

United Nations declared 2019 The Year of Indigenous Languages (IY2019). This was done “in order to raise awareness, not only to benefit the people who speak these languages, but also to appreciate the important contribution they make to our world’s rich cultural diversity”. Indigenous languages worldwide face the threat of extinction.

Unpacking the Report of the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture

Breakfast Discussion with three experts of different backgrounds

“The first land to be confiscated by the Europeans in South Africa was part of what later became known as the Western Cape” (Final Report of the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture, p.23). From that genesis, Land Reform is one of the most important topics in South African politics since the 1994 transition to democracy.

Strong Cities 2030 Conference: Overcoming Urban Inequality

Strong Cities 2030 Initiative

"Innovative approaches to overcome urban inequality" was the theme of this year's international Strong Cities 2030 conference, hosted by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) in partnership with the City of Johannes-burg, that took place from 13-15 October 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Freedom of Expression versus Hate Speech: Are we Striking a Balance in South Africa?

Roundtable Discussion

On 17 October 2019, the Centre for Unity and Diversity (CUD) and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) hosted the third event of the Roundtable Discussion series. At the core of the presentations and the subsequent discussion was the question of where to draw the line be-tween freedom of speech and hate speech. The recent findings of the Courts and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on hate speech rooted the event in current affairs. To dig into the topic of hate speech more thoroughly, legal, psychological and political aspects were addressed.

The African Continental free trade agreement (AfCFTA): An enabler, not a deliverer

SAIIA Speakers Meeting with Prof Faizel Ismail

“…It is not trade and free-trade agreements that raise incomes, but the good-will and solidarity of the participating parties…”

Women and Justice

The Constitution @ Work - Breakfast Discussion Series 2 2019

On 28 August 2019, the Centre for Constitutional Rights (CFCR) held another breakfast discussion as part of its Constitution @ Work series, presented in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS). This breakfast was held in commemoration of South Africa’s Women’s Month, which is celebrated in August annually.

Corporate Diplomacy: What is it and why is it important?

SAIIA Speakers Meeting with Tim Hughes

On September 17th, 2019, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) together with the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) and the Mountain Club of South Africa invited Tim Hughes as a keynote speaker on the subject of corporate diplomacy. During his speech he pointed out how multinational enterprises (MNEs) increasingly influence individual lives and political power.