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05 April 2023 | Story André Damons and Samkelo Fetile | Photo istock
Union Building Pretoria
The University of the Free State presented its first webinar titled, The threats to South Africa’s domestic stability and security challenges, which is part of the 2023 Thought-Leader Webinar Series on Tuesday 4 April.

The biggest threat to South Africa’s domestic stability and the health of the country’s democracy is its leadership and the continuing political corruption of the ANC.

This is according to the panelists at the University of the Free State (UFS) first Thought-Leader webinar for the year. The webinar titled, The threats to South Africa’s domestic stability and security challenges, had as panelists Busisiwe Mavuso, Chief Executive Officer: Business Leadership South Africa; Palesa Morudu, Director: Strategy and Marketing Clarity Global Strategic Communications; Prof Hussein Solomon, Senior Professor: Centre for Gender and Africa Studies, UFS; and Dr Ivor Chipkin, Co-Founder and Director: New South Institute. Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor was the facilitator. 

Lawlessness is the problem

Mavuso said the essence of the country’s problems is lawlessness. 

“The conversation is not just about threats, but when you look at why these threats exist, it’s because we have a lawlessness problem as a country. South Africa has degenerated into a lawless country. And lawlessness is the symptom. If you want to get to the bottom of why we have a lawlessness problem, my view is that we need to start with the root – the culture issue.

“South Africa’s problem when it comes to corruption, is a culture problem. It is a culture that has been cultivated and set from the top. The political culture in South Africa is that being accused of a crime is not embarrassing. We have a culture conducive to theft, and if that is the culture at the top, what makes you think that as a country people won’t follow suit because the message is clear that crime pays and that nothing will happen to you and you can still hold political office. Better still, you can be the president of the country,” said Mavuso. 

According to her, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime report last year shows that SA is witnessing a dramatic expansion and legitimisation of organised crime which is rising rapidly, with dire implications for the economy and the country’s stability.

Mavuso said countries fall apart when governance fails at government level because it is governments that set countries apart, not geography. Government is what separates good prosperous states from bad failing states. And it is unfortunately where we are as a country because our leaders are not what they ought to be. 

The focus for the country right now, said Mavuso, needs to be economic recovery, trying to attract investment as it is the only way to get out of this economic rut and deal with poverty, unemployment, and inequality crises.  

“I am worried that if we do not get this right, domestic stability is not going to get better. The threat to South Africa is bigger than we comprehend. It really is an issue of leadership. The solution is having the right leadership that is going to set the right tone. Let us agree and accept that South Africa is divorced from leadership which is why we are on the verge of becoming another failed African state.”

Not unique to South Africa

In her presentation, Morudu also focused on international policy and to what extent it may or not lead to negative developments on the domestic front. She said the topic is not unique to SA as the world is going through a deeply unsettling phase. From the threats to democracy, to climate change, to rising inequality, a bloody war in Ukraine, threatening economic recession as a result of COVID-19, and a growing mental health crisis among young people, especially in the US. 

“The world is quite a frightening place at the moment. I am not saying this to say that our problems are minor, but to help us understand the international context and that if we do not respond with some speed to our present challenges, not only will our backsliding economy and politics have very serious consequences for us, but it will also have major consequences for the part we play in the international system.

“I think it makes absolutely no sense for South Africa to align with Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine. Russia invaded a sovereign country; it came into that country with tanks and guns. It is very much like when the apartheid government invaded Angola in 1975 and pretty much stayed there until 1988,” said Morudu. 

According to her, South Africa’s backsliding democratic principles and foreign policy will also find expression in domestic policy. Nothing demonstrated this as keenly as the years of state capture that we lived through over the past 10 to 15 years. State institutions were hollowed out and rendered ineffective. Says Morudu: “The corruption of institutions took hold and thieves inside the state stole with impunity. The end result of that was there for all the world to see during the mass riots of July 2021. The state was literally unable to secure the safety of its own citizens. People had to organise themselves to stop the looting and to provide basic services to one another. It was an extraordinary moment for South Africa.”

Crises of democracy and the crisis of government 

Dr Chipkin said there seems to be a strong correlation in the crises of democracy in South Africa and the crisis of government. “There are questions around the role, integrity or value of democracy and I think a lot of that has to do with the crisis of government, the seeming inability of our public service, our state institutions, to deliver on the very ambitious programme of economic transformation that is part of constitutional promise.”

He said there has been a lot of work done to professionalise the public service in SA. “It is credible, intelligent, durable and I do believe that there is some appetite for change. There is an opportunity for the university to jump into that space, as activists or as academics, to claim and widen that space going forward.”

He believes that reforming the public service is going to close the door or at least narrow a pathway to the kind of corruption we have in SA. “As we make improvements in professionalising public services, I suspect organised crime is going to grow as it will be threatened by these progressive initiatives. It is going to resist. What is pertinent on the agenda is progressive moves towards modernisation in SA need to be accompanied by serious moves to reform and improve the capacity of the police to respond to the situation of interpersonal emergencies of organised crime in particular, and ultimately state capture.”

According to him, the situation [with the police] is not as dire as we think. He said the police as an institution is probably in a better state than we would like to think. “It is not full of incompetent policemen. I think it is full of a thousand capable, committed, honest and sincere policemen trying to do their jobs under circumstances which are terrifying difficult. I think challenges in the police are rather institutional.”   

Corporate sector reeling from criminal violence

Prof Solomon said the country’s security situation is rapidly deteriorating and he fears something really bad is lurking on the horizon for the country and its people. “Consider the following. It is estimated that more than 40% of women in South Africa will be raped in their lifetimes and that only one in nine rapes are reported. It is also estimated that only 14% of perpetrators of rapes are convicted in South Africa,” he said.

He stressed that beyond the level of personal violence, the corporate sector is also reeling from criminal violence. According to him, in 2019 already, 183 infrastructure and construction projects nationwide valued at more than R63 billion have been hindered by violent disruptions by the so-called construction mafia who euphemistically refer to themselves as business forums, typically demanding a 30% stake in projects.

“There has been little to no police intervention to stop this extortion economy and foreign investors flee in the face of the naked violence. As every first-year political science student knows, one of the characteristics of the state is its monopoly over coercive force within its territorial boundaries. The existence of these construction mafias and their ability to exert violence undermines this statehood, therefore South Africa is increasingly being referred to as a failed state.” 

He says this inaction begs the question as to what the state of our security services is. For 20 years terrorist financing in SA has been an issue. In July 2022 the problem of terrorism financing came to the fore when the United Nations Security Council experienced grave concern at how the Islamic State’s tentacles were spreading across the African continent and how SA has been used to fund Islamic State affiliates. 

“The bottom line is this. South Africa’s security situation is worsening. There are concrete recommendations which we can embark upon, but these will not work whilst the ANC is in power. The government lacks the capacity and legitimacy to rein in the forces of chaos which are about to envelop the country,” he said.

News Archive

Wildlife researcher in ground-breaking global research on giraffes
2017-10-20

Description: Giraffe read more Tags: giraffe, conservation, Dr Francois Deacon, Last of the Long Necks, Catching Giants 

Dr Deacon from the Department of Animal, Wildlife and Grassland
Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS),
lead a multispecialist research group to catch
and collar giraffe to collect data that will
contribute to the conservation of these animals.
Photo: Prof Nico Smith


Capturing 51 giraffes without any injuries or mortalities to collect data that will contribute to the conservation of these animals is not for everyone. Capturing a giraffe with minimum risk to the animal and the people involved, requires extraordinary skill, planning, and teamwork. “This exercise is a dangerous task, since a well-placed kick from these large and extremely powerful animals can cause serious injuries. Early in October was the first time that giraffes were captured on such a large scale,” said wildlife researcher Dr Francois Deacon.
 
Dr Deacon from the Department of Animal, Wildlife and Grassland Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS), led a multispecialist research group of over 30 people from 10 different countries to collect information about these little-known animals.

UFS first to collar giraffe
Taking a global approach, the team responsible for this intricate process consisted of wildlife biologists, conservationists, interdisciplinary scientists and five specialist veterinarians who are experienced in catching and working with wild animals. Specialised drugs sponsored by Dr Kobus Raath from Wildlife Pharmaceuticals, tested for the first time and administered with a dart gun were used to tranquillise the giraffe, which then allowed for the GPS collars to be fitted.  These collars, sponsored by Africa Wildlife Tracking, enable the researchers to record the location of individual giraffe for up to two years, give 24/7 readings, irrespective of weather conditions. In this cost-effective manner, data can be gathered on climatic factors, giraffe communication, social behaviour, home ranges, seasonal movements, human and giraffe interaction zones, as well as migration routes and the duration of the migration process. The collars will effectively be used to locate individuals to collect faecal samples for hormonal cycles, stress hormones, nutrient deficiencies based on diet and also internal parasites. 

“This knowledge we gain is the key to all keys in saving this iconic animal from becoming extinct,” said Dr Deacon.

Six years ago, during a pilot study, Dr Deacon was the first researcher to fit giraffes with a GPS collar. Collaring is less invasive and allows researchers to collect detailed samples. Not only was extensive knowledge and experience gained during the process, but he also initiated interest from the filmmaker and conservationist, Ashley Scott Davison, executive producer of Iniosante Inc. 

Getting to tell the story

Davison, who was doing research for a film on giraffe learnt about the silent extinction of the species. In a great number of countries giraffe numbers have been declining by as much as 40% over only a few years since 2000. Today West Africa has between 400 to 600 giraffe left while four out of five giraffes were lost in East Africa since 2000. This is a considerable decline in numbers and poses a real threat to the survival of the species in the longer term. At the end of 2016, the giraffe was classified as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red Data list.

According to Davison, children in school learn about the destruction caused by ivory poaching and habitat loss. But in Africa today, there are six times as many elephants as there are giraffes. 

In the process to find out more about this majestic species Davison learnt of Dr Deacon’s work. After being introduced to and spending time with Dr Deacon, Davison not only describes the UFS as the leader in the conservation of giraffes but he returned to the university, three times to help build a dedicated research team to address unanswered research questions within various disciplines.

Flowing from the affiliation with the UFS is Iniosante’s award-winning production of a documentary, “Last of the Longnecks”. The film has received several awards, including official selection at the 2017 Global Peace Film Festival, the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival and the Environmental Film Festival in the US capital. 

The film team accompanied the multispecialist research team last week to gather footage for a follow-up documentary, “Catching Giants”. This film is expected to air in middle 2018.

 Video clip of the event: https://www.dropbox.com/s/d3kv9we690bwwto/giraffe_UFS_revision-01a.mp4?dl=0

Video clip of the event: RooistoelTV

Former articles on this topic:

18 Nov 2016: http://www.ufs.ac.za/templates/news-archive-item?news=7964 
23 August 2016: http://www.ufs.ac.za/templates/news-archive-item?news=7856 
9 March 2016:Giraffe research broadcast on National Geographic channel
18 Sept 2015 Researchers reach out across continents in giraffe research
29 May 2015: Researchers international leaders in satellite tracking in the wildlife environment

 

 

 

 

 

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