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Faith-Based Business Ethics Among African Muslim Small-Scale Businessowners in Guangzhou, China
Get PDFBased on 14 months of ethnographic research, this article examines how African Muslim migrants build and maintain faith-based business ethics and how they apply these ethical business norms to help navigate their transnational lives in Guangzhou, China. Most of the African Muslim migrants included in the study are small-scale business owners who engage in semi-formal economic activities in both local and home markets. They face racial, cultural, and legal challenges on a daily basis. Unable to access formal means of support due to their precarious economic and legal status, many African Muslim small-business owners rely on informal business ethics to ensure a safe trading environment and mitigate risk. Their business ethics, I argue, are rooted in what I term “religious common ground” – the moral and ethical values shared among migrants from different Muslim groups. This article also explores the enforcing mechanisms of African Muslim small-scale business owners’ business ethics, such as mosques and coreligion business networks. This article concludes that there is no universal, standard code of conduct among African Muslim business owners in Guangzhou. Individuals among different Muslim communities have diverse interpretations of business ethics and practice them differently based on their nationality, ethnicity, religious habits, and socio-cultural backgrounds. This article contributes to a small but important literature that addresses the central role that religion plays in Muslim migrants’ business practices in a non-Muslim society
THE SYMBIOSIS BETWEEN THE CRIMINALISATION OF SEX WORK AND CORRUPT POLICING IN SEX WORK IN SOUTH AFRICA
Get PDFDespite existing studies that prove the prevalence of corrupt policing of sex work in South Africa, corruption continues to be a common feature of sex workers’ experiences with police officers. In this article, it is argued that the criminalisation of sex work, which is the current legal model enforced in South Africa, has enabled and cemented corrupt practices in the policing of sex work. Whilst police officers occupy a position of power over all persons living in South Africa, due to their office and authority to enforce the law, it is argued that the police officer/sex worker dichotomy is deepened by the illegal status of the conduct that sex workers engage in. This dichotomy places sex workers in an extremely vulnerable position in relation to police corruption
THE ALEXANDRA TOWNSHIP DE DENSIFICATION PROJECT DURING THE COVID 19 CRISIS: CHALLENGES AND POTENTIAL LESSONS
Get PDFIn response to the Covid-19 (hereafter referred to as ‘virus’) pandemic, the South Africa government established different measures to try to slow down the spread of the virus. One of the strategies was to focus on population density, specifically in informal settlements. The argument was that high population density in informal settlements could increase the risk of transmission of the virus. The Bloomberg CityLab reported in 2020 that urban density does play a role in the transmission of the virus.1 South Africa is no exception, as its major metropolitan areas have borne the brunt of Covid-19 infections, with Cape Town and Johannesburg classified as epicentres. However, there is debate amongst scholars and policy-makers as to whether de-densification is a good strategy, given the various ways in which urban life benefits from higher population densities, and whether density does or does not increase the spread of the virus
Reaping “bumper harvests” during the Covid-19 pandemic: Interrogating the dynamics of corruption during the procurement of relief and healthcare items in Uganda
Get PDFThe discovery of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV2 or COVID-19) in Wuhan, China was considered a Chinese problem by Ugandans until confirmation of the first positive test in the country, in March 2020. The government went into panic mode by closing the country’s borders, tracking down all contacts, testing them and treating them, imposing a nationwide lockdown and a curfew, prohibiting public gatherings more than five people and suspension of all economic activities except the most essential. It was the first lock down in a country where much of the urbanised population live “hand to mouth”. Due to resurgence of COVID-19 infections, a second lockdownwas announced in June 2021. In both cases, the government organised relief support and healthcare for the most impacted or vulnerable communities / individuals
Veiled intent or advancing children’s right to education? The legality of payments for extra lessons in Zimbabwe’s education system
Get PDFExtra lessons in Zimbabwe were initially designed by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to assist learners with lagging aspects of their formal school learning areas. However, in the past few years, extra lessons have taken a new dimension, including theintent to reinforce a learner’s knowledge and ability to understand lessons taught. Although payment for extra lessons in the formal education setting was declared illegal by the government, the practice continues to be a challenge in Zimbabwe as payments are stilldemanded for extra lessons conducted in and outside the school premises. The situation worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in some teachers taking advantage of the prolonged schools closure and conducting extra lessonsin their homes wherein parents and guardians had to pay a certain amount for their children to undertake these extra lessons. Extra lessons have become a mixture of entrepreneurship and exploitation, with many parents failing to afford and some children missing out
IS IT CYBERFRAUD OR GOOD OL’ OFFLINE FRAUD? A LOOK AT SECTION 8 OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN CYBERCRIMES BILL
Get PDFThis paper discusses section 8 of the South African Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill, a section which deals with the crime of cyberfraud. It argues that there are certain fraudulent acts which have been presented incorrectly as examples of cyberfraud when they are classified better as ordinary offline fraud. The mere presence of an internet element in the commission of a fraud crime is not enough to elevate the crime to cyberfraud status. Therefore, for an act to be called a cyberfraud crime, it must meet the minimum requirement of being a computer-dependent crime rather than being merely a computer-enabled crime
TANZANIA’S POST-INDEPENDENCE ANTI-CORRUPTION EFFORTS: EXAMINING THE PREVENTION AND COMBATTING OF CORRUPTION BUREAU’S (PCCB) ROLE DURING MAGUFULI’S REGIME
Get PDFDuring the five years of John Magufuli’s presidency, Tanzania’s anti-corruption efforts yielded significant improvements. This improved performance was associated mainly with the President’s personal anti-corruption stance. Institutions entrusted with fighting corruption, particularly the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), appear to be performing their functions based on the attitude of the incumbent President towards the problem. This creates a risk of personalising anti-corruption instead of institutionalising it. Unfortunately, President Magufuli passed away in March 2021 and the sustainability of his anti-corruption approach is now in question. This article assesses Tanzania’s post-independence efforts to fighting corruption, and specifically examines the role of the PCCB during the reign of President Magufuli. We argue that during Magufuli’s presidency, the anti-corruption approach in the country has been top-down instead of bottom-up. Decisions and directives to investigate and prosecute corruption have emanated from the President and other members of the Executive directed towards the PCCB, which is the primary organ in fighting corruption. The article proposes: the introduction of a constitutional anchor in the establishment and mandate of the PCCB and its staff; the abolition of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) fiat in order to allow the PCCB to prosecute corruption offences without having to obtain consent of the DPP; and adopting various strategies to enlist public support in fighting this vice
PECUNIA NON OLET: DIRTY MONEY AS LEGAL FEES
Get PDFIt is axiomatic that lawyers have to be paid for their services. Regrettably, lawyers who represent money launderers may be offered dirty money, that is, proceeds of crime as fee payments by their clients. This essay explores the question of such tainted legal fees in South Africa through an analysis of its anti-money laundering (AML) legislation. It then compares the South African position to the approaches taken in the USA and Canada. South African AML legislation criminalises tainted fees. The USA amended its AML legislation to decriminalise tainted fees. And tainted fees never have been criminalised in Canada. The South African approach threatens both the right of accused persons to legal representation and the right of lawyers to practise their profession. It is recommended that the South African AML statutes be amended to decriminalise tainted legal fees
CORRUPTION AND THE REALISATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS: SOUTH SUDAN AND THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION LLICIT BUSINESS FORUMS IN SOUTH AFRICA: A SURVEY CORRUPTION AND THE REALISATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS: THE CASE OF SOUTH SUDAN AND THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION
No full textThe South Sudan Anti-Corruption Commission denounced corruption as something which hinders sustainable education. The debate on the relationship between corruption and human rights thus continues. In South Sudan, like many parts of the world, public and private sector leaders have illegally allocated resources for education and related projects, to personal gain.This article contends that corruption in South Sudan is an impediment to realising rights and it violates human rights. Drawing a link between corruption and human rights, as this article aims to do, enhances our understanding of corruption. This article seeks to bring a unique viewpoint by utilising human rights institutions and practices in combating the negative consequences of corruption on the realisation of human rights
LOVELL FERNANDEZ MEMORIAL LECTURE: THE GLOBAL SHADOW ECONOMY 23 FEBRUARY 2023
Get PDFLadies and Gentlemen, dear friends and colleagues, it is a great honour for me to deliver this Lovell D. Fernandez Memorial Lecture. Lovell is alive in our memory. We remember him as an inspired teacher and as a warm-hearted person.He personified the dramatic transition South Africa underwent: Lovell was born and brought up in the times of Apartheid. He had the stamina to survive in a difficult academic environment and he has given a lot to those who were fortunate to be born after Apartheid.From his interest in transitional justice, he turned to economic crime. He realised that corruption and related money laundering were amongst the major challenges for economies in the Global South, including South Africa. I am personally very happy that Lovell invited me to teach at the University of Western Cape. For us (Kathrin and I) this course in South Africa is one of the highlights of the year