Download Petrus de Kock's presentation [.pdf]

The South African Institute of International Affairs, Western Cape Branch, invites you to a public seminar to be addressed by Dr Petrus de Kock speaking on "Upheaval in the Nile Basin: a tour from Lake Albert, through Southern Sudan, to Cairo" at The Centre for the Book, 62 Queen Victoria Street, Gardens, Cape Town on Tuesday 7 June 2011 at 5:00 for 5:30 pm

Short on the heels of the Southern Sudanese referendum in which they voted overwhelmingly for secession from Northern Sudan, popular revolts in Tunisia and Egypt swept long-serving dictators from their palaces. This presentation will interrogate the impact these political upheavals stand to have on the states and societies that occupy the Nile Basin. What will be the implications as Southern Sudan becomes independent and Egypt undergoes a transformation of grand historical proportions?
Anecdotes and images from fieldwork Petrus conducted in Northern and Southern Sudan, and on Lake Albert in Uganda during 2010 and 2011, will be used to illustrate some of the most important consequences of the events taking place in the Nile basin.

Petrus is a senior researcher in the Governance of Africa´s Resources Programme at the South African Institute of International Affairs. His research focuses on the intersection between political dynamics, economic trends, social change and conflict within the sphere of resource extraction (mining, oil & gas). His work aims to develop holistic analyses of market trends, political dynamics and the social impact of resource extraction. As an analyst he often engages with issues of conflict, political change, and political risk dynamics and its impact on societies and economic actors.

He is a regular contributor to media debates on contemporary trends in African and Middle Eastern politics.  Petrus holds a PhD in Philosophy, with a focus on political philosophy and revolutionary change, from the University of Limpopo. He also holds a Masters degree in Political Science (Cum Laude) from the University of Pretoria.

Light refreshments will be served before the event

Please RSVP to saiia.admin@telkomsa.net or call Pippa on 021 761 4842 or 083 305 2339

Entrance for non-members is R30 or R15 on presentation of a current student identity card.

Parking is freely available behind the building after 5pm.