On Human Rights - Annotated Bibliography Example

?Annotated Bibliography The Arrival of Bantu-Speaking Africans Byrnes, Rita M. (1996). The Arrival of Bantu-Speaking Africans. South Africa: A Country Study. Retrieved on Feb. 04, 2011 from http://countrystudies.us/south-africa/3.htm The article provides a brief background about how the Bantu-speaking Africans dominated the population of the present-day inhabitants of South Africa. Here, historians provided a brief backgrounder on Bantu-speaking Africans, who originated from West Central Africa. It featured some of its farming and cultural practices. Bantu group migration was described to move slowly southward seeking to explore new frontiers of lands and herds. One of their cultural practices dictates the accumulation of large herds of cattle and cultivation of extensive agricultural lands with the former serving as a symbol for their wealth and power. The accumulation of vast lands and herds lead to the increase of their population density. Culturally, the Bantu-speaking farmers were described to use these amassed fields and horde of cattle for political and social transactions, including marriage issues related to the bride’s wealth compensation (termed as lobola) and “tribute demand purposes”. There was a group of Bantu-speakers who settled near water resources called as Sotho-Tswana. The other group of Bantu speakers who settled in coastal plains was known as Nguni. The third group of Bantu-speaking people, the Khoisans was another group known to settle on the west and southwest. Today, these three groups comprise majority of the settlers of South Africa. This article can purposely be used to study today’s composition and stratification of South Africa’s inhabitants which may help in drafting economic plans, policies and reforms or for whatever purpose it may serve. South Africa: Economy Overview. (Feb.2011). southafrica.info/business. Retrieved on Feb. 05, 2011 from http://www.southafrica.info/business/economy/econoverview.htm The article presents South Africa (SA)’s as a catalyst of the African continent. It is progressively an “emerging economy” in the making. Here, South Africa was presented to have achieved a world class economy, boasting of its abundant natural resources, established financial, communications, transportation and infrastructure support systems, among others. It has also boasted of a reliable and progressive legal framework system. In fact, it was also cited to be among one of the top 20 stock exchanges in the world. Finally, SA also boasts of its institutional vis-a-vis financial management reforms guaranteeing less risk to its foreign investors. Aside from posting a positive economic growth, the article also presents challenges or threats that may hamper SA’s economic growth if not properly addressed immediately through reforms. These deterrent factors include inadequate energy supply, IMF’s report about its long-standing issue on unemployment along with poverty, wide gap in wealth distribution and high incidence of HIV/ Aids. Since the best features about SA were featured in this article, it would best suit to get this positive information packaged into an investment portfolio for purposes of investment promotion in the near future. South Africa Human Rights, (2011). amnestyusa.org. Amnesty International US. Retrieved Feb. 06, 2011 from http://www.amnestyusa.org/all-countries/south-africa/page.do?id=1011238 The article presents an update on the South Africa’s committed violence against human rights. It presents records of different cases where human rights were violated. Killings, tortures, extrajudicial executions committed by officials in authority like policemen themselves, large scale forced evictions that ended up in violence between refugees and migrants, abuse of female minors, cases of battered and abused women are some of the crimes reported with high rates of incidence. The rate is so alarming that such crimes were attributed to the failure of government to implement its reforms, policies and guidelines aimed at suppressing these crimes and supporting the victims of such crimes. Moreover, the article reports that an estimated 5.7 million people in South Africa have already contracted HIV, with the females getting infected disproportionately. This article complements the other articles in this annotated bibliography particularly the one entitled “South Africa: Economy Overview” which earlier presented the challenges and deterrent factors that may hamper SA’s economic growth. This article blends perfectly with said article as it presents a much detailed account of serious challenges or threats that the South African government has to face and resolve. This article would provide good inputs to issues that need immediate attention and remedial actions like the conduct of dialogues, tripartite agreements and other serious strategies that must be initiated by SA government if it wishes to abate these cited problems. South Africa: Improve Migrants’ Access to Health Care-Xenophobic Violence, Discrimination Imperil Immigrant Healthcare (2009). Human Rights Watch News. Retrieved Feb. 07, 2011 from http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/12/07/south-africa-improve-migrants-access-health-care The article presents a report on how South African foreign- born residents and non-South African foreigners belonging to the asylum seekers, refugees, and migrant workers’ group in South Africa are badly treated when it comes to access on health care services. Here, the article reports actual accounts of victims who were harmed or injured from abuse in transit, being mugged upon arrival, and out rightly denied their right to be given medical health care services. In fact, Rebecca Siohaeffer, fellow in the health and human rights division of Human Rights Watch commented in the article that "Discrimination against foreigners is institutionalized in South Africa's health care system. The South African government should be ensuring that these people get the care they need, and be entitled to their rights, under the country's constitution." The xenophobic syndrome and experienced systemic discrimination of people in South Africa (SA) comes to a point when government must review its policies, legislation and programs to check and address these problems. It is with the hope that this article will serve as an eye opener or a wake up call to SA government to draw up responsive legislations, plans and programs that would address protection of this group from deportation, attacks, discrimination and better information. Violence in South Africa spreads to Cape Town. (2008). Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved on Feb. 07, 2011 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/23/zimbabwe The article reports about violence erupting in Zimbabwe specifically in Cape Town. The flourishing economy of South Africa and the liberalization of immigration policy has attracted millions of African immigrants. However, shortage in food and increase in fuel prices have amplified the tension between poor South Africans and immigrants. Violent mobs were reported to have assaulted Somalis and Zimbabweans burning to death several people and looting their homes and business shops. In fact, President Thabo Mbeki sought already army intervention to put a halt on further attacks and spread of violence. Thousands of Mozambicans fled South Africa to escape the attacks. The ruling party, the African National Congress blamed the slow reaction of the police to this eruption of violence in Cape Town. There is still fear and anxiety among African immigrants. Despite political instability and food shortage, the Movement for Democratic Change offered transportation arrangement that would accommodate refugees who wish to go return to Zimbabwe. This article presents a typical scenario of what discrimination and political instability can do in some parts of South Africa. This scenario can be related with the other articles in this annotated bibliography as this can serve as inputs to learn where SA government could take off to plan strategies that will arrest future violence. In the same way, it sets new insights that will anticipate signs of a brewing unrest and future attacks and thus, may be able to draw up plans that will quell future violence in South Africa. Read More