Political Sciences / M.A. (International Politics)

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Dissertation (PhD)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The international relations of regions, cities and towns include a variety of activities of which the phenomenon of twinning, or the establishment of a relationship with a community in a foreign country, is normally the most prominent and long lasting. Twinning originated in the aftermath of World War Two in Europe and the concept soon spread to America, where it was defined as a new form of “citizen-to-citizen” diplomacy. Twinning has since evolved through three distinct phases: the reciprocal phase; the associative phase; and the commercial exchange phase, and an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 cities and towns globally are involved in such relationships. This study, which aimed to identify and assess the extent of international twinning relations of South African provinces (regions) and local communities (in cities and towns) and to establish guidelines for twinning success, was conducted in an interdisciplinary manner and had to cover a wide terrain as the field of twinning worldwide is under-researched. The twinning between two communities in different countries was defined as a strategic alliance, and the bodies of literature on strategic alliances in the private sector as well as on the factors that lead to twinning success were investigated. A systems approach was followed and the twinning phenomenon was investigated from a macro perspective by investigating the context, content and process of the phenomenon worldwide; from a meso perspective by investigating the context of twinning in South Africa; and from a micro perspective by investigating the content and process of South African twinnings. The literature study revealed duplication and confusion in the terminology used to describe twinning and its related concepts, and conceptual clarification was necessary to develop a common terminology for the future. In this study, therefore, an important distinction is also made between the twinning of municipalities, and the twinning of communities. From the literature study, success factors for twinning were identified. Based on these, a conceptual model of twinning was developed which embodies the best-practices content and process elements of twinning, and this model was used to construct the primary research questionnaire. Elements of the conceptual twinning model were subjected to significance testing. It was confirmed that similarities of the personalities on both sides, partner commitment, understanding, cultural sensitivity, positive partner attitude, community awareness of the twinning, existence of a business plan, quality of management, management commitment and active marketing relate significantly positively to alliance success. The primary research conducted amongst all provinces and municipalities in South Africa, combined with secondary research sources, revealed the number and extent of the twinnings of South African communities and municipalities with foreign partners. Altogether 35 relationships were identified that have lapsed, 130 current relationships exist, and 41 new ones are in the process of being concluded. Another 60 relationships exist on the provincial level. These twinnings represent non-central-government-level linkages with 45 foreign countries, but only a few of these relationships are successful in meeting their original objectives. Some of the key findings of the study are that twinning is becoming more important globally as multilateral organisations acknowledge the importance of international relations at the local level and that twinning can play a big part in local economic development and promoting unity on the African continent, but is lacking in South Africa due to an absence of back-up and support, a lack of coordination and synergies between the three spheres of government, a lack of marketing, a lack of municipal capacity at local level, and the non-compliance of municipalities with official policy. The main positive outcomes of South African relationships were reported in the areas of knowledge sharing and training, and financial benefits. Key recommendations are that on the macro level, global coordination and assistance schemes for twinning be improved and that community ownership of twinning be put back at the centre of the focus of twinning; on the meso level, an organisation be formed to facilitate South African twinnings and to provide support; and at the micro level, alternative sources of funding be sought and that the process model developed in the study be used to increase the possibility of twinning success. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die internasionale verhoudinge van streke, stede en dorpe sluit ‘n groot verskeidenheid aktiwiteite in waarvan die verskynsel van tweelingbande (“twinning”), of die vestiging van ‘n verhouding met ‘n gemeenskap in ‘n vreemde land, normaalweg die prominentste en langslewende is. Die vestiging van tweelingbande het sy oorsprong in die nagevolge van die Tweede Wêreldoorlog in Europa, waarna die konsep spoedig versprei het na Amerika waar dit gedefinieer is as ‘n nuwe vorm van “burger-tot-burger”-diplomasie. Tweelingvorming het intussen ontwikkel deur drie duidelike fases: die wederkerige fase; die assosiatiewe fase; en die kommersiële-uitruilfase, en ‘n geraamde 15,000 tot 20,000 stede en dorpe wêreldwyd is betrokke in sulke verhoudinge. Hierdie studie, wat ten doel gehad het om die internasionale tweelingbande van Suid- Afrikaanse provinsies (streke) en plaaslike gemeenskappe (in dorpe en stede) te identifiseer en die omvang daarvan te bepaal en om riglyne vir tweelingbandsukses vas te stel, is onderneem op ‘n interdisiplinêre wyse en moes ‘n wye terrein dek aangesien daar min navorsing oor tweelingbande wêreldwyd bestaan. Die tweelingvorming van twee gemeenskappe in verskillende lande is gedefinieer as ‘n strategiese alliansie en die literatuur oor strategiese alliansies in die privaat sektor, sowel as die literatuur oor faktore wat lei tot tweelingbandsukses, is ondersoek. ‘n Stelselbenadering is gevolg en die tweelingverskynsel is ondersoek vanuit ‘n makroperspektief deur ‘n ondersoek na die konteks, inhoud en proses van die verskynsel wêreldwyd; vanuit ‘n mesoperspektief deur ‘n ondersoek na die konteks van tweelingbande in Suid Afrika; en vanuit ‘n mikroperspektief deur ‘n ondersoek na die inhoud en proses van Suid-Afrikaanse tweelingbande. Die literatuurstudie het duplikasie en verwarring ontbloot in die terminologie wat gebruik word om tweelingbande en verwante konsepte te beskryf, en konseptuele verheldering was nodig om ‘n gemeenskaplike terminologie vir die toekoms te ontwikkel. ‘n Belangrike onderskeid is gevolglik ook getref tussen die tweelingbande van munisipaliteite en die tweelingbande van gemeenskappe. Vanuit die literatuurstudie is suksesfaktore vir tweelingbande geïdentifiseer. Op grond hiervan is ‘n konseptuele model van tweelingvorming ontwikkel wat die bestepraktyk-inhoud en -prosesse omvat, en hierdie model is gebruik om die primêre navorsingsvraelys saam te stel. Elemente van die konseptuele model is daarna onderwerp aan beduidendheidstoetsing en dit is bevestig dat ooreenkomste in die persoonlikhede aan beide kante, vennootverbintenis, begrip, kulturele sensiwiteit, positiewe vennoothouding, gemeenskapsbewustheid van die tweelingband, bestaan van ‘n sakeplan, gehalte van bestuur, bestuursverbintenis, en aktiewe bemarking ‘n beduidende positiewe verhouding met alliansiesukses het. Die primêre navorsing wat onderneem is onder alle provinsies en munisipaliteite in Suid- Afrika, gekombineer met sekondêre navorsingsbronne, het die aantal en omvang van tweelingbande van Suid-Afrikaanse munisipaliteite en gemeenskappe met vennote uit vreemde lande blootgelê. Altesame 35 verhoudings is geïdentifiseer wat verval het, 130 huidige verhoudings bestaan, en 41 nuwes is in die proses van finalisering. ‘n Verdere 60 verhoudings bestaan op die provinsiale vlak. Hierdie tweelingbande verteenwoordig niesentraleregeringsvlakbande met 45 vreemde lande, maar net ‘n aantal van hierdie verhoudinge is suksesvol wat die bereiking van oorspronklike doelwitte betref. Van die sleutelbevindinge van die studie is dat tweelingvorming wêreldwyd meer belangrik word aangesien multilaterale organisasies die belangrikheid van internasionale verhoudings op die plaaslike vlak erken en dat tweelingbande ‘n groot rol kan speel in plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkeling en die bevordering van eenheid op die Afrika-kontinent, maar dat tweelingvorming in Suid-Afrika te kort skiet as gevolg van ‘n tekort aan ondersteuning, ‘n tekort aan koördinasie en sinergie tussen die drie regeringsfere, ‘n tekort aan bemarking, ‘n tekort aan munisipale kapasiteit op plaaslike vlak, en die nie-nakoming van amptelike beleid deur munisipaliteite. Die belangrikste positiewe uitkomste van Suid-Afrikaanse verhoudinge is gerapporteer in die areas van kennisdeling en opleiding, en finansiële voordele. Sleutelaanbevelings is dat op die makrovlak, wêreldwye koördinasie van en hulpskemas vir tweelingvorming verbeter word en dat gemeenskapseienaarskap van tweelingbande weer die fokus van tweelingvorming word; op die mesovlak, dat ‘n organisasie in Suid-Afrika gevorm word om Suid-Afrikaanse tweelingbande te fasiliteer en om ondersteuning te verskaf; en op die mikrovlak, dat alternatiewe befondsingsbronne gesoek word en dat die prosesmodel wat in die studie ontwikkel is, gebruik word om die moontlikheid van tweelingbandsukses te verhoog.

Thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of M.Sc. Building(Construction Project Management) to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, School of Construction Economics and Management at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2017 / When firms expand into foreign markets, selecting the right entry mode strategy can be challenging and there are many variables that should be taken into consideration. There are various theories and constructs in the study of entry mode choice and risk is one of the common theories. It is therefore imperative for managers to take strategic international risks into consideration when deciding on an entry mode strategy. This study investigates the influence of these risk variables on the selection of entry mode strategies by managers within South Africa’s grade 9 construction firms. Research on entry mode choice dates back as far as the 1980’s and over the years many theories have been developed, thus a deductive research approach has been adopted for this study. Research aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of strategic international risk variables on the preferred entry mode strategy, within the context of South Africa’s construction industry focusing on grade 9 firms registered with the CIDB (Construction Industry Development Board). Research questions: What is the general profile of managers in South Africa’s grade 9 construction firms involved with the entry mode strategy decision? Which entry mode strategy is preferred by managers in South Africa’s grade 9 construction firms, when venturing into other construction markets on the African continent? and, what influence do strategic international risk variables have on the preferred entry mode choice by managers in South Africa’s grade 9 construction firms? Research methodology: The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of strategic international risks on the preferred entry mode choice. The study is founded on a direct realist philosophy. The survey research strategy was used and a questionnaire was sent out to collect the required data and the mono-method research choice was applied to collect and analyse the data. Furthermore, a cross-sectional time horizon has been applied in this study. The qualitative data collection method was used together with the qualitative content analysis method of analysis. Research procedure: To answer the above questions, Grade 9 contractors / XL2018

Thesis (M.M. (Public and Development Management))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits School of Governance, 2017 / This thesis was greatly motivated by the desire to understand and explain the foreign policy decision making process of the South African government on climate change. The study deploys Allison and Zelikow’s triple model from their famous analysis of the Cuban Missile Crisis as lenses in unmasking the complexities associated with processes of foreign policy decision making, on climate decisions in South Africa. In spite of the multi-sectoral interventions of government, business, NGO’s, civil society and academics in mitigating the impact of climate change, the decision making process excluded participation of other stakeholders at the political level. This was evident in 2009 at Copenhagen when the president announced that South Africa had committed itself to reduce carbon emissions by 34% in 2020 and 42% in 2025. A possible explanation why the multi-stakeholders participation was excluded in setting these numerical targets in the climate change decision making process, lies with the failure of the incumbent government to uphold the democratic principles of inclusive participation. Drawing from the work of Allison and Zelikow (1999), that state that it is not adequate to explain government’s events on decision making through the Rational Actor Model only, it is more useful to also consider the organisational processes and government politics from which the decision emerged. In this regard, interviews and documentary analysis were deployed within a qualitative case study design to gain an indepth understanding of South African foreign policy decision making processes on climate change targets. Overwhelmingly, the study established that there was a gross exclusion of multi-stakeholders participation in foreign policy decision making on setting the climate targets, ignoring the effects of the outcome of those decisions on socio-economic issues. This study therefore concluded that, although efforts are being put into place to ensure maximum participation by both government and other actors, there is still a need for South African government to allow participation of external actors. Premised in the forgoing conclusion, it is recommended that South African government foreign policy decisions on climate change can work better if entrenched on other multi-stakeholders’ decisions and following inclusive participation at the political level. / GR2018

Africa is at the cross roads as it redefines itself within a new framework of political and economic linkages. The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States illustrate both the dangers of reckless foreign policy choices as well as the need for cooperation with regard to transnational threats. From the exclusive policies of ‘total onslaught’ to the inclusive policies of the African Renaissance, South Africa has tried almost everything but remains unable to find an acceptable niche for herself in Southern Africa. Deep suspicions about South African intentions and commitment persist despite the reality of shared fears of further marginalisation, and aspirations of more propitious integration, within a rapidly globalising international environment. In understanding these dynamics, this study traces the evolution of South Africa’s contemporary relationship with the Southern African region and rationalizes this relationship within a broader theoretical framework based on development, discourse and hegemonic stability theories as well as the middle-power and pivot-state paradigms. In addition, the study assesses South Africa’s foreign policy options in light of both domestic constraints and the perceptions of other countries within the region. In essence, South Africa’s regional foreign policy dilemma is a product of the country’s inability to adjust timeously its strategic compass in the mercurial world of foreign policy where a country seeking to advance an ambitious foreign policy agenda will always be confronted with powers arrayed against it, forces that it cannot manage and battles that it cannot win. As this thesis argues, South Africa’s inability to convince other states that her vision is complimentary to their needs has inhibited her ability to engineer a process of transformation and development in the region. The challenge for the South African government is to shift the power dynamic against which projections of South African dominance trigger fierce rejection or reluctant cooperation by regional governments. This foreign policy drive has to be underpinned by a clearly defined developmental strategy that is able to compromise between high ideals and stark realities, between a preference for paternalistically reshaping regional relations and realising that given internal challenges and international expectations, South Africa needs the region perhaps even more than the region needs South Africa. In order to restore some balance to this trend, regional relations grounded in transformative development must be seen as a critical component of South Africa’s national interests. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

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Barely twenty years after the end of the Cold War, the international political system has experienced an unanticipated shift from a United States (US) led unipolar global order to a new order marked by its fresh wave of multiple competitors (Prys 2009:137). The global burden on the US had reciprocally inspired the appearance of a range of actors: regional (middle) powers such as Brazil, China, India and Russia; European Union (EU); South Africa and Nigeria. Consequently, an increasing level of expectation has been imposed on regional powers to provide the right leadership direction capable of promoting international stability and paving the way for development in these regions. In the light of the above, this thesis examines the implication of the hegemonic stability theory in understanding the power dynamics within Africa. In essence, the study specifically seeks to operationalize the concept of regional hegemony by drawing on insights from a comparative foreign policy study of African regional powers with emphasis on Nigeria and South Africa. Using largely qualitative and secondary data supplemented with primary data, the study examines the underlying assertions of a possible hegemonic influence of both countries and, thus, addresses the dearth of literature on regional power and leadership dynamics - particularly in Africa. Since the celebrated entry of South Africa into the African democratic arena, the resultant implication of this has been a change in the power, leadership and economic equations in Africa. From a theoretical projection of hegemonic stability theory, this study concludes that there is undeniable linkage between the foreign policies of Nigeria and South Africa and their hegemonic ambitions in the continent. However, by extrapolating the hegemonic stability theory at a regional level of analysis, the study finds very little empirical evidence to suggest the application of the theory at the regional level. While Nigeria and South Africa have been called upon repeatedly to play hegemonic roles within the continent, the study shows that both countries lack the conditions to effectively play such roles within a continent with major historical, internal and external constraints that puncture the possibility of a hegemonic influence. In short, hegemonic claim in Africa is mere (un)official rhetoric and lacks substance. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis is a study of South African transitions. A transition, within the context of South African contemporary history, usually refers to the period in the early 1990s when South Africa underwent a negotiated transition from racial minority rule to a full democracy in 1994. This thesis takes a liberal understanding of South Africa’s transition timeline and is not confined just to South Africa’s political transition, but also examines transitions within transitions. This will be done through three studies beginning with a survey of the global political transitions that took place against the backdrop of South Africa’s domestic political transition in the early 1990s. Secondly, we will look at the role that national historical identity plays in diplomacy and international relations and, more specifically, at the cultivation of a new historic identity in South Africa’s international relations. Lastly, we will examine the policy transitions that came in the “new” South Africa through a case study of the nationalization debate. All three of these focuses will be studied through the lens of South Africa’s foreign relations with China and the United States which provides a unique vantage point for viewing the complexities. The goal of this thesis is to develop a broader understanding of transitions in South Africa and the role that the United States and China played in them. As this theme is interrogated, some of the continuities and discontinuities will be exposed between the “old” and “new” South Africa. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis bestudeer Suid-Afrikaanse transisies. 'n Transisie, binne die konteks van kontemporêre Suid-Afrikaanse geskiedenis, verwys gewoonlik na die tydperk van die vroeë 1990's toe Suid-Afrika 'n bemiddelde oorgang ondergaan het vanaf radikale minderheidsbewind na 'n volledige demokrasie in 1994. Hierdie tesis neem 'n liberale benadering tot die tydperk waarbinne hier periode beskou word en is nie beperk tot slegs Suid-Afrika se politieke transisie nie, maar ondersoek ook transisies binne-in transisies. Dit sal gedoen word deur drie ondersoeke, wat begin met 'n oorsig van die wêreldwye politieke transisies wat op daardie stadium plaasgevind het teen die agtergrond van Suid-Afrika se binnelandse politieke transisie van die 1990's. Tweedens sal ons kyk na die rol wat nasionale historiese identiteit speel in diplomatiese en internasionale verhoudinge en, meer spesifiek, die kultivering van 'n nuwe nasionale historiese identiteit in Suid-Afrika se internasionale verhoudinge. Laastens beskou ons die beleidstransisies wat ingekom het in die "nuwe" Suid-Afrika. Dit word gedoen deur 'n gevallestudie van Suid-Afrika se debat oor nasionalisering. Al drie hierdie fokusse sal beskou word deur die lens van Suid-Afrika se verhoudinge met Sjina en die Verenigde State. Hierdie verhoudinge verskaf 'n unieke oogpunt waar rondom die kompleksiteite van hierdie debat beskou kan word. Die doel van hierdie tesis is om 'n breër verstandhouding te skep waarin Suid-Afrika se transisies beskou kan word. Soos hierdie tema ondersoek word, word van die kontinuïteite en diskontinuïteite van die "ou" en "nuwe" Suid-Afrika ontbloot.

Political Sciences / M.A. (International Politics)