Five lectures in one day....

Today we had a variety of lectures…five to be exact. The day was very informative and helpful as we prepare for our journey to Lesotho tomorrow afternoon. I will admit that lectures from 8am-8pm did wear me out a tad…but I have a 6 hour van ride to recoup tomorrow!

Here is a brief summary of the presentations/lecture we had today:

Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA) – This organization started as a think tank on African issues and continues in a research capacity today. One interesting issue discussed at this lecture was about publishing companies, of which there are very few in South Africa. Of the books that are published in South Africa 30% are academic, 60% are school textbooks, and only 10% are general books (fiction/non-fiction). This leads to most books being published in other countries and shipped to South Africa, making them very expensive. Even Mandela’s book The Long Walk to Freedom was published in England.

The Department of Foreign Affairs – We were introduced to background information on Lesotho, specifically concerns about “brain drain,” AIDS, soil erosion, and the economy. Tourism was introduced as a possible solution to economic concerns, since the country has a great deal to offer to people looking for environmental adventure or aesthetic beauty. For example, Lesotho has recently opened a ski resort (but it is on the other side of a mountain pass that we are unable to utilize in the 17 person van). In addition, Dr. Weisfelder brought us the high degree to which Daka (marijuana) is grown in the remote regions of the country. This creates border security issues between South Africa and Lesotho, specifically when the growers will create giant bails of the herb and roll it down the mountainside and across the border. This was interesting to us all.

American Embassy – The embassy allowed no picture taking and we were required more security protocols than any other place we’ve been…which is funny because we all had American passports. The senior policy advisor that met with us gave us the exact answers the president expects of him-which it understandable, because it is his job to represent the U.S. and not his own, but is was still frustrating (specifically when discussing the view of the U.S. on Zuma). He also mentioned that South African anit-Americanism is along the same lines of much of Western Europe, making it better than other places in the world. The one question he clearly answered concerned the connections between the Black South African movement and the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S.-which was fascinating. The most interesting part was learning about State Department jobs that exist for interested Americans, they sound so exciting! Asia C. (a student) if you are reading this (which I know you are, because you comment on my pages)-you should check it out, it sounded up your ally….you get to work in different embassies around the world, they pay for everything, you get to meet exciting people, and you get to make a real difference in international relations.

University of Petoria – We met with Dr. Roland Henwood, who discussed similar issues we have been learning about over the last few days, but with different opinions. Again was mentioned the anti-Americanism, but he also feels that the attitude towards South Africa in the U.S. is currently poor (due to the current leader and the poor AIDS policy demonstrated by the current administration). This was something new.

Khabele Matlosa – This lecture discsussed the political systems that exist as part of SADC (South Africa Development Community). He concentrated on the need for countries to demonstrate quality elections, opposed to quantity elections. He specified that early in the new democracy of countries they are thrilled to hold regular elections, but after a short period of time it becomes clear that having an election is irrelevant if the election is not truly democratic in nature (the current situation in Zimbabwe is used as an example of a country that hold regular elections, but cannot be considered truly democratic). Then, he explained the mixed member proportional model that has been used in Lesotho since 2002. Of the 120 member, 80 are elected by constituencies and 40 are through party lists. This is a way of assuring that people will be truly represented. I could explain this in full, but believe me when I say that I can see why it is appealing. It combines the benefits of other systems together in efforts of truly representing the desires of the public-allowing small parties to gain small representation so their voices can still be heard. Eric, if you are reading this, I think that you would have found this speaker interesting-even if it did continue until 8pm and we were all pretty hungry.