Routledge. - Politics South Africa

Politics South Africa

Second Edition

Politics South Africa

Heather Deegan

First published 2001 by Pearson Education Limited
Second edition published 2011

Published 2014 by Routledge
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Copyright 2001, 2011, Taylor & Francis.

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ISBN 13: 978-1-4082-5824-8 (pbk)

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Deegan, Heather.

Politics South Africa / Heather Deegan. 2nd ed.

p. cm.

Rev. ed. of: Politics of the new South Africa : apartheid and after / Heather Deegan. 2001.

Include bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4082-5824-8 (pbk.)

1. South AfricaPolitics and government1994 2. South AfricaPolitics and government19481994. 3. ApartheidSouth AfricaHistory. 4. South AfricaRace relations.

I. Deegan, Heather. Politics of the new South Africa. II. Title.

DT1971.D44 2011

968dc22

2010034813

Typeset in 10/12.5pt Sabon by 35

Content

Part 1
HISTORICAL FORCES

Chapter 1
Union and segregation

Part 2
THE RISE AND FALL OF APARTHEID

Chapter 2
Apartheid and the state

Chapter 3
Apartheid and the struggle

Chapter 4
The end of apartheid

Part 3
THE NATION IN TRANSITION

Chapter 5
1994 The new South Africa

Chapter 6
A time of change

Chapter 7
Coming to terms with the past: the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Part 4
THE QUESTION OF PROGRESS

Chapter 8
The 1999 elections

Chapter 9
From Mandela to Mbeki

Chapter 10
The President Mbeki years

Part 5
CONTEMPORARY SOUTH AFRICA

Chapter 11
Politics and society

Xenophobia in South Africa

Preface

South Africa has had such a dreadful history and suffered devastating evil. Yet now the nightmare of apartheid is over the country has shown a great capacity for good. (Archbishop Desmond Tutu 1999)

The ending of the nightmare of apartheid and the election of Nelson Mandela in 1994 have been positive and heartwarming events that captured the attention of international audiences. Yet as the country sought to rehabilitate and affirm the human rights of all people, some feared that the nation would lapse into violence and bloodshed. Such were the great divisions and animosities between racial groups, the argument went, that only retribution and revenge would emerge. South Africa did not follow that path but moved forward and away from its dreadful history with dignity and hope. Yet, the issues that confronted President Mbeki and currently present themselves to President Jacob Zuma, are, in part, related to the apartheid period. The countrys asymmetrical development produced a first/third world society: an industrialised, urban, technological society running in parallel with an impoverished rural hinterland. In understanding the challenges that confront a changed South Africa, therefore, we need to look back at the countrys past. In fact, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, instituted in 1996, did just that in its attempt to help the nation come to terms with its history and to forge a sense of understanding and reconciliation. Through a process of public hearings, at which people spoke of their painful experiences, the commission cast new light on the former activities of government agencies, liberation movements and the wider population.

This study provides an appraisal of critical moments in South Africas history: segregation and racial supremacy, black opposition, politics under apartheid, and violence and terror. It looks at the transfer of power in 1994, enfranchisement and political realignment, the post-electoral period of adjustment and socio-economic transition, the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the 1999 elections. The Thabo Mbeki period of office is examined, as are the General Elections of 2009. A final chapter considers the important issues that still confront the country: local governance and the delivery of services to communities, accountability and the nature of democracy, and race and integration. While the apartheid period provides a historical framework, the text places an emphasis on the contemporary pace of change, which has radically altered the trajectory of the country. The work also contains qualitative and quantitative data, so providing the reader with detailed information and combining the accessibility of a textbook with first-hand empirical research.

The writer has researched in South Africa since 1995, in part funded by the Nuffield Foundation and the British Academy. She was a Fellow of the Africa Institute of South Africa, Pretoria, and a visiting lecturer in the Politics Department of the University of Witwatersrand. Politics South Africa could not have been written without such research and the author would like to thank all those who have given of their time to help provide material and data. Equally, she would like to thank the many individuals who participated in interviews and meetings and who assisted in the accessing and collection of research information. However, the author alone is responsible for the views and opinions expressed in the work.

Heather Deegan
London, UK

We are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce copyright material:

Figures

Figure 1.1 from History of Southern Africa, 2nd ed., Longman Botswana (Shillington, K. 2002) p. 194; Figure 1.2 from The Voortrekkers, Cassell & Co. (Meintjes, J. 1973); Figure 4.1 from Changing Fortunes: War, Diplomacy and Economics of Southern Africa, with permission of Lea Cyr, LLC; Figure 4.2 from Birth of a Constitution, Juta and Co. (Eloff, T. in de Villiers, B. (ed) 1994) p. 15; Figure 5.2 from Commonwealth Observer Mission to South Africa (COMSA) (1994) Phase III: August December 1993; Figure 7.1 from