History in the new South Africa: an introduction - Det danske ...

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situation remains unchanged. More than half of the black population probably lives under the poverty limit. 1 South Africa belongs to the group of higher middle income countries and is among the richest in Africa, however the average income are still several times as high for whites than for blacks. 2 According to UN’s Human Development Index, white South Africa is in line with Spain, while black South Africa remains at the absolute bottom, and when it comes to spread of property, polarisation has not changed significantly either, even if a black elite has been fostered, and the black middle class continues to grow. 3 With BNP growth rates only at a few percent until very recently, the economy still shows serious lacunas. Unemployment has increased, the interest for investment is modest, and the currency has been weakened. Nevertheless, everybody seems to assume that South Africa also in the future will be able to play an important and respected role in the international community and in Africa. 4 The ANC has prioritised national reconciliation and economic stability as most necessary, and has been willing to almost any compromise to avoid national disruption. A relatively tight financial course with a limited deficit will most likely be upheld. 5 Through five hundred years of colonialism, the Western World has appropriated the riches of Southern Africa. Nevertheless, a rather discouraging picture of stagnating aid from the EUstates to the region can be drawn, which only makes the question of more just trade relations so much more pressing. So far, trade and custom agreements between South Africa and EU have not given the country an especially favourable status, either regarding access to the European market or concerning the protection of its own import sensitive areas. On this background, there is a profound need for some kind of continuation of the solidarity and for a continued engagement to uphold the pressure for a fulfilment of the ideals of the liberation struggle. It is in this spirit that Southern Africa Contact, the former Danish anti-apartheid movement, has decided to publish this book in a Danish version. 1 May, Julian (ed.), Poverty and Inequality in South Africa: Meeting the Challenge, Cape Town, David philip / Zed Books, 2000; Sampie Terreblanche, A History of Inequality in South Africa 1652 - 2002, University of Natal Press, 2003. 2 Bhorat, Haroon / Murray Leibbrandt / Muzi Maziya / Servaas van der Berg / Ingrid Woolard, Fighting Poverty. Labour Markets and Inequalily in South Africa, Cape Town, UCT Press, 2001; Carolyn Jenkins and Lynne Thomas: The Changing Nature of Inequality in South Africa, UNU/WIDER, Finland. 3 Ashwin Desai, We Are the Poors: Community Struggles in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Monthly Review Press, 2002. 4 The assesment of the present situation depends from where you choose to see it of course. There are many examples of success stories too. Se for exsample the bestseller: Brett Bowes and Steuart Pennington (eds.), South Africa. The Good News. 27 chapters on the remarkable progress achieved since 1994, South Africa - The Good News (Pty) Ltd., 2002 and the follow up More Good News. 5 Budget 2004: National Budget Review: Foreward and Table of Contents (February 2004), Government of South Africa, 2004 (Feb.), http://www.polity.org.za/pol/budget/ http://www.polity.org.za/pol/budget/; Estimates of National Expenditure / Budget Review / Budget Speak, RSA, National Treasury, 2001. 4
2 Rhetoric and reality in South African reconciliation By Fred Hendricks Introduction The transition from apartheid to democracy in South Africa has been feted internationally as a model of reconciliation inspired by the magical powers of the charismatic Nelson Mandela and the realism of the outgoing president of the last racially exclusive government, FW De Klerk. This chapter subjects this interpretation of South Africa’s democratic process to critical scrutiny by focusing on the nature of justice under conditions of political compromise. In particular, the chapter is concerned with the manner in which political deals affect the administration of justice and how they impinge upon the nature of democracy in the postauthoritarian phase. Beyond the obviously repugnant current reality that many former apartheid murderers, other criminals and perpetrators of gross human rights violations are scot free, lie the broader necessities of creating conditions for a legitimate polity which respects the rule of law. In addition, the other reality embedded in the very fabric of South African society is the extreme level of inequality which coincides very much with the racist distinctions left in the wake of apartheid. The fact that so very many wrongdoers have not been prosecuted cultivates the impression of impunity even if the formal trappings of democracy may be firmly in place in contemporary South Africa. In this respect, it does not help to argue that broad-based, restorative or social justice can replace individual accountability for wrongdoing. Instead, the two are intimately connected. When the nature of political compromise provides amnesty for perpetrators, or constrains the possibility for prosecutions on the one hand and on the other fails to create conditions for material delivery for the vast majority of the previously disenfranchised masses, then an incoherence becomes built into the new circumstances. This chapter tries to highlight some of these contradictions by focussing on the difficulties involved in securing democracy in South Africa. It concentrates on a number of fault-lines as major challenges to the democratic order in the hope that urgent attention can deal with the impending crises. The chapter suggests some preliminary linkages between the amnesty process of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the broader problems of material delivery to the previously disenfranchised masses. Its main conclusion is that the long term legitimacy and hence sustainability of democracy in South Africa depend upon a resolution of the problem of black poverty. The survival of apartheid Formal apartheid is dead. It was buried in 1994 by the first democratic elections based on universal franchise in South Africa. At a legal level, these swept away centuries of black political exclusion bringing an end to the oppressive apartheid system. The elections were a major milestone in the struggle for citizenship in South Africa and the ANC, the dominant liberation movement against apartheid, won by an overwhelming majority. Subsequent elections, held in 1999 and then in 2004, confirmed the ANC as the ruling party by an increasing majority. Politically, South Africa is a very different place today than it was before 1994. Yet, as much as it has changed in some respects, it has remained almost exactly the same in others. The legacy of apartheid lives on in structural inequalities, systemic discrimination and palpable injustice. Apartheid has cast a long shadow over the new democratic society. Its divisions did not miraculously disappear with the advent of democracy and the rhetoric of reconciliation was a feeble attempt to paper over the deep 5
Page 1 and 2: At the end of the rainbow? Social i
Page 3: 1 Just another country? South Afric
Page 7 and 8: …South Africa is a country of two
Page 9 and 10: areas have to be seen against the b
Page 11 and 12: Central to the justification of amn
Page 13: safeguard democracy in the long run
Page 16 and 17: gold price rose over $800 in 1980/1
Page 18 and 19: A ‘basic needs’ policy with wid
Page 20 and 21: or provide public goods and service
Page 22 and 23: foreign portfolio capital back to t
Page 24 and 25: 1 percent of GDP between 1995 and 1
Page 26 and 27: paper has answered the first questi
Page 28 and 29: initially through anchor projects t
Page 30 and 31: nodes are fairly specific areas suc
Page 32 and 33: To make sense of the data, just rem
Page 34 and 35: Poverty levels 1996 to 2001 Looking
Page 36 and 37: and Squire argued that “broadenin
Page 38 and 39: see whether a more accelerated drop
Page 40 and 41: Sekhukhune 56.6 54 Down 2.6% Zulula
Page 42 and 43: infrastructure indicators show slow
Page 45: Conclusion The data in Table 6 and
Page 48 and 49: One of the most significant develop
Page 50 and 51: considerable increase in service de
Page 52 and 53: graph is drawn speaks of entire tur
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The legacy of GEAR In the new perio
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Province Backlog Backlog as % of po
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6 From apartheid to neo-liberalism.
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the same year, to repay the $25 bil
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9 percent of the state budget in 19
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The Review makes other claims about
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experienced a massive decline in re
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A government genuinely committed to
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But what is clear is that the ANC
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growth in basic services, especiall
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Unemployment and low incomes remain
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90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10%
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• First, mass unemployment and po
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Legislators, senior officials and m
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100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20
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The move to Broad-Based BEE Analysi
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1) The special codes on small enter
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8 The ANC in South Africa’s polit
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electoral system as inclusive as po
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occasions. While this offers conser
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NEC of the ANC during 1994. Reactin
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line of cleavage will in large meas
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government re-invented itself as a
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What should be recognised that it i
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COSATU and its affiliates are faili
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in many respects to the approaches
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The changing attitude of the member
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10 The grassroots. The rise of the
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“The SACP accepts the inevitabili
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The APF is both organised in the ol
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The SACP and COSATU, while paying l
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traditional labour has failed to or
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11 Land redistribution in South Afr
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phenomenon, and the best known of t
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despite these provisions, there are
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which the property clause has so fa
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the Dorp (town) that eventually fel
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on teachers is relentless. One of m
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In some ways these terrorists are t
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government, is only the most visibl
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I do not want my comments however t
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I rushed back to the Office, and ha
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years later, some improvements coul
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the developing world that were. In
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enable the skills- formation that S
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dropouts in the compulsory phase is
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References M. Altman (2003) The Sta
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Africa, such as the Democratic Part
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spectrum’ stations offer a mix of
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CNBC as well as the locally produce
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lack shareholders before Afrikaans
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state after the 1948 nationalist vi
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15 The language question. The strug
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The post-apartheid years have seen
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Minister Ngubane emphasized that a
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languages. African languages are re
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For those to whom an Africa-centred
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Arguably, the continued social and
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35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% HIV p
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The government also vigorously disp
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Deaths 30000 25000 20000 15000 1000
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0.596 in 1995 to 0.635 in 2001 (UND
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Against a backdrop of modest but co
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emotional support and help patients
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training capacity. Management and a
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the epidemic’s demographic impact
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Does this herald a wave of wider ra
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Barnett T & Whiteside A (2000). Gui
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Old Mutual (2003). Old Mutual Healt
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The upward escalation in FDI flows
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least 50,000 Mozambicans. This invo
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Two factors suggest that the teleco
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Zimbabwe’s trade relations and th
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In investment terms, many regard Ir
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If this is achieved, there will be
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three-pronged role as ‘financier
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COSATU, the SA Council of Churches,
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Kwesi Kwaa Prah Kwesi Kwaa Prah is
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