Saturday, January 25, 2020

Political and economic environment of South Africa

Political and economic environment of South Africa South Africa is a multiparty parliamentary democracy in which constitutional power is shared between the president and the Parliament. The Parliament includes two parts, the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. They are in charge for creating the laws of and taking care of bills involving monetary issues. The third governmental division is an autonomous judiciary. The Constitutional Court is the highest court for interpreting and deciding constitutional issues, while the Supreme Court of Appeal is the highest court for nonconstitutional matters (Bureau of African Affairs, 2010). South Africa achieved independence from Britain on 31 May, 1910 and the official Independence Day is 27th April. In 1994, there was first all-race multiparty election making it the formal end of apartheid. In 2009, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) won its third consecutive election and Jacob Zuma was elected President. There has been a concern that the dominance of the ANC has made South Africa a de-facto one-party state with other parties, such as Democratic Alliance (DA) and Congress of the People (COPE) being in the opposition. President Zumas rise to power has been divisive. Zumas reputation has been stained by several issues, such as accusations for corruption and sexual abuse, which provoked his discharge as Deputy President in 2005. There are still issues concerning Zuma which include his setback in declaring his commercial interests and extra-marital affairs. Zuma was brought to power with a support of two ruling partners powerful Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party. The Zuma administration has mainly remained to the previous administrations economic policies. Nevertheless, there are still ideological tensions within the ANC and among the ANC and its ruling partners. South Africa continues to have broad economic and political relations with the regional and international community that will likely offer a degree of stability. South Africas successful hosting of the World Cup of soccer in June-July was viewed as a coming-out party of sorts for South Africa on the international stage (Whelan, n.d.). Based on the recent political situation in South Africa there are certain challenges ahead. There have been notable transformations in the country after the apartheid period such as programs to develop necessary social services, wide spreading the right to use improved chances in education and business. However, the process of transformation of South Africa is long and requires the persistent dedication of the leaders and people. One of the main contributors in the reconciliation process is The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) that is taking care of abuses of human rights during apartheid era, provide victims with compensation and gives amnesty to those who committed politically motivated crimes. TRC often conflicts with political, economic and cultural interests of different groups of South Africas people. The challenge for the government to balance these confrontations and manage agreements on the basic questions will remain a critical challenge (Bureau of African Affairs, 2010). Even though South African economy is in many areas highly developed, the nature of apartheid caused the countrys international isolation until the 1990s that has left major disadvantages. The economy is in a course of change as the government attempts to manage the inequities of apartheid, encourage growth, and create employment opportunities. Nowadays business in the country is becoming more integrated internationally, and foreign investments have increased. However, the economic inconsistency among population groups is projected to continue for many years, making it a main concern for the government. Economic Environment The economy of South Africa has two sides: one is developed and the other one with most basic infrastructure. Countrys economy has many characteristics of the economies in developing countries, such as separation of labor among formal and informal sectors, irregular distribution of wealth and income. South African government has demonstrated its dedication to open markets, privatization, and a favorable investment climate through the release of a Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) strategy that took place in the period from 1996 to 2000. The results were with various successes. First of all, it achieved greater financial discipline and macroeconomic stability; however it failed to deliver these achievements in main areas. Unemployment continued to rise even after continuing programs of black empowerment. Countrys wealth still remains unequally distributed among racial lines. Second, several budgetary reforms that aimed to provide better reporting, auditing and accountability, and changes in monetary policy in terms of inflation targeting, allowed South Africa to have transparency and predictability that are highly-praised. Third, the process of trade liberalization has progressed significantly since the early 1990s, which together with implementation of World Trade Orga nization (WTO) obligations and initiation of the Doha Development Round shows South Africas recognition of free market values. Today, economic recovery is on track. The fiscal position remains challenging, the forecasts for 2011 include sizable but manageable deficit. The government expects these shortfalls to gradually narrow due to a rebound in growth and slowdown in expenditure growth. International investors remain cautious of emerging markets due to events in Europe (Greece) and South Africa could fall out of favor should perceptions shift. So far, unemployment remains stuck at 25%, with employment gains only being registered in the public sector. The recovery is expected to remain on course and private sector demand should gradually gain force, thus replacing government as a growth driver. A stronger recovery will likely only take hold in 2012. Regardless of the various optimistic economic achievements since 1994, South Africa has had difficulties in attracting significant foreign direct investment. However, the situation started to change, in 2005 South Africa had the largest single FDI when Barclays acquired a majority share in local bank Absa Group Limited. In 2006, the deals between the British Vodafone and South Africas Vodacom were formed. Later on, in 2010, two multibillion dollar deals took place, when HSBC acquired Nedbank and Walmart acquired Shoprite Holdings (Wikipedia, 2010). For international and domestic investors, there are several investment opportunities existing in South Africa since the country is the world leader in several specialized manufacturing areas and it has fast growing service industry, tourism construction that will significant foreign investment over the next few years. On May 15, 2004, South Africa was honored a chance to hold the 2010 FIFA World Cup. That was the biggest event that was ever held in Africa. South Africa made a big effort on improving the infrastructure and security in the country. The economic impact of the World Cup is great for the country, since it will increase the GDP, create numerous jobs and attract foreign investments. South Africas longer-term prospects center on the governments ability to manage a country through a transitional period. Economic policy is generally business friendly, while FDI is welcomed. Success depends on the capability of the government to address the power issue. Social Environment Today there are 49,109,107 people living in the country. More or less half of the population lives in urban areas, and many live in rural areas with insufficient housing. In both rural and urban centers, a lot of people do not have access to water supply and sanitation, electricity, and other services. Due to the fact that population is more mobile today and there are more employment opportunities in the urban areas, the immigration among the citizens is growing rapidly. Poverty is the highest among the Black population, reaching over 60%. There have been several reforms in the education sector and now all inhabitants have access to education, however still around 13,6% of population are illiterate. Even though majority of people have access to health services, public establishments are usually lacking necessary resources and not capable to meet demands. South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV occurrence in the world. Overall, 18,1% of the population is infected by this disease. Every day there are 1,000 new infections occurred, and around 350,000 people die annually from AIDS-related diseases. A 2007-2011 strategic plan offered the arrangement for a widespread reaction to HIV and AIDS, counting a national compress of antiretroviral therapy. Overall, 30% of infected people are currently on antiretroviral therapy. From the time when apartheid was abolished, political violence in South Africa has went down noticeably, however today violent crime is still a major concern in South Africa and these acts are increasingly economically rather than racially motivated. Therefore, there are many robberies targeting upper-class citizens. In 2008, due to the national dissatisfaction with high unemployment rates and illegal immigration, people from other African countries who came to urban cities of South Africa were often targeted by local citizens. In April 2010, Eugene TerreBlanche, a disreputable pro-Apartheid person, was killed by two of his black employees. This event raised concerns of inter-racial violence, however it did not happen. While South African society is experiencing a rapid change, some prejudice against women and people infected by HIV/AIDS continues (Bureau of African Affairs, 2010). Exchange rate policy South Africa has a strong financial structure with a great and active stock exchange that ranks 17th in the world in terms of total market capitalization. South Africa has a floating exchange rate system where the rand exchange rate is mainly established by the foreign exchange market forces under circumstances that exchange control is still applied, however only over inhabitants in terms of capital movements. The government has taken steps to slowly lessen lasting foreign exchange controls (Merwe, n.d.). Private citizens can do a single investment of up to 2,000,000 rand in offshore accounts. During 2007, the percentage of South African shareholdings for FDI outside Africa was decreased from 50% to 25%. This change allows South African companies to hold strategic international partnerships. Moreover, companies that are involved in international business were allowed to use a single Customer Foreign Currency (CFC) account for all intercontinental dealings. Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) was also given a permission to set up a rand currency futures market that aims to expand South Africas financial markets and raise liquidity in the local foreign exchange market. The Reserve Bank no longer recommends fixed rates for buying and selling dollars in bank transactions with the public. Nevertheless, South African Reserve Bank can play a part  in this market by buying or selling  other currencies. Today, in general the policy is to allow market forces to determine the exchange rate.   However, in latest years, however,  the Bank has been building up foreign exchange reserves by purchasing  foreign exchange from the market. Activities like raising the demand for foreign exchange can manipulate the exchange rate. In order to interfere successfully in the foreign exchange market, the Reserve Bank must keep an eye on the market all the time.

Friday, January 17, 2020

Culture Collision Essay

Culture collisions has been both positive negative to those involved such as Columbus and his run in with the Natives Americans, French revolution and the Haitian slaves, and African Imperialism. In any culture, subculture, or family in which belief is valued above thought, and self-surrender is valued above self-expression, and conformity is valued above integrity, those who preserve their self-esteem are likely to be heroic exception. In the culture collisions I learned about most was trying to change others culture and views on life in this eassy I will give more backgrand on the positive and negatives of the collisions of new worlds like Columbus and the new American, Haitia revolution, and Africans new way of life. I start my culture collision with a young sailer by the name of Christopher Columbus and his run in with the Native Americans. Columbus sailed for Spain but was from Itialy. Columbus search was for spices. He thought by sailing west across the Atlantic it would bring a ship to Eastern Asia. His plans made sense, but columbus greatly underestimated earth’s size, and had no idea that two continents lay in his path. Once columbus got to the new world he call the natives, Indiains thinking he was in Asia. †As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts†.(-christopher columbus 1492). After finding out that these people was not what they seem, Columbus and the Natives American made a treaty. The natives were good neighbood they tought Columbus how there lands works, and ways to serve the land. Columbus used this new found world to bring European, Americans, and African cultures together. Not only did he collied the culture he brought foods and animals. Even though the collision had good turn out there was a down fall of this collision with Columbus inhumain way of treating the Natives Americans. In two years, through murder, mutilation, or suicide, half of the 250,000 Indians on Haiti were dead.(-Zinn,). Columbus killed many of the Natives Americans after friending them. After they though him what he needed to know they was not use to him. Even though Columbus collied, the world at what cost was that to all the life’s he took. The next culture collisions was the revolution of Haiti and French,  starting with Napoleon against a free slave named Toussaint L’Ouverture. Haiti had heared to Enlightenment Thinkers talk of equal rights and thought that they should be intitled to the rights also. Napoleon started out as an Italian general and ended up being one of the greatest historical figures. First, Directors requested Napoleon’s support while organizing a coup d’etat. Then, Bonaparte fought Britain in order to benefit France. Lastly, he was called to help creating a new constitution and ended up as the First Consul of France. At home, he ruled using flattery, but also he strongly resisted the opposition. Napoleon is a pro-revolutionist because he denied all the privileges of the aristocracy, created a new constitution, and also established the Napoleonic Code.(-Brainard, 1998-2008)†Neapoleon was one of the greatest generals who ever lived. But at the end of the 18th century a self-educated slave with no military training drove napoleon out of Haiti and led his country to indepenence. The remarkable leader of this slave revolt was Toussaint Breda (later called toussaint l’ouverture, and sometimes the †black napoleon†). Slave revolts from this time normally ended in executions and failure, this time was different.†(-Brainard,1998-2008). Toussaint become the leader of the slaves rebellion. He successfully fought the French who were helped by succumbing to yellow fever in large numbers as well as invading Spanish and British( who wanted to take down napoleon for the beheading of the king and queen). After the French Revolution was in the hands of Jacobins, who leaded the Reign of Terror. So Napoleon and L’Ouverture agree to terms of peace by giving them there indepenence. A few months later l’ouverture was invited to come to a negotiating meeting will full safe conduct. When he got there napoleon betrayed the safe conduct and arrested him, putting him on a ship. Napoleon ordered that l’ouverture be placed in a prison dungeon in the mountains, and murdered by means of cold, starvation, and neglect. L’ouverture died in prison,(-Brainard, 1998-2008)but others carried on his fight and six months later napoleon gave up his fight. This collisions allowed the indepenence of haiti. In africa, Europeons wanted the copper,ivory, gold, and diamonds the africans held in there mines. African’s used slavery as a part of their everyday life. When the Europeans arrived overseas in Africa they were  intrigued by this idea of slavery. They felt that the African people were used to the hot weather and long and hard working days. They thought of the blacks as inferior as well. They needed people to do their labor in the New World and were sent over in the African Slave Trade (Corretti,1500-1800). Slavery had a different meaning in the New World than it did in Europe. People were considered chattel in the New World. This means that one human was the property of another human. The Europeans needed to find people to keep up with the labor on the plantations in the new world (Corretti, 1500-1800).Europeons capitalists carved up the continents in order to ensure their wealth. Many english, french, and germans travelled to make africans chistian. Europeons inslaved these africans and spilt families apart. Africans resistance to the imperialism. Shaka Zulu led the Zulu people againist the Boers and Brithish. Brilliantly fought off troops for 30 years. In the end Britin control Southen Africa. Yaa Asantewaa led the Asante Kingdom against the British in West Africa. Last battle in series of 100 years of war between Asante and England. Menelik the second led Ethiopia against Europeon colonists. Hired Europeons to teach them how to read and use Europeons weapons. In 1896, Ethiopia smashed the Italians; Ethiopia was never colonized.(-malone,2012) Beside ethiopia, the African Imperialism was a negitive culture collision it had no effects on the world in my eyes just the europeon mading others do there durty work. In conclusion, culture collisions privde to be both positive and negitive. Not one collisions had one with out the other, Columbus didn’t decover a New World but brought others together. But then again in his process of doing so he mistreated kind people and almost whiped out the native race. With the Haitian and French Revolution Napoleon ketp the haitain in slaved when he came to power. In the African Imperialism they inslave most of africa because of there industalition and need hard workers for little to no pay after the child labor laws. Well without any of these collisions we wouldn’t be living in the kind of world we do now.

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Are You Yin or Yang, Light or Dark

Each person is classified as yin or yang based on one of the five elements, depending on your year of birth. The strength of your yin or yang nature also depends on the day of the year you are born, as different elements are stronger in different seasons. Yin and Yang by Chinese Zodiac Sign Your Chinese zodiac sign depends on the year of your birth. The years do not completely correspond with Western years, as the year starts on a day other than January 1. If you are born in January or February, you may be under the sign for the previous year. While the animal assigned to each year has an associated element, the years themselves are ascribed being yin or yang in alternating order. Years ending in an even number are yang and those ending in an odd number are yin (keeping in mind that the year doesnt begin January 1, but rather sometime between January 20 to February 21, depending on the lunar calendar). The cycle repeats every 60 years. It is the combination of your birth year, its assigned animal, element, and whether it is a yin or yang year that determines which years may bring good or bad fortune, and to what degree. Consulting a fortune teller or a yearly Chinese almanac can help you find out if you are yin or yang, but you can also figure it out based on certain traits. By Season The cold seasons of fall and winter are the yin seasons and are designated as feminine. The hot seasons of spring and summer are the yang seasons, designated as masculine. Yin and Yang Personalities Moving beyond Chinese astrology, you will find many personality quizzes online to categorize yourself as yin or yang independent of your birth date and year. These quizzes may be taken for entertainment or to confirm personality traits you believe that you have. As is typical, the results are often written in a general way so that no matter what result you get, you will think it applies very well to you. Take such quizzes with a grain of salt. Yin is the dark half of the yin and yang symbol. It means the shady place, and it is cold, wet, yielding, passive, slow, and feminine. Metal and water traits are assigned to yin. Yang is the light half of the symbol and it means the sunny place. It is hot, dry, active, focused, and masculine. Wood and fire traits are assigned to yang. Note that yin and yang are not exclusive. They are meant to interplay and be complementary, not separate. They are not regarded as immutable. They are interdependent and constantly transforming into each other. A little of each is present in the other, as represented by the alternate color dot in the center of each.

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Mindfulness Meditation And Its Psychological Effects Essay

Mindfulness Meditation and its Psychological Effects Almost everyone is preoccupied with happiness but yet the population seems to be increasingly unhappy. As society and human experience changes we can’t help but ask ourselves how can we fix an increasingly unhappy and dissatisfied society? Mindfulness meditation is a progressively popular solution to this issue. Mindfulness meditation stems from Buddhist tradition and is a practice that includes focusing one’s attention. Does mindfulness meditation have real psychological effects? And if so can they help improve quality of life? Many studies have been conducted proving that mindfulness meditation does have real psychological effects and can help individuals live a more meaningful and happy life. This can be proven through research related to neuroscience, depression and happiness. To understand the effects of mindfulness meditation we first must understand how it is practiced and what the purpose of this practice is. 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