Events
Do ministers matter for audit performance?
Reports of corruption and mismanagement have scarred the South African Government’s reputation at home and abroad.
What can audit findings tell us about the influence that ministers have on the financial performance of their departments? And what does this say about the leadership required for improving the stewardship of public funds in future?
The Wits School of Governance (WSG) and ODI invite you to this event which will draw on new research conducted for ODI, to explore how leaders influence the financial management of their departments – for better or worse.
Mr Thamsanqa Zikode (Office of the Auditor General of SA), Professor Pundy Pillay (WSG), Associate Professor Joachim Wehner (London School of Economics), will share reflect on the implications for public sector governance and service delivery on 3 February 2023 at 15:00-16:30 (GMT+2).
You can join online or attend at the Donald Gordon Auditorium, Wits School of Governance, Parktown Management Campus.
Contact: Mmane Boikanyo for more information
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Land, Law and Governance in Palestine
You are invited to a panel discussion on Land, law and governance in Palestine
The Wits School of Governance, the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam and the Legal Mobilization Platform invite you to a panel discussion on Land, law and governance in Palestine’
Presenter: Dr Hadeel Abu Hussein (ISS and Utrecht University)
Respondents: Emeritus Professor Fred Hendricks (Rhodes University); Dr Caryn Abrahams (Wits School of Governance), Professor Jeff Handmaker (International Institute of Social Studies, The Hague) and Thandiwe Matthews (International Institute of Social Studies and Wits School of Law)
Chair: Professor Robert Van Niekerk (Wits School of Governance)
Dr Abu Hussein (Hadeel) is a Palestinian scholar whose research focuses on international and socio-legal discourse in the Middle East, Palestine in relation to Israel, human rights, social justice and decoloniality. Her work engages with Third World Approaches to International Law, which is a critical and interdisciplinary community of international law scholars, primarily from the Global South.
Alongside her research, Dr Hussein practices law as a member of the Israeli Bar Association (including socio-legal representation of dis-possessed Palestinians in the Sheik Jarrah neighbourhood of Jerusalem), and within the broader Middle East and North Africa region - where she collaborates with human rights and other international civil-society organisations as a legal advisor and volunteer. Hadeel previously worked at the Universities of Oxford and Zurich as well as the International Institute of Social Studies and was recently appointed to the faculty of Utrecht University in the School of Law. She is also a member of the Centre for Palestinian Studies London Middle East Institute at SOAS and Max Planck Alumni and Early Career Researchers.
Hadeel’s presentation will focus on the themes raised in her recent book on Palestine
‘The Struggle for Land Under Israeli Law: An Architecture of Exclusion’ (Routledge, 2021) and in particular the intersectional dimensions of land, law and governance.
A panel of eminent scholars comprising Professor Hendricks (land struggles and social change in South Africa), Dr Abrahams (urban governance and dispossession in South African communities) and Professor Jeff Handmaker (law, human rights and international development) will engage with the presentation, followed by discussion and concluding observations by Thandiwe Mathews (law, social policy and human rights in South Africa).
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Book Launch: Protest in South Africa
Join us for the Protest in South Africa: Rejection, reassertion, reclamation book launch.
The Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA), in partnership with the Wits School of
Governance (WSG), invites you to the launch of MISTRA’s latest edited research volume, Protest in South
Africa: Rejection, reassertion, reclamation.
Edited by Heidi Brooks, Rekgotsofetse Chikane and Shauna Mottiar, the volume explores South Africa’s
post-1994 protest landscape with a view to understanding the dynamics, underpinnings and implications
of contemporary protest.
Exploring the multifaceted and interconnected drivers of protest, the volume illuminates both short term causes and institutional and structural drivers, while highlighting some of the wstrategic challenges that emerge from popular unrest. Contributors to the volume provide an overview of the complex trends and dynamics of protest action, the diversity of protest spaces and actors, and responses to protest action by both citizens and state. The book makes a case for understanding protest as a manifestation of popular experiences of the post-1994 project.
In so doing, it seeks to highlight the prospects for addressing the root causes of popular unrest.
In the diversity of spaces, sectors and communities of interests in which collective action has emerged,
Protest in South Africa: Rejection, reassertion, reclamation shows how protest is underpinned by a rejection of the status quo, a reassertion of interests, and a reclaiming of the political and democratic space.
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Book launch invitation
You are invited to the launch of Professor Mariana Mazzucato's latest book at the Wits School of Governance.
Book launch of The Big Con How the Consulting Industry Weakens our Businesses, Infantilizes our Governments and Warps our Economies
There is an entrenched relationship between the consulting industry and the way business and government are managed today which must change. Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington show that our economies’ reliance on companies such as McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Company, PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and EY stunts innovation, obfuscates corporate and political accountability and impedes our collective mission of halting climate breakdown.
The ‘Big Con’ describes the confidence trick the consulting industry performs in contracts with hollowed-out and risk-averse governments and shareholder value-maximizing firms. It grew from the 1980s and 1990s in the wake of reforms by both the neoliberal right and Third Way progressives, and it thrives on the ills of modern capitalism, from financialization and privatization to the climate crisis. It is possible because of the unique power that big consultancies wield through extensive contracts and networks – as advisors, legitimators and outsourcers – and the illusion that they are objective sources of expertise and capacity. To make matters worse, our best and brightest graduates are often redirected away from public service into consulting.
In all these ways, the Big Con weakens our businesses, infantilizes our governments and warps our economies. Mazzucato and Collington expertly debunk the myth that consultancies always add value to the economy. With a wealth of original research, they argue brilliantly for investment and collective intelligence within all organizations and communities, and for a new system in which public and private sectors work innovatively for the common good. We must recalibrate the role of consultants and rebuild economies and governments that are fit for purpose.
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SYMPOSIUM TO COMMEMORATE HAROLD AND ANNMARIE WOLPE:
ETHICAL SCHOLARSHIP AND INSPIRATIONS FOR TODAY
This symposium is curated and hosted by the Wits School of Governance.
Speakers include Justice Dumisa Ntsebeza, Professor Robert van Niekerk, Professor Elaine, Emeritus Professor Fred Hendricks, Ms Thandiwe Matthews, Professor Michael Burawoy, Ms Michal Singer, Ms Peta Wolpe, Dr Monica Hendricks, Justice Albie Sachs and Ms Alicia Chamaille.
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2023 Civic Tech Innovation Forum (CTIF) and Jamfest
#AfricaFlows builds on a series of exciting themes over the years, this time commenting on the advent of AI and its possibilities – good, bad, or neutral.
It’s a great place to be, should you want to connect with other dynamic, African grassroots and media technologists who are building towards their own better futures.”
CONFERENCE KEY FOCUS AREAS:
• Digital rights and threats, digital agency in the age of corruption
• Sustainable financing strategies for the industry
• Latest and impactful innovations in media and civic technology in Africa
Jamlab Africa and Civic Tech Innovation Network invite you to the 2023 Civic Tech Innovation Forum (CTIF) and Jamfest, a three-day showcase of the hottest innovations in media and civic technology taking place across the continent.
This year’s jointly-held conference, taking place from 16 to 19 October at the Tshimologong Precinct in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, carries the theme #AfricaFlows, a tribute to the innovators and media makers who are taking Africa forward.
#AfricaFlows builds on a series of exciting themes over the years, this time commenting on the advent of AI and its possibilities – good, bad, or neutral. It’s a great place to be, should you want to connect with other dynamic, African grassroots and media technologists who are building towards their own better futures.”
ABOUT THE ORGANISERS:
Jamfest is a media and journalism festival hosted by the Jamlab, a project by the Wits Centre for Journalism. The festival is directed at a diverse set of African media makers, journalists, and stakeholders. It presents an opportunity for media makers and practitioners to gain an overview of some of the innovations and changes occurring within newsrooms across Africa. Jamfest also allows industry leaders to connect and network with one another.
CTIF is hosted by the Civic Tech Innovation Network at the Wits School of Governance. The annual conferences are intended to enable the civic tech community and ecosystem actors to engage face-to-face, learn about innovations, tools, and techniques, share experiences, and meet potential collaborators.
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