Political Parties in South Africa

Political Parties in South Africa Abgenia Rivoningo Hlophe Unravelling the Political Ideologies Associated With ANC, DA and AGANG. South Africa is constituted by three main parties at the forefront of the political spectrum, namely: The African Nation Congress (ANC), The Democratic Alliance (DA) and Agang. These political parties have formed their policies based on ideologies and principles which they believe will make South Africa a more successful country. It is incumbent upon one, as a citizen of the republic, to analyze the ideologies associated with each of the aforementioned parties. In an effort to address the analysis thoroughly, this essay will closely evaluate the political ideologies associated the ANC, the DA and Agang respectively. Foremost, to adequately comprehend the nature of the ideologies upheld by the ANC, DA and Agang, one must begin by understanding the concept of political ideology itself. Renowned author Andrew Heywood defines ideology as â€Å"a social-scientific viewpoint, an ideology is a more or less coherent set of ideas that provides a basis for organized political action†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (2013:28). As it apparent in Heywood’s explanation of ideology, there is a close relation between the ideology of a political party and its actions. This relation will be evident in the party’s policies on matters ranging from service delivery to economic growth as well as building alliances. When the first democratic constitution of South Africa was set out in 1996, Section 19 clearly highlighted that any party that sets out to run for political office, must not infringe on the rights and freedom of the citizens of the country (Parliament South Africa, 2008). Primarily, this is a liberal ideological perspective. Specifically because liberalism views the individual as the most important element in society, thus stipulating that the freedom of the individual far exceeds the need for authority and control (Heywood, 2013: 32). Interestingly, one can note that all the political parties to be discussed display liberalism in their manifestos and policies. It must be observed that Liberalism will be an inherent ideology in light of these three political parties. The African National Congress (ANC)’s ideological stance As the Liberation movement that rose to ruling party, the ANC boasts on having conquered the struggle for the individual’s freedom from oppressive laws. They are fundamentally a liberal party even though they also portray socialist ideals. The ANC displays the main elements of Liberalism which Heywood lists as individualism, freedom, reason, equality, toleration, consent and constitutionalism. Apart for being the first Democratic Party, ANC takes pride in having been under the leadership of the father of freedom himself, Former President Nelson Mandela in 1994.Nelson Mandela, and the ANC at large believe in freedom to a great extent, this is evident in the historic event of Mandela’s imprisonment on Robben Island. Furthermore, the ANC asserts a necessity to uplift the individual through its programs such as the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) law that aims to place previously disadvantaged individuals in a position of management. They also promise to ensure a better life for the individual by creating 6 million jobs by 2019 so that each person can be able to fend for themselves (ANC, 2014) Another aspect is that they are attempting to provide equality of opportunity through opening a gap in the entrepreneurial sphere by ensuring that 75% of goods and service used by business and industry are bought within the South African manufacturing sphere (ANC, 2014). That way, each individual, regardless of background can be involved in the economic sphere. The introduction of free public education ensures an equality of opportunity for all citizens. Furthermore, the ANC outlined in their manifesto that they are â€Å"to work with [their] allies and the people to move South Africa forward†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (ANC, 2014). With the reasoning that an institution’s allies not only fund, but also influence its manner of governance, the ANC’s liberalism can further be accentuated by its alliance with the United States (US) leader of the Liberalist party – Barack Obama. In his visit to South Africa (SA) during 2012 and again in July 2013, the trade and investment opportunities between SA and the US were corroborated, resulting in an R7bn agreement towards renewable energy and a leadership program for the youth (News24, 2013). The ANC is also a socialist party. This ideology is characterized by six main issues which are community, fraternity, social equality, need, social class and common ownership (Heywood, 2013: 39). In layman’s terms, socialism involves economic efforts aimed at a group, specifically the entire populace of a country not individuals. ANC’s socialist ideas are revealed through their continuous emphasis on collaborative efforts towards community upliftment. In the National Development Plan (NDP), the main aim is to reduce the levels of poverty in South Africa (ANC, 2014). There are programs put in place such as the food for all programme, which aims to feed the people in poor communities, the National Health Insurance to provide free basic healthcare, HIV/AIDS programmes (Butler, 2008). All these ideals by their ANC align with their foundational principles to create a better South Africa for all those who live in it as a brotherhood, as stated by the Freedom Charter of 1955 (South African History,2005). The Democratic Alliance (DA) and its ideological stance As it was unequivocally expressed when the party was formed, the DA is a liberalist party. In the framework for their manifesto, DA places much emphasis on an effective form of governance which, although limit, will ensure a better life for the individuals of South Africa. Since standing as the Western Cape Minister in 2009, The DA has become a member of the Liberal International and the Africa Liberal Network, which are both have formed with the intention to persuade and propose Liberal principles so that they prevail (DA Abroad, 2011). The DA strives to achieve a limited amount of interference by the government, which is a crucial component of liberalism (DA, 2013). This will promote the freedom of the individual above all other entities. They are a party that brings to the attention of the citizens, the flaws of government and regard this as a way to encourage people to give consent in issues that pertain to their government. Stated in their policy is that there should be â€Å"a limited number of political appointments† (DA, 2013). Which comes as a response to the fact that, much of government expenditure that could be used on citizen, is dedicated towards paying salaries of the 11151 executive members of government under the ANC (South African Reserve Bank, 2013). In an effort to promote equal opportunity, the DA has suggested measures such as putting in place an oversight committee to help reduce corruption and increase accountability to the people (DA, 2013). Also, they will start graduate recruitment programmes to help create opportunities for young people regardless of background and social standing. The apparent strong leadership by women within the political party comes to represent their feminist views. Feminism promotes gender equality. The mere fact that the DA is led by women in parliament namely Lindiwe Mazibuko, as well in office by Helen Zille becomes indicative of a feminist views of the party. AGANG and its ideological stance. On February 12 2013, South African politics witnessed the birth a new political party platform by esteemed academic and activist Dr. Mamphele Ramphele. From its birth, Agang showed Liberal intent. In her launch speech, Ramphele urged South African individual to work in conjunction with the government they have elected to â€Å"build the nation of our dreams† (Independent News, 2013) Being an academic herself, Ramphele appealed to all South African’s on the basis of reason, which is a deliberate liberal persuasion. She says â€Å"our rallying cry during the struggle for freedom was for the people to govern† showing that she recognizes the individual as being the one to give consent to government in how the country should be governed. In conjunction with that, she laments the fact that the greatest number of people who are unemployed, of the 60percent, the majority is youth. It is further suggested that opportunity for education should be created for all people by radically altering the education system. That can be done through the introduction of higher pass rates, eradication of mud schools and improvement of infrastructure (Agang SA, 2014) The empowerment of the individual is suggested through the plans to create incentives for companies who invest in rural communities, changing the tax system to favor entrepreneurship (Agang SA, 2014) Ultimately, Agang is purely liberal and classically appeals to the reason, consent and freedom of the individual while working with the government. In retrospect, the African National Congress (ANC), Democratic Alliance and Agang have great similarities in their approach to politics, all which are justified in terms of the constitution. The variation then exists in the implementation of their ideology when drafting policies. Thus, this solidifies the paramount importance of ideologies in a position of power. Proving that even though, it is all but a matter of perspective, whether it being liberal, socialist or capitalist, ideologies are the foundation of any political action by the ANC, DA and Agang. Bibliography Heywood, A. 2013. Politics. United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillian. Butler, A.2005. How Democratic is the African National Congress? Journal of Southern African Studies Volume 31 (No. 4) : pp. 719 -736. Rowland C. Jones J. Recasting the American Dream: Barack Obama keynote address to the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Quarterly Journal of speech Volume 93 (No. 4): pp 238 – 250. ANC. 2014. ANC [online] Available from www.anc.org.za/list.php?t=Manifesto [ Accessed; 13 February 2014] Kondile, K. (2013) ANC: Obama visit strengthened US- SA ties. News24. [online] 01 July. Available from www.news24.com/SouthAfrica//ANC-Obama-visit-strengthened-US-SA. [ Accessed: 15 February 2014] South African History organization. 2005. [online] Available from www.sahistory.org.za [Accessed: 18 February 2013] South African Parliament. 2005.[online] Available from www.parliament.gov.za Democratic Alliance SA. 2014. [online] Available from www.da.org.za. [Accessed: 16 February 2014] South African reserve Bank. 2013. â€Å"Government finance statistics of South Africa; 1994 – 2013.† [online]. Available from www.resbank.co.za [Accessed: 18 February 2014] Independent Newspaper. (2013). Mamphele Ramphele full launch speech. Independent newspaper [online] 18 Feb 2013 15:44. Available from www. Independentnews.co.za [accessed; 18 February 2013] Agang SA. 2014. Policy. [online] Available from www.agangsa.org.za [Accessed; 18 February 2014] 1

Looking for Alibrandi Essay

Good afternoon’s teachers and my peers, today I would like to give my speech about how education leads to a successful life. I am going to discuss three main points in my speech that are; education provides a better quality of life, it expand people mind and helps people to learn values and morals. Firstly education provides better quality of life because it helps people to become successful and smart people by giving knowledge and ideas.Education is key to get good job. It will guide through your life it will help people what job they want to. In this website seek.com.au author was telling thatâ€Å"Now a day every job requires employee to be well-educated and industry are offering high salary jobs to highly educated people and educated people have good chance of getting better occupations. According to jobs qualification website authors was saying that â€Å"without much education one person will end up working 50 hours a weeks while other person with better education makes more money in the half time†. Secondly, Education expand people mind because it help us to understand this world. It teaches us how to make decision, how to think, how to work properly and how to cope with complicated things in life and it makes people hard workers and that give people freedom .it give us power to understand thing in our life and teach us to learn from different experience. An educated people have ability to modify their life in positive way. Without knowledge and Education people would not have develops a meaningful outlook of life. We learn values and moral in school through education that make us right thinkers and it help to act in good manners. We learn values like honesty, kindness that is important in our life. education help us to achieve Successful goal in our life.Educaton open our minds to outside world so it allow people to gain knowledge and values from other cultural. According to ask .com.au (website) author was telling that education help society in different useful ways and without education people would not have highly developed life to live happily and peacefully so people need to have good education. Thank you for listen my speech

Iran Country Assessment

The Islamic Republic of Iran is a country governed by a regime that began with a revolution headed by Ayatollah Khomeini over two decades ago. Khomeini was the first to label the United States as the ‘Great Satan. ’ Although the Iranian government denies it, terrorism has been actively supported, both materially and morally, for years by Iran and Iran supports efforts damaging to the U. S. If the more extreme elements in Iran continue to hold power and arm themselves with nuclear weapons, the international repercussions would be far-reaching.Understanding of Iran is important for members of the U. S. Armed Forces in order to comprehend the scope of Iran’s extremist’s leanings. On the other hand, many of Iran’s citizens love the United States and are resentful of Iran’s oppressive regime. The anti democracy and hindrance of personal liberty have taken a large toll on the Iranian youth. Iran’s younger generation has put forth a lot of res istance against this oppressive regime. Over two thirds of Iran’s population is under the age of 30, which is good from an operational standpoint.This massive amount of young people generally feels that there is hope to moderate if not remove the oppressive regime. Recently a few young Iranians have been frustrated to the point of actively demonstrating against the regime. It is also important to mention many younger Iranians want improved relations with the United States. Most urban Iranians have access to the Internet and satellite television and are able to compare their standard of living with that of the United States and Western Europe.The Kurdish people believe that they are a nation in itself that are deserving of a sovereign homeland. After the formation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, many Kurdish sided with the Iranian leftist and protested against Ayatollah Khomeini and his regime. In 1979, the Kurdish formed a rebellion, which ended with thousands of Kurdish dea d. Shortly after this, Khomeini centered his power and banded Kurds from serving in government office and greatly enforced freedom of expression.The Party of Free Life of Kurdistan is a militant group that is based out of Iraq but has been consistently performing operations in Iran. Iran has prepared to conduct military action against the group and has moved a large portion of Iran’s military to Kurdistan to hinder the uprising of the militant group. The Party of Free Life of Kurdistan would be a great asset to possible future operation in Kurdistan. The party is semi supportive of the United States but will most likely be more than willing to help in U.S operations in Iran due to their long-term goal of destroying the regime. Iran is a tough operational problem set due to their advanced military and technical power. Operations in Iran should be focused on using the people of Iran to include the youth and Kurdish people. Intelligence operations would be better suited for usin g Iran’s youth because they are more supportive of the Untied States and have the ability to work in Iran’s government and military. The Kurdish are not trusted in the government and would not be able to provide accurate intelligence.Operations should be held out of North East Iraq due to the likelihood of Iraq cooperating with the United States during operations. Iraq has a large portion of Kurdistan and it would be easy to work with the Kurds right out of Iraq. Iran and Iraq have a long history of war which only furthers Iraqs likelihood of helping the U. S. Iran is a very dynamic and technologically advanced country, which presents many intelligence issues. The help of Kurdistan, Iranian youth and Iraq would greatly increase the likelihood of operational success in Iran.

Henderson-Hasselbalch Equation and Example

You can calculate the pH of a buffer solution or the concentration of the acid and base using the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation. Heres a look at the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation and a worked example that explains how to apply the equation. Henderson-Hasselbalch Equation The Henderson-Hasselbalch equation relates pH, pKa, and molar concentration (concentration in units of moles per liter): apH pK log ([A-]/[HA]) [A-] molar concentration of a conjugate base [HA] molar concentration of an undissociated weak acid (M) The equation can be rewritten to solve for pOH: pOH pKb log ([HB]/[ B ]) [HB] molar concentration of the conjugate base (M) [ B ] molar concentration of a weak base (M) Example Problem Applying the Henderson-Hasselbalch Equation Calculate the pH of a buffer solution made from 0.20 M HC2H3O2 and 0.50 M C2H3O2- that has an acid dissociation constant for HC2H3O2 of 1.8 x 10-5. Solve this problem by plugging the values into the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation for a weak acid and its conjugate base. pH pKa log ([A-]/[HA]) pH pKa log ([C2H3O2-] / [HC2H3O2]) pH -log (1.8 x 10-5) log (0.50 M / 0.20 M) pH -log (1.8 x 10-5) log (2.5) pH 4.7 0.40 pH 5.1