Outline

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This year’s annual conference, held at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa on 11-12 February, again examined and discussed the situation in South Africa (day 1) and the African continent (day 2). It was jointly hosted by the Department of Political Studies and Governance and the Centre for Africa Studies at the University of the Free State and the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), Osaka University.

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As with previous years, discussion on South Africa focused on the political, security, economic and social issues facing the nation, and included sober reflection on the state of the nation as President Cyril Ramaphosa marked his first year in office. Regarding the Africa continent as a whole, speakers presented on a wide variety of issues, from the current state of affairs and long-term future prospects from strategic and military perspectives, to China-Africa relations, radicalization, and governments of national unity, among others. As usual, a considerable amount of variety could be seen in the background and position of the speakers, with both academics and practitioners offering their analysis on the issues at hand.





SACCPS Conference 2019 program


Conference Program【PDF/184KB】


Day 1: South Africa – Between Promise and Peril

Welcome
Prof Heidi Hudson, Dean Faculty of Humanities, UFS
The Future of South Africa’s Universities
Prof. Francis Petersen, Rector, UFS


Session 1: Setting the Scene

  • Critical Reflections on Service Delivery Protests
    Sethulego Matebesi, Head: Department of Sociology, UF

  • The importance of the May 2019 elections: Will it change anything for South Africa?
    Roland Henwood, Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria

  • Toward the 2019 Elections: Reflections on the South African Political Landscape
    Dirk Kotze, Department of Political Sciences, University of South Africa


Session 2: Exploring Issues of Identity in South Africa

  • Exploring the State of Human Rights in South Africa
    Danie Brand, Director: Free State Centre for Human Rights

  • The South African Self as the Colonial Other: Endogenous identity constructs and South African foreign policy
    Bianca Naude, Department of Political Studies and Governance, UFS Qwa Qwa campus

  • The Role of Identity in South Africa
    Piet Croucamp, North-West University


Session 3: Security Considerations

  • Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) for conflict monitoring in contemporary South Africa:
    Challenges and opportunities in a big data context
    Burgert Senekal, Unit for Language Facilitation and Empowerment, UFS and Eduan Kotze, Department of Computer Science and Informatics, UFS

  • Security Sector Reform in South Africa
    Anthoni van Nieuwkerk, Public and Defence Management, University of the Witwatersrand
    Reflections on the Internal Deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF)
    Abel Esterhuyse, Faculty of Military Science, University of Stellenbosch

  • Analysing Parliament’s Review of Defence Deployments between 1998-2018
    Wilhelm Janse van Rensburg, Parliament of the Republic of South Africa


Session 4: Local Government Politics

  • Reflections on the State of Local Government
    Clive Napier, Department of Political Sciences, University of South Africa

  • Political risk in South Africa with particular reference to the functionality and competency of the public service
    Theo Neethling, HoD: Department of Political Studies and Governance, UFS

  • Getting it Right: A New Economy for South Africa
    Philippe Burger, HoD: Department of Economics, UFS




Day 2: Africa – Between Promise and Peril
Session 1: Setting the Scene

  • Does Africa have a bright(er) future: A critical review of eight key indicators
    Theo Neethling, Department of Political Studies and Governance, UFS

  • Africa’s long-term future prospects
    Jakkie Cilliers, Head of African Futures and Innovation, Institute for Security Studies

  • Africa’s changing strategic landscape
    Abel Esterhuyse, Department of Military Strategy, Faculty of Military Science, University of Stellenbosch

  • Africa’s changing strategic landscape Abel Esterhuyse, Department of Military Strategy, Faculty of Military Science, University of Stellenbosch


Session 2: Reflecting about the African strategic landscape

  • Waltzing into Africa: The relevance of Kenneth Waltz for thinking on Africa
    Eben Coetzee, Department of Political Studies and Governance UFS

  • The State of China-Africa Relations
    Rene de Klerk, Department of Political Studies and Governance, UFS

  • Reflections on STTEP (and its predecessor Executive Outcomes) and what it represents for Africa’s security
    Eeben Barlow, Chairperson of Specialized Tasks, Training, Equipment and Protection (STTEP)


Session 3: Issues in African Security

  • Japanese Media Coverage of Conflict in Africa: A long-term comparative analysis
    Virgil Hawkins, Osaka School of International Public Policy

  • The Role of Perceptions in Radicalization in Africa
    Anneli Botha, Department of Political Studies and Governance, UFS

  • Governments of National Unity and Conflict Resolution in Africa
    Dirk Kotze, University of South Africa


Closing Remarks, Prof Theo Neethling and Prof Virgil Hawkins




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