Archive for the ‘South Africa’ Category
by HSRC Press on May 24th, 2013
Erna van Wyk from the University of the Witwatersrand attended the launch of The Development of Competition Law and Economics in South Africa at the Origins Centre.
Van Wyk wrote about the speech that guest speaker David Lewis, former Chairperson of the Competition Tribunal, made and has shared a recording of his speech:
Whether it is banks or bread, oil or milk, Competition Law and the authorities that enforce it are the pillars that keep competition alive and fair in South Africa.
A new book, entitled The Development of Competition Law and Economics in South Africa, further strengthens the knowledge pool of this important field. Edited by Kasturi Moodaliyar, Associate Professor in the School of Law at the University of the Witwatersrand, and Simon Roberts, Director of the Centre for Competition Economics at the University of Johannesburg, this book is an important source for students and practitioners of competition law and economics in South Africa.
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by HSRC Press on May 23rd, 2013
The launch on Tuesday evening of The Development of Competition Law and Economics, edited by Kasturi Moodaliyar and Simon Roberts, was held in the Tapestry Room at the Origins Centre, hosted by the HSRC Press, the Competition Commission South Africa and the Mandela Institute at Wits University. The publication is described as meeting the need for a critical evaluation of the developments in the field of competition law since the Competition Act came into force in 1999.
Editor Kasturi Moodaliyar paid tribute to the authors of the various chapters in this book and introduced guest speaker David Lewis, former Chairperson of the Competition Tribunal. Now Executive Director of Corruption Watch, he is an acknowledged champion in the fight against corruption who has played a major role in forcing business to toe the line.
In his address, David Lewis mentioned that this publication records the tenth anniversary of the first Competition Conference, now an annual event, and said that he had five main observations about the book, and also a surprise.
Firstly, the standard of the papers is most impressive, especially those by the staff of the Competition Commission, and they are a reminder of the strong competition regime existing in South Africa. He hoped that a better understanding of this would grow and that there would be fewer complaints by certain sections of the media.
The book is an important collaboration between universities and the competition authorities, with an extraordinary level of engagement of international academics, which has enriched everyone involved.
The importance of these activities and the publication of this type of account – along with regular conferences of the competition authorities – is the preservation of institutional memory and knowledge, which is vital for maintaining standards.
Lewis said it was interesting that in the second decade of their existence the competition authorities would have to tackle a case like the “Walmart fiasco”, and he was proud of the Competition Commission and the Competition Tribunal for standing their ground on this issue. The authorities need to be wary of the public as well as private restraints on competition, and be wary also of state-owned enterprises and their intent. There are attempts to introduce anti-competition legislation, such as the business regulation bill, which could open the door to corruption and barriers to entry.
Lastly, Lewis mentioned that there had been much talk of amendments to the Competition Act for the past four years, and this should now be addressed. Lewis hoped that market enquiries would feature widely in the next decade and noted that the job of the authorities is to promote competition, not prevent it.
The surprise turned out to be the announcement of the publication of Lewis’s own book, a series of essays on competition law. Tongue in cheek, he said it was exorbitantly priced and hardly worth the money, and so he had brought three copies to donate to the Wits Library, which was roundly applauded.
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by HSRC Press on May 15th, 2013
Nazmeera Moola writes about the current state of South African unions in the latest Financial Mail online. She quotes from the preface to HSRC Press’ COSATU’s Contested Legacy, which describes the umbrella organisation as “a movement that has inspired thousands of men and women in various occupations to take charge of their lives by combining in trade unions across different industries to defend life, limb and dignity in the face of a dehumanising socioeconomic system”.
Moola suggests that wage increases are a short-term solution and that the “long-term solution is to improve government service delivery so that workers’ average living conditions improve”:
I was chatting recently to a petrol attendant who said his monthly wage of R 4, 500 made it very difficult to support the eight people in his extended family who depended on him. SA has talked a lot about the low “social wage” (namely, poor service delivery) in the past year. But there is also the high unemployment rate, which causes the average wage earner to support a large number of people.
The union movement in SA is at a critical juncture. The preface to the 2012 book Cosatu’s Contested Legacy, edited by Sakhela Buhlungu and Malehoko Tshoaedi, describes the history of the organisation as “the story of a movement that has inspired thousands of men and women in various occupations to take charge of their lives by combining in trade unions across different industries to defend life, limb and dignity in the face of a dehumanising socioeconomic system”.
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by HSRC Press on May 13th, 2013
Books LIVE is giving away a copy of Power-sector reform and regulation in Africa: Lessons from Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia by Joseph Kapika and Anton Eberhard.
Power-sector Reform and Regulation in Africa offers detailed, up-to-date and original research into how governments and policymakers in six African countries have grappled with the development of their energy sectors.
To enter and stand a chance of winning, email carolyn@bookslive.co.za with your name and address and “Power-sector reform” as your subject line. The competition closes on Friday 17 May at 5:00 PM.
Good luck!
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- Power-sector reform and regulation in Africa: Lessons from Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia by Joseph Kapika & Anton Eberhard
EAN: 9780796924100
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by HSRC Press on May 9th, 2013
In the recently published Power-sector reform and regulation in Africa, Joseph Kapika and Anton Eberhard highlight the regulatory governance systems in Tanzania, which they say could be used as an example for other African countries.
One of the key features is that the “reporting lines to the government have been separated between policy and administrative matters”:
Prof Anton Eberhard and Engineer Joseph Kapika, both from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, say in the book “Power Sector Reform and Regulation in Africa; Lessons from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda Zambia, Namibia and Ghana,” that Tanzania’s regulatory governance systems have two notable features that distinguish them from others.
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- Power-sector Reform and Regulation in Africa: Lessons from Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia by Joseph Kapika and Anton Eberhard
EAN: 9780796924100
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by HSRC Press on May 8th, 2013
The private healthcare sector will soon come under scrutiny from the Competition Commission, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel has announced. Patel mentioned that there is “a growing trend of healthcare price and costs increases” while one would expect competition to drive prices down.
Polity reports that the inquiry into price-fixing in the sector is now possible due to the power conferred to the Commission under the Competition Amendment Act of 2009. The investigation will start in September and is expected to take up to two years to complete.
For more on competition law, consult The Development of Competition Law and Economics in South Africa, edited by Kasturi Moodaliyar and Simon Roberts.
The Competition Commission (CC) will start a long-awaited market inquiry into pricing in the private healthcare sector in September, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel announced on Tuesday.
Speaking during debate on his budget vote in the National Assembly, Patel told MPs it would be a “historic inquiry”, because it would be the first time competition authorities would use new powers conferred upon them.
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by HSRC Press on May 2nd, 2013
Books LIVE is giving away a copy of Land Reform and Livelihoods: Trajectories of change in northern Limpopo Province, South Africa edited by Michael Aliber.
Land Reform and Livelihoods is the South African component of a broader three-country study (also including Zimbabwe and Namibia) on Livelihoods after Land Reform (LaLR). The aim of LaLR is to measure the impact of land reform, but above all it is to understand that impact – how and why impacts materialise or fail to materialise in relation to different circumstances, distinct implementation approaches, and diverse types of intended beneficiaries.
To enter and stand a chance of winning, email carolyn@bookslive.co.za with your name and address and “Land Reform” as your subject line. The competition closes on Friday 10 May at 5:00 PM.
Good luck!
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- Land Reform and Livelihoods: Trajectories of change in northern Limpopo Province, South Africa edited by Michael Aliber
EAN: 9780796924131
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by HSRC Press on Apr 30th, 2013
Aubrey Matshiqi, research fellow at the Helen Suzman Foundation, wrote in his weekly column for Business Day that we shouldn’t rush to early judgement and conclusions regarding striking teachers. On Wednesday the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) held a nationwide strike over the withdrawal of collective bargaining agreements by the Department of Basic Education. SADTU called for the resignation of Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and director general Bobby Soobrayan.
Matshiqi tells of his shock when he found out, as a little boy, how poorly his teachers were paid. He writes that today’s teachers “with whom we must turn around the performance of our education system are angry, frustrated and still locked in a cycle of humiliation”.
WHEN I was a child, there would be days when a teacher would give me a note and tell me to take it to my parents. It was always with a sense of trepidation that I took the notes.
But, to my surprise, my parents never gave me a hiding after reading them and this meant that my assumption that they contained a report about some childish misdemeanour was always wrong.
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- The Search for Quality Education in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Interventions to improve learning and teaching edited by Yusuf Sayed, Anil Kanjee, Mokubung Nkomo
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EAN: 9780796924070
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- Finding Place and Keeping Pace: Exploring Meaningful and Equitable Learning in South African Schools edited by Shireen Motala, Veerle Dieltiens, Roelien du Toit
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EAN: 9780796924018
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- Academic Interaction with Social Partners : Investigating the contribution of universities to economic and social development by Glenda Kruss, Mariette Visser, Mogau Aphane, Genevieve Haupt
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EAN: 9780796923899
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- Community, Self and Identity: Educating South African university students for citizenship edited by Brenda Leibowitz, Leslie Swartz, Vivienne Bozalek, Ronelle Carolissen, Lindsey Nicholls, Poul Rohleder
EAN: 9780796923981
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by HSRC Press on Apr 26th, 2013
On Wednesday the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) held a nationwide strike over the withdrawal of collective bargaining agreements by the Department of Basic Education. SADTU called for the resignation of Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and director general Bobby Soobrayan.
Quinton Mtyala from Sowetan LIVE reported on the “Hundreds of pupils” that joined the strike:
Hundreds of Cape Town pupils joined several thousand teachers in their march to Parliament to present their demands.
The pupils who took part in the protest were mostly from Cape Town’s township schools. Most of them wore Sadtu T-shirts.
Jonisayi Maromo and Malegabe Motsepe from IOL News reported on Pretoria’s strike, saying that police had struggled to control the strikers:
Police struggled to control thousands of striking teachers’ union members at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Wednesday.
Protesters pushed through police barriers in an attempt to enter the buildings, but to no avail. Its security doors remained closed.
Bruce Gorton wrote a column for Times LIVE defending the teacher’s decision to strike, as he says “to put it briefly, the teachers went on strike to tell the government to stop screwing up.”
South Africa’s teachers went gone on strike, essentially depriving the children under their care of an education in the name of equal education.
And – I can’t blame them quite that easily.
The Star‘s Nontobeko Mtshali wrote that “Children from schools in township and rural areas bore the brunt of the SA Democratic Teachers Union march on Wednesday.”
Children from schools in township and rural areas bore the brunt of the SA Democratic Teachers Union march on Wednesday.
Education Department spokesman Panyaza Lesufi said that from the reports the department had received, “it goes without saying that learners who were affected are exclusively children from poor communities”.
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- The Search for Quality Education in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Interventions to improve learning and teaching edited by Yusuf Sayed, Anil Kanjee, Mokubung Nkomo
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EAN: 9780796924070
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- Finding Place and Keeping Pace: Exploring Meaningful and Equitable Learning in South African Schools edited by Shireen Motala, Veerle Dieltiens, Roelien du Toit
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EAN: 9780796924018
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- Academic Interaction with Social Partners : Investigating the contribution of universities to economic and social development by Glenda Kruss, Mariette Visser, Mogau Aphane, Genevieve Haupt
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EAN: 9780796923899
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- Community, Self and Identity: Educating South African university students for citizenship edited by Brenda Leibowitz, Leslie Swartz, Vivienne Bozalek, Ronelle Carolissen, Lindsey Nicholls, Poul Rohleder
EAN: 9780796923981
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by HSRC Press on Apr 25th, 2013
State of the Nation: South Africa 2012-2013, the sixth book in this series, of which the first volume was published in 2003, focuses specifically on inequality and poverty. Like the State of the Nation address that is delivered by the president annually, a new volume in this series is presented every year and grapples with some of the pertinent issues facing the country.
Fransic Nyamnjoh, one of the editors of the book, explained at the launch held on Tuesday evening at the Townhouse Hotel and Conference Centre, that together with his co-editors Jonathan Jansen, Udesh Pillay and Gerard Hagg, it was decided to focus the subject matter of the volume to some extent by offer certain overarching indicators which the contributors could research. The first of these was to determine to what extent race, place, class, culture, gender and age are relevant to the understanding of inequality and poverty in South Africa, whilst keeping in mind that focusing on only one or some of these factors would result in a diminished understanding. They wanted the contributors to problematise our approach to these issues which tends to be very “black-and-white”. Another question for the contributors to consider was to what extent apartheid could continue to be held responsible for post-apartheid inadequacies or failures. Furthermore, as South Africa exists within a global context, interconnected local and global hierarchies needed to be researched.
The launch took the form of a panel discussion, led by Judith February and consisting of Olive Shisana who contributed a chapter on the proposed National Health Insurance, Glenda Kruss who wrote the piece on skills training, Simon Bekker who put together the section on “Global Transitions: South Africa and the World” and Nyamnjoh.
Shisana pointed out that there is much inequality with regard to healthcare in South Africa and that the National Health Insurance would put everyone on an equal footing. She believes the NHI would help to address big healthcare problems in South Africa, particularly HIV. “Many South Africans pay out of pocket for healthcare and could actually be bankrupted by healthcare costs,” she said. “If we are serious about addressing inequality, this is something we should be looking at.” Shisana said that the tax base in South Africa is not as small as everyone thinks and that the money for the NHI is there, it just has to be directed effectively.
Kruss discussed her longitudinal study on “Skilling for Employment and Employability”, which looked specifically at learnerships and apprenticeships. “We were pleasantly surprised to see that they do actually lead to employment,” she said. However, these opportunities are limited and can only fulfill the needs of a small number of school leavers. “We make the argument that there is value in this skills training and that it needs to be expanded.”
When it was Bekker’s turn to discuss his section, he focused on three major global changes which affect South Africa’s position in the world today: the rise of China in trade and cross-border migration; the financial crises in developed nations; and South Africa’s increased involvement in the rest of Africa.
After the audience had a chance to ask questions, the launch wrapped up with February asking the panelists about one of the original intentions with State of the Nation series – to promote national consensus on pertinent issues through critical analysis and debate. Nyamnjoh likened this to the cohabitation of porcupines: when they realise that their quills are not for killing each other they can create the conditions for their co-existence.
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Carolyn Meads livetweeted from the launch using #livebooks:
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- State of the Nation: South Africa 2012–2013: Addressing Inequality and Poverty edited by Jonathan D Jansen, Francis Nyamnjoh, Udesh Pillay, Gerard Hagg
EAN: 9780796924223
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