The former Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Zweli Mkhize, painted a bleak picture about the state of local government. The minister stated that 87 municipalities – about a third of South Africa’s total of 257 – remain dysfunctional or distressed. Underpinning this dysfunctionality was mismanagement due to political instability or interference, corruption and incompetence. This then results in poor service delivery, thus prolonging the periods of underdevelopment and poor access to basic services. This paper argues that cadre deployment has hindered the effective service delivery in local municipalities, thus the domino effect has been riots, protests and wasteful expenditure at the local government level. This results in participatory exclusion when it comes to collective development.  By strictly analysing relevant literature related to corruption, and cadre deployment within the local government domain in South Africa, it became evident that the quest for socio-economic development in rural areas is deeply dependent on local governance having competent and skilled personnel who would prioritise service delivery rather than political loyalty at the expense of development. Nonetheless, the main question going forward is to what extent will loyalty ahead of competence be at the core of municipal governance and what implications will this have for future developmental prospects, good governance and service delivery?

Free trade agreements have been known to have numerous benefits, especially from an economic point of view, however, it has been argued that for them to be successful, they ought to be complemented by a conducive socio-economic –and by extension political environment. Regrettably, the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement (AfCFTA) arrived at a time when Africa was economically and politically unstable; conflict and economic insecurity have exacerbated the lack of development in the contintent. As a result of the above, this paper seeks to understand how African states will navigate their various economic and, by extension, political interests in the hope of contributing to the success of the AfCFTA. Finally, the paper will answer whether Africa is ready for a free trade agreement by employing a qualitative research approach and reviewing current literature.

During colonialism, African countries were exposed to severe living circumstances and human rights abuses. African nations earned their independence and transitioned to democracy in the post-colonial period. Democracy was touted as a method of creating security, stability, and wealth in African countries, as well as demonstrating Africa's independence. The transition to democratic states was viewed as a necessary step for African countries in order to meet the needs of citizens who had previously been enslaved and whose rights had been violated by colonizers. This article examines the current position of democracy in African States post colonialization. This article argues that African leaders have failed to deliver on their promises of democracy, as evidenced by the fact that African countries are characterized by political instability, corruption, poverty, poor public service delivery, inequality, and low economic growth. Only the political elites in Africa have reaped the benefits of democracy, while the rest of the population has fared less favorably. The authors contend that the process of democratization has not afforded democratic African states the opportunity to acquire solutions. The authors acknowledge the progress, made by democratic states; nevertheless, in spite of this progress, a greater number of Africans continue to live below the poverty line. Those who are elected to positions of power have the appearance of being there to serve the people, but in reality, they only serve themselves and their own interests.

The 1996 Constitution of South Africa includes the right of every South African to freedom and security. It is the government’s responsibility to guarantee that national security is maintained and that residents within the limits of South African borders are protected. Based on this assumption, the issue of border management and migration regulations is presumed to be critical. Poor border management and unregulated migration jeopardise national security and endanger residents’ freedom and security. This article contends that South Africa’s inadequate border control and unrestrained migration have jeopardised the country’s national security. As a result of the inadequacy of border control in South Africa, South Africans have resorted to various xenophobic actions, with many foreign nationals losing their lives in the process. This article examines the current policy responses to migration and security at border crossings and what has gone wrong in South African border management. A qualitative research technique was used to fulfil the goals of this paper.

The purpose of this article is to investigate the causes of service delivery protests in South African local government. The study utilized secondary data for the purposes of data collection. Local government in South Africa has witnessed lots of service delivery protest throughout the country and the cry is for effective and efficient public service delivery to the local communities throughout the country. It is vital to highlight that most of these protests are taking place as a result of corruption and bad management in South African local government. The general population is aware of this since media coverage of comparable incidents in South Africa is often quite public. The majority of South Africans are unemployed and they have to endure insurmountable poverty and deplorable living circumstances. As a consequence, the number of violent demonstrations in South Africa has increased.

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a global social problem that has received considerable attention from policymakers and researchers. However, when speaking of GVB, significant attention is paid to women who are seen as being at the receiving end of violence. Although statistics do support the notion that women are mostly exposed to GBV, little attention has been paid to GBV against men as often not, it is the man who is seen as the aggressor and the woman painted as the victim. This article investigates reasons Gender-Based Violence (GBV) against men is not being addressed in South Africa. Males are also victims of GBV in South Africa, although the government, media, and police pay little attention to GBV against males. It is critical to remember, that men, regardless of their muscularity, can be mistreated by men or women. Males may be raped, killed, or attacked, and they also deserve government care and protection. In South Africa, the government is especially concerned about The GBV against women and children, and August is recognized as Women's Month, where women's rights and protections are vigorously contested. However, in South Africa, nothing is done to protect men from gender-based violence. This article acknowledges violence against women and children in South Africa; however, it contends that the government has done insufficient to combat violence against males in South Africa, even though the constitution guarantees males' human rights and recognizes that they can also be victims of GBV.

Hunger, poverty, malnutrition, and unstable food systems are among the societal challenges facing the African continent. These difficulties result from Africa’s inability to address external shocks such as poor economic growth and widespread conflict. Furthermore, the continent is still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, which devastated its developmental prospects. Increased dependence on Russia and Ukraine for vital supplies such as wheat and sunflower oil has exacerbated Africa’s food insecurity crisis. This paper examines how the Russia-Ukraine conflict has affected Africa’s food supply and how, in the future, the continent can secure food supply in times of uncertainty. The authors submit that Africa must improve its agricultural production systems to reduce reliance on other countries and promote long-term food supply.

To the vast majority of scholar’s public institutions should have effective and efficient Performance Management Systems (PMS) in place to promote and develop the performance of civil servants. In the public sector, good management of staff performance is fundamental to efficient service delivery. The mandate of public institutions is to offer quality and effective service delivery to the public; as a result, public institutions' performance is scrutinized by the public, who have higher expectations from the government. These expectations are based on the votes cast and the taxes paid by the general public. Thus, public institutions should monitor and enhance each employee's performance and productivity to ensure the efficient provision of public services. This article seeks to analyse the challenges encountered by public sector in executing PMS and suggest the strategies the public sector can use to enhance staff performance.