Nic Cheeseman | University of Birmingham
There is much to celebrate as the world marks International Day of Democracy. The last year has seen important democratic breakthroughs in Africa. In Gambia an entrenched autocrat was forced from power. In Ghana, a sitting president lost an election for the first time.
In just the last few weeks, Kenya has also joined the club of precedent- setting nations, after the Supreme Court ruled that the election of President Uhuru Kenyatta was illegal and must be held again. Not only was this a first in Kenya, it was also the first time that the election of a sitting president had been overturned by the judiciary in Africa.
These changes reflect a broader trend in sub-Saharan Africa and much of the world. An increasing number of countries are holding multiparty elections. And an increasing proportion of these states have witnessed a transfer of power from one party or leader to another.
It’s true that more elections are now being held than at any time in human history. But recent highlights in Gambia, Ghana and Kenya mask a problematic reality, namely that the expansion of multi-party politics has often gone hand-in-hand with political and economic exclusion. Over the past five years, the level of political repression and economic inequality has increased in Africa. In turn, this has called into question the extent of the continent’s democratic gains.
<h2>Rising repression</h2>
In recent times high levels of repression have been witnessed across much of the continent. These include the arrest of opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, as he campaigned against his defeat in the 2016 presidential election in Uganda. Also, in Kenya there were a high number of human rights violations when security forces cracked down on opposition protests during the election.
According to Freedom House, an American think tank that rates the level of freedom in every country in the world, the quality of civil liberties in Africa has fallen every year for a decade. Seven out of the 15 countries that showed the biggest deterioration in the quality of their political environment over the last 12 months were African. They are the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Niger, South Sudan, and Zambia. Next year, Tanzania may well join that list.
Other forms of political exclusion are also prevalent. Rwanda leads the world on female legislative representation while Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda also perform well on this metric. But very few women are ever elected in the continent’s largest states such as Angola, Nigeria and the DRC.
Minority groups often suffer a similar fate. In Botswana, a state often lauded as one of those leading on democratic rights in Africa, the indigenous San community have been largely excluded from the political process. Similarly, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer citizens typically find that their human rights are undermined. Fortunately, this is not true of countries with more progressive constitutions such as South Africa.
<h2>Rising inequality</h2>
In many states, political exclusion has gone hand in hand with rising economic inequality. As a result the relative poverty – the gap between the rich and the poor – is growing. This is despite the fact that the level of absolute poverty has fallen in a number of countries.
In other words, serious developmental gains are occurring at the same time that other forms of economic exclusion are intensifying.
One of the most stunning facts about the continent is that the <a href="http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-index-hdi">Human Development Index</a> – a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators – shows that
<blockquote><a href="http://africasacountry.com/2017/01/african-inequality-rising/">every country in Africa is today less equal than it was in 2010</a>.</blockquote>
More worryingly, there is no evidence that democracies are performing better than authoritarian systems on this issue. If anything, the reverse is true. Indeed, one of the most intriguing paradoxes of African democracy is that it is those countries that are most democratic that are most unequal. Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa, three of the continent’s most secure democracies, feature the highest levels of inequality in the world.
The combination of political and economic exclusion in Africa is important for intrinsic and instrumental reasons. Intrinsically, democracy is failing to deliver if it is not helping the worst as much as the best off. Instrumentally, the combination of economic and political exclusion increases the risk that political grievances will develop into instability.
<h2>Building a more inclusive world</h2>
One reason that democratisation has not always reduced the degree of exclusion is that political systems in Africa, much like the rest of the world, tend not to feature inclusive political arrangements.
The continent only features a handful of states that are federal or feature high levels of political devolution. These include Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa and Sudan. Moreover, even within this small sample the ability of opposition parties to get elected at the sub-national level has often been limited, especially in Ethiopia and Sudan. As a result, individuals and groups that lose out in the race for national office rarely enjoy the kind of local self-government that might make them feel that they have a stake in the political system.
Institutional mechanisms to ensure a form of power sharing are also rare. By and large African states are presidential and highly majoritarian. They also do not feature constitutional provisions that guarantee minorities and losing parties a seat at the table.
Indeed, Burundi is currently the only country that comes close to the consociational “ideal type” of inclusive politics outlined by the famous political scientist Arendt Lijphart. But even there the authoritarian bent of President Pierre Nkurunziza has undermined both the letter and the spirit of the country’s carefully designed constitution.
Absent political representation, and with so few checks and balances on the exercise of power, it is unsurprising that minorities and opposition groups get such a raw deal. Of course, this is not to say that political inclusion is a cure-all: there are many established democracies with less exclusive political arrangements that have failed to reduce economic inequality. But until African political systems become less majoritarian and do a better job of protecting the rights and interests of minorities, the true benefits of democratic government are unlikely to be realised.
This article was first published in The Conversation.

Op-Ed: Democratic breakthroughs in Africa – time to celebrate but worries still linger

Observers found some technical problems but no evidence of vote-rigging in Kenya’s presidential election last month, the European Union said on Thursday, based on random checks of tallies from polling stations.
The finding was announced as Kenya gears up for a re-run of the contest between President Uhuru Kenyatta and challenger Raila Odinga on Oct. 17, after the Supreme Court nullified Kenyatta’s victory citing irregularities in the tallying process.
Credible elections would boost Kenya’s role as East Africa’s richest economy and a stable Western ally in a region roiled by conflict. But problems with the vote could spark unrest: 1,200 people died in violence after a disputed 2007 election.
Bolstering the Supreme Court’s findings of technical irregularities, the EU said in a statement it had examined 1,558 randomly selected scanned polling station results forms from 82 constituencies. A small percentage were unreadable, others had mathematical mistakes, and others were missing data or signatures.
The country had nearly 41,000 polling stations and 290 constituencies.
<h3 data-reactid="47">BOYCOTT THREAT</h3>
Odinga alleged that the original vote was marred by fraud and is threatening to boycott the re-run unless some demands are met, including the resignation of key election board officials.
But the EU said it did not find anything indicating deliberate manipulation of the vote in the forms it examined. “There was little variation in the patterns of anomalies &#8230; and no obvious advantage to one camp or another.”
However, the observers noted that more than a quarter of polling stations were severely late in posting their manually completed tallying sheets online. In some cases they only did so after the legal deadline for the opposition to mount court challenges to the results had passed, they noted.
The EU urged the election commission to use standardised forms with security features like serial numbers to reduce the opportunities for confusion in the upcoming polls.
It said the electoral board must do a better job of publicly explaining the processes it would follow in tallying the vote.
In a separate development on Thursday, ruling party lawmaker Ngunjiri Wambugu filed a court petition seeking to have Chief Justice David Maraga removed for gross misconduct in connection with the annulment of the election.
“Chief Justice Maraga needs to be censured, I believe he has participated in gross misconduct, which is unprofessional. I believe that gross misconduct is trying to influence a presidential election,” Wambugu told reporters.
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Additional reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Mark Trevelyan
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EU: spot checks show confusion, not conspiracy in Kenyan election

South Africa’s opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) called on Thursday for global consultancy McKinsey to answer questions at a parliamentary inquiry following a Reuters story about the firm’s alleged involvement in a corruption scandal.
McKinsey has been under scrutiny in recent months in a scandal over the alleged influence businessmen friends of President Jacob Zuma, the Guptas, have over the allocation of state contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Parliament’s Committee on Public Enterprises is investigating whether McKinsey knowingly let funds from state power utility Eskom be diverted to a Gupta company as a way of securing a $78 million contract to advise Eskom.
McKinsey has denied any wrongdoing and says it will cooperate with the authorities if evidence of any impropriety emerges.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that McKinsey ignored suspicions raised over several years by senior staff that companies it worked with &#8212; one of which was controlled by the Gupta family &#8212; were set up to steer state contracts.
Shadow minister of public enterprises Natasha Mazzone said the demand for McKinsey to appear before the committee was as a result of the story.
“This follows the explosive revelations that McKinsey allegedly ignored warnings from senior South African staff regarding the risks accompanying the Gupta-linked company, Trillian Capital, in order to secure a multi-billion rand deal with Eskom,” Mazzone said in a statement.
“The truth is that an Eskom-Trillian contract was far too profitable for McKinsey to lose, which is potentially the reason why they chose to ignore these red flags,” she added.
“We will cooperate fully with any official inquiries and investigations,” McKinsey spokesman Steve John said in response to Mazzone’s statement.
McKinsey is one of several global firms to be dragged into the Gupta scandal.
The British arm of Bell Pottinger collapsed this week after the global public relations agency’s clients deserted it over a racially-charged political campaign it ran for the Guptas.
“The DA and the South African public took on Bell Pottinger, and we will not hesitate to take on McKinsey,” Mazzone said.
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Reporting by Joe Brock; Editing by Catherine Evans
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S.African opposition calls for McKinsey to appear at parliament inquiry

Fitch Ratings’ negative outlook on Kenya’s sovereign debt could be withdrawn if a re-run presidential election goes “relatively” smoothly and debt to GDP levels fall, Fitch said on Thursday.
Fitch currently rates Kenya as B+ with a negative outlook, and this has not been altered since the decision by the Supreme Court to nullify the presidential election, citing irregularities.
A new election has been tentatively scheduled for Oct. 17. It means voters will again have to choose between President Uhuru Kenyatta, 55, and veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, 72.
“If the second election goes relatively smoothly and &#8230; if they achieve a decline in their debt to GDP levels it could lead to a withdrawal of the negative outlook,” said Jan Friederich, a Fitch analyst for the Middle East and Africa.
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Reporting by Claire Milhench; editing by Marc Jones
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Fitch could stabilise Kenya’s rating if election re-run goes smoothly

Thapelo Moleleki | Absa
Agriculture and youth are a compatible pair, particularly in the African context: as one of the continent’s most critical industries and biggest sources of income, contributing a quarter of Africa’s total GDP and employing 70 percent of the labour force, it has the remarkable potential to empower what will be the youngest and biggest workforce in the world by 2040.
Africa has an increasingly youthful population. Already half the population is under the age of 25, and 72 percent of these young people are either unemployed or vulnerable. These astonishing statistics show no signs of diminishing either, with over 330 million young Africans set to enter the job market in the next 20 years and only a third of that number forecast to be able to find wage jobs.
What this indicates is a growing need for workable solutions for the youth to become productive and part of the economic mainstream. This is especially true for agriculture, which has the potential to create jobs across the continent and serve as a driver of growth. However, the industry is currently lagging in building this growth largely because of a lack of access to knowledge, skills, education and land.
Financial literacy and land issues are currently the main barriers to increasing participation in the sector by young people. Access to arable land is difficult to come by for the majority of young citizens, even if they are interested in pursuing a career in the agricultural industry.
In Mozambique, for instance, rights of access to land are tightly controlled as land is owned by the state. The legal framework is currently not in favour of ordinary citizens, but it is heartening that privatization is being debated and access to and use of land is being explored as a means of reducing poverty and creating opportunities for the country’s people.
Mozambique is by no means the only African country facing these types of concerns surrounding land. Land issues are typically driven by policy – or a lack thereof – and in order to overcome these barriers, there is a need for policy makers that understand the intricacies of the industry and respond to the need for change. More robust and focused policies are required to bring young people into farming, so it will be necessary to bring in and hone policy makers that are dedicated to promoting farming to the youth.
Also key to bringing greater numbers of young people into agriculture is the use of tech and innovation. There are already a raft of successful solutions in several markets, including 2Kuze in Kenya and eKilimo in Tanzania, which was introduced by payments technology company Mastercard to bring farmers and buyers together through their phones and digitise the agricultural value chain. With the continued growth of mobile all over the continent, the introduction of these types of solutions will ramp up and help young citizens make a living through agriculture.
Technology on its own will not be able to transform the sector and encourage the youth to follow a career in the area, though. There is a need for investment in the industry through partnerships between both public and private sector organisations. One such example that is bearing fruit is the partnership between the US Agency for International Development (US Aid) and the government, civil society and other private sector allies. The agency is collaborating with partners across the continent, but there have been particularly noteworthy strides made in Ghana in bringing the youth into the farming fold.
Among other things, the organisation’s partnerships are helping it close the gap between young people and the financing they require to work land and build successful careers in the sector. In November last year, for example, US Aid introduced a loan facility of up to $24 million to assist cashew, cereal and fruit smallholder farmers in West Africa.
We have seen that growth at Absa too – with our book growing from $15 million to $52 million. This indicates that there are massive opportunities for growth if the sphere is strengthened and more young people are encouraged to join the industry.
There is much room for development to harness the potential of agriculture in young people’s lives, especially if investment is made in the critical areas of improving financial literacy, building tech and innovation skills and creating a new breed of policy makers in order to see the implementation of better policies. By reinforcing these priorities, agriculture’s role as a creator of jobs and driver of economic growth will become increasingly recognised and respected.
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Closing the gap between the youth and agriculture in Africa

Thobela Mfeti | Glacier by Sanlam
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The South African stokvel economy, with over 11 million local participants, is currently worth R49 billion. Stokvels are about “the power of a collective.” These individuals within the collective come together to pool money towards a common goal. The name stokvel originates from the term “stock fair” which describes cattle auctions run by English settlers in the 19th century. These stock fairs were a platform for farmers and labourers to socialise and pool money together to purchase livestock (African Response, 2012). Today, stokvels have many names such as ‘societies’, ‘umgalelo’ and ‘gooi-gooi’, to name a few. However, the essence of these groups remains to mobilise like-minded individuals towards achieving financial and social goals. More formally, African Response (2012) describes stokvels as a group of savings schemes providing for mutual and financial wellbeing as well as for the social and entertainment needs of their members.
Members of stokvels come together and make contributions of an agreed amount on a regular basis, usually monthly. The group decides on how the money is shared, whether it is a rotating lump sum payment to the members or saved and shared at the end of the stokvel period, which is commonly six months or a year. This decision is mainly dependent on the type of stokvel. Members of stokvels are always saving for something specific; they use these vehicles to raise funds for short- to medium-term financials needs, such as debt repayment (43%), emergency savings (44%), education (25%), groceries (31%) and the rest for clothing (18%) and other specific reasons (16%) such as building or renovating and/or buying cars or saving for a deposit on a car.
<div id="attachment_283980" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-283980" class="wp-image-283980 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Stokvel-Graph.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="289" />Source: Old Mutual Savings and Investment Monitor, July 2017</div>
Five years ago, the African Response Market Researchers (2012) already believed that this industry was undergoing an evolution where investment stokvels were becoming more prevalent. In 2017, the Old Mutual Savings and Investment Monitor survey indicated that informal savings, of which stokvels comprise 53%, were the most popular form of savings and investing, after funeral policies. According to National Treasury economist Olano Makhubela, 60% of stokvels are investment focused while 18% are investment clubs and 22% are grocery stokvels. However, Makhubela questions whether the banking and investment fraternity is truly cognisant of the economic power of stokvels. In order for institutions to service this fast-growing informal industry they need to understand it, how it works and who the participants are.
There is a perception that stokvels are for ‘old women in poor communities’. However stokvels have become increasingly popular even with high income earners. According to the table below, most households with incomes above R14 000 per month in 2016 belonged to a stokvel. The more the household earns, the higher the incidence of belonging to more than one stokvel. In 2017, 42% of households with an income of R40 000 and above belong to more than one stokvel.
<div id="attachment_283981" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-283981" class="wp-image-283981 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Stokvel-Graph_02.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="308" />Source: Old Mutual Savings and Investment Monitor, July 2016</div>
Research done by African Response in 2012 highlighted that stokvels are used by both male (42.6%) and female (57.4%) investors, with investment stokvels skewed towards males (53%) while grocery stokvel members were mostly women (86%). This research also indicated that stokvel members predominantly fall between the ages 25 to 49 years (78.2%). Old Mutual’s 2013 survey also showed that the number of youth (ages 18 to 30 years) using informal savings has increased. According to the survey, 63% of young people save through informal savings compared to 49% of the general population.
Most members of stokvels are employed and economically active members of society. The majority (83%) of these members have some form of employment (formal or informal). Most members fall into living standards measures (LSM) 5 and 6 (32% and 27% respectively). However, these saving schemes are also attracting higher LSMs, with LSMs 8 to 10 now accounting for 20% of stokvel members.
What are the main reasons for belonging to a stokvel and what is the glue that keeps these groups together? The sense of belonging and support is at the centre of why individuals belong to stokvels. There is a sense of being part of a support structure, especially in difficult situations. These are groups of individuals from a certain social circle, whether within the same community, working colleagues or friends. The recruitment of a stokvel member is still highly referrals-based, where someone brings in a friend or a family member that they trust into the group. Therefore stokvels are built on trust; this becomes the foundation of the relationship.
Stokvels are also seen as an effective mechanism of encouraging the savings culture within the group – individuals that feel they cannot save on their own join a stokvel because they believe that the group creates the pressure that helps them commit to their contributions. Stokvels are also seen as an easy way to access interest-free capital at no cost and there are no forms to complete or credit checks to be done.
The main concern when it comes to doing business with stokvels, especially from corporates, is the informal nature and the perception that stokvels are unstructured. However, stokvels do have formalities. Many stokvel members indicate that they are guided by a constitution. A chairperson, treasurers and other portfolios are elected for the efficient running of the group. The meetings are formal with a set agenda followed.
Trust within the groups is an important aspect in understanding this market as well as bridging the gap with financial advice. Many informal savers don’t seek financial advice as they believe the amounts they’re saving are not large enough to warrant consulting an adviser. There is definitely a gap to be closed and a role that can be played by financial advisers in ensuring that these short-term savings are channelled through to longer-term investments which may be more aligned with the interests of the higher income earners or LSM groups in particular.
Investment and stokvels
The size of the informal savings industry and the number of participants is testament to the fact that these investors are serious about their savings and that they have the financial discipline and commitment needed to maintain savings into a financial product.
Stokvels are short term in nature. In a rotating stokvel, each member gets a turn to receive a lump sum of pooled contributions at least once in the lifetime of the stokvel. The lifetime is typically six months or a year, depending on the number of members. Stokvels can be used by individuals to establish a sizable amount of capital to invest in a formal and a longer-term investment structure. ‘Stokvellers’ can use their capital to access longer-term and higher growth assets through products such as tax free savings accounts (TFSA) or retirement annuities (RA). Stokvel savings should be recognised in a holistic financial advice process. It can be seen as a way to meet shorter- to medium-term financial needs while working towards longer and more stable financial goals.
Stokvels can be used to fund retirement savings, with approximately half of the informal savers currently without a pension or provident fund. Most of these people have funeral policies, which goes to show that people generally prepare more for events with certainty such as death than they do for events that are dependent on probability (less certain events) such as retirement. The national savings rate is currently at 16%, therefore South Africans do not save enough. More and more people retire with insufficient savings to fund their retirement, making stokvels an ideal vehicle to be used in bridging this gap towards providing for sustainable investments.
The new face of stokvels: future investment companies
There has been a shift in the stokvel savings community towards longer-term investing, with investment clubs now investing in vehicles such as property or equities. The idea is similar to stokvels where the members contribute to the investment club on a monthly basis, raising the capital to fund the investment for these long-term assets. The structure is usually treated as a company with the members having an equal ownership. These are stokvels which are more formalised in structure and more long-term focused.
Everyone stands to gain
As the corporate sector begins to understand and embrace stokvels, South Africa can increase its saving levels. Corporates cannot underestimate this fast-growing informal sector, however they need to service it differently from how the traditional formal investments are serviced.
The trick is not to remove the short-term nature of stokvels, but rather to overlay it with investment education and long-term investment options. Access to financial advice and education remains the catalyst needed in this fast-growing savings approach. However, most informal savers believe they cannot afford financial advice or do not know how to access it. Also, in this market financial advice is associated with high costs and high levels of savings and therefore not actively pursued. Financial institutions need to debunk these beliefs, reach out to ‘stokvellers’ and assist these savers to channel their hard-earned money toward sustainable, long-term growth investments that lead to wealth creation over time.
This is a powerful way of encouraging savings amongst the informal sector of our economy. There is an element of trust, a sense of belonging and encouragement embedded in the stokvel concept and this needs to be harnessed going forward. Harnessed properly, stokvels have the power to provide broader access to financial products for lower and middle class South Africans and to act as a catalyst towards sustainable wealth creation.

Stokvels: The power of a collective

South African Airways said on Thursday its plan to fly 23 percent fewer flights by the end of the year as it retires five aircraft will not include cutting local routes, the company’s chief executive said in a radio interview.
“No we are not going to do that (cut internal routes), we are looking at the numbers, and the numbers will be the deciding factor,” acting chief executive Musa Zwane said in an interview on Talk Radio 702.
Zwane said the loss-making airline, which depends on government debt guarantees of about 20 billion rand ($1.5 billion), would look at trimming overseas flights as well as routes to east and central Africa.
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Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Shri Navaratnam
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South African Airways says won’t cut internal routes in cost-reduction plan

The attorney general of the island nation of Mauritius stepped down on Wednesday after allegations he had helped launder gambling money.
Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth told reporters he wanted an investigation into Ravi Yerrigadoo to be conducted transparently.
The Indian Ocean island markets itself as a link between Africa and Asia and is striving to move from an economy mostly based on sugar, textiles and tourism toward offshore banking, business outsourcing, luxury real estate and medical tourism. A scandal could hurt its burgeoning financial services industry.
“If Ravi Yerrigadoo is cleared he will be able to resume office,” Jugnauth said.
Mauritius-based L’Express newspaper reported on Wednesday that an affidavit had been filed before the Supreme Court accusing Yerrigadoo of trying to facilitate the transfer of gambling money through a financial structure. It was not clear who had filed the affidavit.
In a statement, Yerrigadoo denied the allegations and said he had quit to avoid the perception of a conflict of interest while the investigation was in progress.
In March 2016, the environment minister was also forced to resign over corruption allegations.
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reporting by Jean Paul Arouff; writing by Katharine Houreld; editing by Ralph Boulton
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Mauritius attorney general steps down amid money laundering probe

Nigeria plans to sell 140.9 billion naira ($433.5 million) worth of treasury bills at an auction next week, the central bank said on Wednesday.
The bank said it plans to offer 28.12 billion naira of three-month debt, 23.68 billion in six-month bills and 89 billion in one-year notes, using the Dutch auction system, on Sept 21. Settlement will be made next day after the auction.
The central bank issues treasury bills twice a month to help the government fund its budget deficit, support commercial lenders in managing liquidity and curb inflation.
Africa’s biggest economy has a series of debt issues lined up this year, including a 100 billion naira debut domestic sukuk it is marketing to fund infrastructure projects.
($1 = 325.0000 naira)
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Reporting by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by Ken Ferris
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Nigeria plans 140BN naira treasury bill sale next week

Andre Van Heerden and Jacques van Wyk, Werksmans Attorneys 
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Issue
If an employee resigns, then decides to retract her resignation but her employer refuses to allow her to do so, has the employer, in so doing, dismissed the employee?
Summary
COURT’S DECISION
In the case of Bawsi Agricultural Workers Union of South Africa obo Hansen/Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd (2017) 26 CCMA 7.1.7 the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (“CCMA”) had to consider this issue.
Najwa Hansen (the “employee”) was employed as a Customer Care Officer by the Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd (“employer”). The employee’s main place of work was the Epping Industria Branch. However, in order to supplement her income, the employee would often work on Sunday at the employer’s Promenade Branch. This was acceptable up until January 2016 because both branches belonged in the same cluster.
However, due to a restructuring exercise these two branches no longer formed part of the same cluster. The employee was then instructed not to work on Sunday’s at the Promenade Branch. Despite this the employee continued working at the Promenade Branch on Sundays.
When the employer discovered this, it instituted disciplinary proceedings against the employee, at which point the employee elected to resign with immediate effect. Upon tendering her resignation the employer refused to accept her immediate resignation noting that she was required to work out her notice period. The employee proceeded to work out her notice period. She also elected to participate in the disciplinary enquiry. The chairperson of the disciplinary enquiry found the employee not guilty of the charges brought against her. The employer then advised the employee that her notice period of thirty days would expire the following day. In response, the employee sought to retract her resignation, which retraction was rejected by the employer.
The employee referred an unfair dismissal dispute to the CCMA, arguing that the employer did not accept her immediate resignation (ie by requiring her to work out the notice period) and that in the circumstances she had been unfairly dismissed. The Commissioner was called upon to decide whether an unfair dismissal had indeed occurred.
Findings
The Commissioner noted that the only factual dispute between the parties was whether the employer had accepted the resignation, but subject to the condition that a 30 day notice period would apply.
The Commissioner relied on the decision of African National Congress v Municipal Manager, George Local Municipality and others [2010] 3 BLLR 221 (SCA) wherein it was held that “resignation must be effective immediately or from a specified date, and being a unilateral legal act, it does not need to be accepted by the intended recipient to be effected.”
When the employee tendered her resignation it did not matter that the employer sought to place a condition on the resignation, or whether it accepted the resignation or not at all. Resignation is a unilateral act. The employee could have resigned immediately, left the employer’s premises and faced the consequence of the employer trying to recover an amount equivalent to her notice pay. Rather, the employee worked out her notice period. This, however, did not mean that her resignation was no longer effective, it simply meant it would come into effect at the end of the notice period.
In so far as the employee’s attempt to retract her resignation is concerned, the Commissioner had regard to the case of Lottering and others v Stellenbosch Municipality (2010) 31 ILJ 2923 (LC) [also reported at [2010] 12 BLLR 1306 (LC) – Ed], wherein it was held that the withdrawal of resignation cannot have any effect unless the employer consents to such withdrawal.
The Commissioner therefore found that no dismissal had taken place and that the Applicant had no claim as a result.
Importance 
This case is a caution to employees who wish to tender their resignation.
Once the resignation has been tendered the employee’s employment will terminate. Should the employee wish to retract their resignation the employer will have to consent.

The pitfalls of resignation – Is your company required to take you upon retraction of resignation?

Angola’s Constitutional Court rejected on Wednesday an appeal by the largest opposition party to annul the results of last month’s election, which gave a landslide victory to the ruling MPLA party.
In a 38 page court document, the Constitutional Court said the evidence presented by The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) did not prove there were any irregularities or biases in the electoral process. The ruling is final and cannot be appealed.
A spokesperson for UNITA said the party did not have any immediate comment.
The People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) won the Aug 23 vote with 61 percent, with UNITA second on 27 percent.
UNITA had argued that in multiple provinces the results presented by the National Electoral Commission differed considerably from their own tally, alleging the results were not the product of local vote counting but were instead centrally engineered.
The Constitutional Court dismissed this argument, saying the polling station tallies presented by UNITA did not show any bias against the party.
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Reporting by Stephen Eisenhammer; editingb by Ralph Boulton
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Angola’s opposition loses appeal to annul election result

Zimbabwe’s Zimplats, which is majority controlled by Impala Platinum, will return some of the land it has not used for mining to the government, chief executive Alexander Mhembere said on Wednesday.
Mhembere said Zimplats would not be seeking compensation for the land at this stage.
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Reporting by Macdonald Dzirutwe; Writing by Joe Brock; Editing by Ed Cropley
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Zimplats to give up some unused land to Zimbabwe government

South African Airways will fly 23 percent fewer flights by the end of the year as it retires five aircraft, the national carrier said on Wednesday, part of a revamp aimed at returning to profit.
Loss-making SAA, which flies one of Africa’s largest fleets, received state funds in July to help it repay debts. It also depends on government debt guarantees of about 20 billion rand ($1.5 billion).
South Africa’s Treasury is considering a 13 billion rand bailout to keep SAA going as bankruptcy could hurt an economy already reduced to “junk” status by ratings agencies Fitch and S&amp;P Global Ratings.
“One narrow-body aircraft has left the fleet, with four more expected to leave the fleet by December 2017,” acting chief executive Musa Zwane told a parliamentary committee.
Zwane said the impact of the reduced flights would mostly be felt among domestic passengers, although regional and international routes will also be affected.
As part of its turnaround strategy, he said the airline was making good progress in bringing down operational and aircraft maintenance costs.
However, liquidity constraints and exposure to volatile currency exchange rates remained a challenge, he said.
“So far there is a positive contribution by the initiatives that we have started and we are on the right footing,” he said.
The Treasury last month appointed Vodacom Group executive Vuyani Jarana as SAA chief executive. He is the first permanent leader at SAA for two years.
The deputy minister of finance told Reuters there was a “strong possibility” that Jarana will take up his new role by 1 November.
South Africa’s cabinet is considering selling its stake in landline provider Telkom, where government holds a 39 percent stake, to help raise 10 billion rand to cover a large part of SAA’s total 13 billion rand bailout.
National Treasury director-general Dondo Mogajane told reporters they were planning to bring a special appropriation bill for 10 billion rand to parliament within a month.
“That is the plan,” he said.
Treasury officials said discussions were continuing with lenders ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline when debts of around 6.8 billion rand are due to mature.
In July, the airline was provided state funds to repay loans of about 2.3 billion rand to Standard Chartered.
SAA is now in talks to make an initial part-payment on 1.8 billion rand owed to Citibank and help stave off a default by month-end, Mogajane said earlier.
“Currently, most of them are prepared to roll over and the issue is up to when,” Mogajane said in relation to nine other lenders owed money by SAA.
SAA Chief Financial Officer Phumeza Nhantsi said they were negotiating to have the loans extended by at least 18 months.
($1 = 13.0415 rand)
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Editing by James Macharia and Jason Neely
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South African Airways to shrink services as part of revamp

By: Chamber of Mines
The Chamber of Mines advises that, following an approach by legal counsel representing Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, the Chamber has reached an agreement with him through his legal counsel in respect of the Chamber’s urgent interdict to prevent the implementation of the Reviewed Mining Charter, as published by the DMR on 15 June 2017. In terms of the agreement, the Minister of Mineral Resources has given a written undertaking that the Reviewed Mining Charter will not be implemented until judgment has been handed down in respect of the Chamber’s review application, which has rendered the granting of an interdict by the court not necessary at this stage. The Minister has also undertaken that if he makes any reference in public to the Reviewed Mining Charter, he will simultaneously make reference to his written undertaking and that the Chamber has brought review proceedings to set aside the Charter.
In the interests of expediting the review process, which is the industry’s primary focus, the Chamber has agreed that the matter be heard on 13 and 14 December 2017 by a full bench of judges. The Minister’s written undertaking will be presented to the High Court of Gauteng (Pretoria) on 14 September 2017 for noting.

Chamber of Mines agrees to minister’s written undertaking

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta opened parliament on Tuesday by warning against divisive and destructive politics, while opposition lawmakers boycotted the legislature and rallied to demand the resignation of election officials.
Kenya held parliamentary, presidential and local elections on Aug. 8, but the Supreme Court nullified the presidential results three weeks later, citing irregularities in the tallying process. New elections are scheduled for Oct. 17.
While calling for unity and respect for the constitution, Kenyatta delivered a thinly veiled warning to the opposition lawmakers who had chosen to stay away from parliament.
“My government will not tolerate anyone intent on disrupting our hard-won peace and stability. Under no circumstances must Kenyans ever allow our free competitive processes to become a threat to the peace and security of our nation,” he said, to foot-stamping and cheering from ruling party legislators.
“We shall continue to encourage vibrant democratic competition, we shall not allow destructive division.”
As he spoke, opposition leaders held a rally in Kibera, the capital’s largest slum, rejecting the Oct. 17 date unless officials on the election board, whom they blame for mishandling the polls, resign.
“Now we are putting it squarely to you that the Supreme Court of this country has found you incompetent,” said Kalonzo Musyoka, running mate of Kenyatta’s presidential rival Raila Odinga.
The surprise election annulment initially raised fears of short-term political turmoil in Kenya, the region’s richest nation and a staunch Western ally in a region roiled by conflict.
But it also raised hopes among frustrated opposition supporters, who believe the last three elections have been stolen from them, that the east African nation’s tarnished courts could deliver them justice.
That hope helped tamp down protests that threatened to spark the kind of violence that followed disputed 2007 elections, when around 1,200 people were killed in ethnic bloodletting.
In a separate development, a ruling party lawmaker and a former opposition senator appeared in a Nairobi court, charged with incitement to violence over speeches they had made in the past week. Both were freed on a 300,000 Kenya shilling ($3,000) bond.
A government body monitoring hate speech says that it has seen a spike since the Supreme Court ruling. More than three times as many incidents were reported in the week following the ruling than during the whole 10-week election campaign, it said.
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Additional reporting by Duncan Miriri and Humphrey Malalo; Editing by Mark Trevelyan
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Opposition stays away from parliament as Kenyatta warns against ‘destructive division’

Nuraan Davids and Yusef Waghid | Stellenbosch University
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More and more, educational leaders and managers in schools and universities are being confronted with various expressions of hate speech.
In Cape Town, South Africa, a group of high school boys compiled a songwhich included the lyrics: “I feel pain unearthly because of my hatred of kaffirs”. The word “kaffir” is an apartheid-era racial slur and possibly the most offensive word in the South African lexicon. At the University of Witwatersrand, also in South Africa, the phrase “Kill a Jew” was spray-painted on one of its main buildings.
Similarly, in the US, racist flyers were found posted on the campus of Weber State University in Utah. The flyers were recruiting students to the white supremacist Alt-Right movement and declared that “diversity is a code word for White genocide”.
In May this year Stellenbosch University in South Africa became another example. Three students put up Nazi-inspired posters on campus advertising an “Anglo-Afrikaner student” event under the motto “Fight for Stellenbosch”.
The incident caused a massive outcry and the university acted immediately and decisively to condemn the inflammatory hate speech. The students were found guilty of contravening the Student Disciplinary Code, which states that
<blockquote>A student shall not act in a manner that is racist, unfairly discriminatory, violent, grossly insulting, abusive or intimidating against any other person.
Incidents like these bring to the fore the question of how institutions of learning can and should be responding to such controversies, which lay bare our simmering intolerance of difference and “otherness”.
In our latest book, Tolerance and Dissent within Education: On cultivating Debate and Understanding, we look at how the concept of tolerance might be understood, cultivated and enacted in and through education.
One of the arguments we make is that schools and universities should deliberately widen the exposure of students and learners to a diversity of people and views. This will develop their capacities as democratic citizens and enhance the human quest for flourishing in everyday social life.
<h2>What is tolerance?</h2>
Andrew Murphy, a scholar from Rutgers University, describes tolerance as
<blockquote>the self-restraint of not restricting or reducing the rights or autonomy of others, or other ways of being and acting.</blockquote>
But in a global context of heightened bigotry, some people see an appeal to tolerance as a defence of hate speech or racism. This is not what tolerance is. All views and actions should only be tolerated to the extent that they don’t harm others – physically, psychologically or emotionally.
According to the classical Greek philosopher Socrates, tolerance is about the pursuit of truth. It is about being prepared to see the value of another person’s perspective or truth. This necessarily means humbling oneself and acknowledging one’s own limitations and fallibility. Tolerance, then, is fundamentally about equality; about recognising the capacity for both moral truth and error in ourselves and others.
Amy Gutmann from the University of Pennsylvania describes toleranceas
<blockquote>agreeing to disagree about beliefs and practices that are a matter of basic liberty.</blockquote>
This, she argues, is a way to ensure larger civic participation of people, who are recognised as equals by their fellow citizens.
Simply put, tolerance is the choice to “agree to disagree” because we respect each other as moral and civic equals.
<h2>Difference, democracy and human flourishing</h2>
Whenever diverse communities of people come together there is the potential for peaceful coexistence as well as for conflict. If we were to all agree on what to think or how to act the need for tolerance would disappear. But we don’t. So exercising tolerance is an acknowledgement of difference and disagreement – and, at the same time, a decision to co-exist despite these differences, rather than destroy them or each other.
This is fundamental to democracy, which is about equality and the right of people to believe what they believe. Agreement or consensus may be a desired end –- if only to resolve conflict – but it is not a democratic imperative. Tolerance is the tool that helps us democratically manage the dynamics of any plural community or society.
But the value of tolerance goes beyond that. In protecting and cultivating diversity, tolerance also creates the conditions for human flourishing. Disagreement and dissent can be seen as processes of “mutual incitement”. When people disagree, they are in fact inciting each other to think anew and differently about established ideas or beliefs. It is through disagreement that we dislodge ourselves from rigid ways of thinking and being – and refine our ideas and positions.
<h2>The responsibilities of schools and universities</h2>
Schools and universities must make sure that students and learners are exposed to multiple perspectives and ways of doing things. They have to encounter different viewpoints and arguments, and especially those that disrupt their own ways of thinking and their ideas of the world.
It is important that the teacher’s worldview isn’t the only one propagated in the classroom. This means teaching in a way such that pupils or students are invited to bring their own identities and equal intelligence into the conversation. They must be encouraged to engage in deliberation and debate, with mutual respect.
Critical to any educative endeavour is an understanding that there is always the possibility of another perspective and, hence, disagreement. If educational institutions can protect learners from hate speech, whilst also successfully teaching them this this, they will prepare them to become both better democratic citizens and richer people.</blockquote>
This article was first published in The Conversation.

How tolerance enhances democracy and the quest for human flourishing

Legislators from Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s party on Tuesday agreed to introduce a law to remove an age limit from the country’s constitution, potentially allowing him to extend his rule, two lawmakers told Reuters.
The East African country’s existing constitution bars anyone over 75 from standing as a presidential candidate. Museveni, 73, is already one of Africa’s longest-serving rulers and has been in charge for more than three decades. The next elections are due in 2021.
Oil-rich Uganda is a staunch Western ally and receives substantial aid and support for its security forces, partly for sending troops to Somalia as part of an African Union peacekeeping mission.
When he first came to power, Museveni was lauded for helping restore stability after two murderous dictators known to use torture and extrajudicial executions widely, and for directing the suppression of a brutal insurgency known for mutilating civilians and kidnapping children.
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But over the years, criticism has mounted over the suppression of the political opposition, widespread corruption and a poor human rights record.
Simeo Nsubuga, a legislator from Museveni’s ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party, told Reuters the move to amend the constitution was agreed in a special meeting of the party’s House members.
“We agreed that a private member should come up with a constitutional amendment bill to remove the age limit,” Nsubuga said, adding the bill would be introduced on the floor next week.
In July, Uganda’s deputy attorney general said cabinet was planning to introduce similar legislation.
Most Ugandan laws are introduced by the government via cabinet ministers. But Kafuuzi Jackson Karugaba, another NRM legislator, told Reuters they had decided to take the option of a private member’s bill because cabinet was moving “too slowly.”
In 2005, NRM legislators changed the constitution and removed a limit of two five-year terms, allowing Museveni to extend his reign.
Independent observers said that last year’s presidential election lacked transparency and that the poll body lacked credibility.
The ageing leader has himself not stated whether he intends to seek another term, and officials have said the proposed constitutional change was not specifically to benefit the incumbent but all of Uganda’s future leaders.
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Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Hugh Lawson
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Op-Ed: Democratic breakthroughs in Africa – time to celebrate but worries still linger

EU: spot checks show confusion, not conspiracy in Kenyan election

S.African opposition calls for McKinsey to appear at parliament inquiry

Fitch could stabilise Kenya’s rating if election re-run goes smoothly

Closing the gap between the youth and agriculture in Africa

Stokvels: The power of a collective

South African Airways says won’t cut internal routes in cost-reduction plan

Mauritius attorney general steps down amid money laundering probe

Nigeria plans 140BN naira treasury bill sale next week

The pitfalls of resignation – Is your company required to take you upon retraction of resignation?

Angola’s opposition loses appeal to annul election result

Zimplats to give up some unused land to Zimbabwe government

South African Airways to shrink services as part of revamp

Chamber of Mines agrees to minister’s written undertaking

Opposition stays away from parliament as Kenyatta warns against ‘destructive division’

How tolerance enhances democracy and the quest for human flourishing

Uganda ruling party seeks to scrap age limit to extend president’s rule

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