No 4 (2023)

This article is a continuation of the article “South Africa: Hard times” published in 2022, № 12 of the journal. It analyzes the results of the 55th National Conference of the African National Congress of South Africa, at which Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected as president of this party. Information about other members of the new leadership of the ANC and the changes in the government of the country that followed the conference are also given.The most important of the 11 resolutions adopted at the conference are considered. It is indicated that they give an impartial assessment of the situation in South Africa: “…the ANC-led democratic movement is increasingly losing strategic initiative and moral high-ground, while the counter-revolution is gaining confidence about the possibility to remove the ANC from power and ultimately derail the transformation of South Africa...”The words are quoted from the resolution of the Conference on International Relations that the armed conflict in Ukraine “can no longer be described simply as a Russia-Ukraine war, it is primarily a conflict between the United States and US-led NATO military alliance and Russia...”It is concluded that although Cyril Ramaphosa won a landslide victory in the ANC presidential election and secured the majority support in the new composition of the ANC National Executive Committee, his struggle against charges related to theft on his farm is going with varying success, and that the results of the investigation may shift the scales in one direction or another in the upcoming 2024 general elections.

All ties are influenced by pragmatic interests (benefits) and normative determinants. It is obvious that an individual accepts informal relationships when they serve his benefit or believes that he will receive some benefits in the future. And, of course, an individual tries to find other informal relationships when the current ones have disappointed him. The author examines informal relations in Korean society based on loyalty, reciprocity, hierarchy and aimed at obtaining resources bypassing formal procedures. Informal relationships based on group loyalty can develop on the basis of ties between relatives, friends, former colleagues or classmates, someone who was born and raised in the same district, village, who is part of the same clan or political group. There is a great influence of informal ties in South Korean business. It helps to enter or get a share of market, can reduce costs or commercial risk. Informal relations not only help to find partners and boost business, but are also a part of the solution to any problem. There are two key parameters of informal relationships: reliability and reciprocity. Lack of reciprocity results in weak tie. Reciprocity with lack of commitment reliability results in weak tie too. Direct client-patron relationships are stronger than ties with other co-members of a group or members of horizontal social networks. Informal group relationships can be defined through various contextual variables: reciprocity, ethical norms, collectivism, hierarchy, obligations to relatives, corruption.

The conflict in the Indian city of Varanasi caused by the request of the Hindus to be allowed to enter the territory of Gyanvapi mosque to perform their rituals is in the center of the author’s attention. The mosque was constructed in 1669 on the site of the demolished Hindu temple. In 2021 a stone cylinder, which is supposed to be the symbol of Shiva, was found in the water tank used by the Muslims to wash themselves before the Namaz. Nevertheless, the representatives of the mosque think the object is the basement of the fountain.The case of Gyanvapi mosque received a wide public response and caused a surge of legal proceedings in the courts of the country. Radically concerned Hindu nationalists threaten to demolish the Gyanvapi mosque, as it happened in 1992 with Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly received delegations of Muslim communal leaders. He promised support for the protection of mosques and madrasas’ property and government assistance in educational programs for the Muslim youth. Nonetheless, Modi cannot stop people from applying to courts.