Contributors join together in this tenth ACLARS volume to propose a framing of human rights in terms of African conceptions of human dignity. Following on the signing of the Punta del Este and Botswana Declarations of Human Dignity for Everyone Everywhere in 2018 and 2023, contributors discuss human dignity as an African and indigenous concept grounded in relationship, community, and an overarching ethic of Ubuntu. Chapters further explore human dignityOs many meanings and relation to other rights in the African context, as well as human dignityOs connection to basic human needs, state obligations, religion and theology, gender and age, and the environment.

The role parliaments play in governance is fundamentally political, and as a result, the institutional side of parliamentary organisations is often overlooked. This volume, together with the theoretical volume African Parliaments: Evidence systems for governance and development, takes a practical look at African parliaments as institutions, and explores the ways in which their structures and processes influence the use of evidence for decision making. A comparative approach helps the reader get a practical view of how this governance interplay is enacted within portfolio committees, on chamber floors, and on the campaign trail. This volume looks at various models parliaments have used to institutionalise evidence use, and considers the implications this has for governance.

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Following the release of the Public ProtectorOs State of Capture Report in November 2016, South Africans have been witness to an explosion of almost daily revelations of corruption, mismanagement and abuses by those entrusted to lead the nation. The extent of this betrayal is overwhelming and it is often difficult to distil what actually happened during the Zuma administration. This book draws on the insights and expertise of 19 contributors from various sectors and disciplines to provide an account of what transpired at strategic sites of the state capture project. The ongoing threat of state capture demands a response that probes beyond what happened to understanding how it was allowed to happen. The stubborn culture of corruption and misgovernance continue to manifest unabated and the predatory practices which enable state capture have not yet been disrupted. It is our hope that the various case studies and analyses presented in this book will contribute to confronting these shortcomings in current discourse, and open avenues for progressive deliberation on how to collectively reclaim the prospects of a just and prosperous South Africa for all.

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This book analyses the decline of the ANC in Nelson Mandela Bay, the economic hub of the Eastern Cape, also known as the party’s heartland. Over the course of last twenty-four years, party dominant dilemmas have plagued the ANC in the Nelson Mandela Bay. This includes corruption, political factionalism, blurring the line between party and state, as well as engaging in spoils politics. While this metro had encapsulated the ‘Dream of 94’ since the inception of democracy in South Africa, weak quality of governance, lack of political efficacy, and mediocre, if not anorexic, service delivery effectively led to the ANC losing this symbolically important metropolitan municipality. With the loss of Nelson Mandela Bay, voters effectively demonstrated that they are no longer willing to accept the liberation narrative and elusive promise of a better tomorrow. The ANC can no longer rely on the political capital of the liberation struggle in securing and maintaining its electorally dominant position.
The loss of Nelson Mandela Bay, coupled with Johannesburg and Tshwane, could potentially signal the end of ANC electoral dominance. The author tracks the electoral decline of the ANC and analyses the dynamics that impact on its ability to potentially sustain its political and electoral dominant position in future elections.

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