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The Greek crisis and its implications for South Africa and Africa

09 September 2015
11:00 - 13:00

His Excellency Ambassador Roeland van de Geer, Ambassador of the European Union Delegation to South Africa, will provide the keynote address on  ‘The Global Consequences of the Greek Crisis’.

Date:  Wednesday, 9 September 2015 

Time: 11:00 – 13:00     

Venue: HSRC Video Conference Rooms (VCRs) in Pretoria, Cape Town or Durban.

Pretoria – 134 Pretorius Street, HSRC Building
Cape Town – 14th floor, Plein Park Building, 69-83 Plein Street, Cape Town
Durban – 750 Francois Road, Intuthuko Junction, Cato Manor

Dr Fanwell Kenala Bokosi, Executive Director of the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD), Zimbabwe, will speak to the topic from the perspective of aid and donor relations, drawing on some of the findings from the recent report, co-authored by AFRODAD; ‘Honest accounts? The true story of Africa’s billion dollar losses’.
 
Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, Chief Executive of the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA,) will address the Greek crisis from a South African policy perspective, providing contextualization for why this topic is relevant for the country.
 
Shaun Whittaker of the Marxist Study Group of Namibia, and previously of the Workers’ Organisation for Socialist Action, South Africa, will engage the topic from the perspective of the political left. 

The recent Greek financial crisis has held much of the world transfixed as the nation overwhelmingly rejected, through referendum, the severely austere bailout plan offered by the European Union, the European Central Bank, and the European Commission, only to see Tsipras (leader of Syriza and the recently resigned Prime Minister of Greece) then buckle under creditors’ demands and accept what has been described as an even tougher deal. Greece now faces a wave of austerity measures, including the liberalisation of the national labour market, major VAT tax hikes, and changes in state owned and operated enterprises and pensions.

Syriza, the Coalition of the Radical Left, has also, in response to Tsipras’s decision, been plunged into a state of conflict. The Greek crisis thus raises a number of critical issues such as the contemporary potential for leftist politics, abilities for self-determination, and aid and donor relations. This Ambassadorial Forum will attempt to explore some of these aspects, highlighting lessons for South Africa and Africa.

Kindly RSVP by 7 September 2015 to Sam Lekala at slekala@hsrc.ac.za; Tel: 012 316 9753; Cell: 082 328 1464