m - DISA

'ruling •tunic group'» or eo*etia*s 'a political class'.
All this too is taken as self-evident.
In this say, tha vary dlffarant social categories
of coavaon language, ethnic group, class, political
party* government and stata ara glibly collapsad Into
aach other, and usad Interchangeably. Hara tha
dlatlnctlon bataaan tha vastly dlffarant areas, levaIs
and typas of social action and organisation to anion
thasa dlffarant catagorlas rafsr is sieply obliterated*
This conflation closes a naat logical clrcla, in ehlch
tha atata is raducad to an Afrikanar entity, and
concalyad as a simple instrument In tha hands of this
alleged ruling athnic group. Thasa numerous arrors
and confusions apart, ahat gats concaalad in thla
concaptlon of tha atata Is precisely its character as
a capitalist stata. And thus tha political problaas
of South Africa ara raducad to tha problem of 'the
Afrikaner*. 81nca 'they* ara hald solaly responsible
for tha situation of aocial confrontation In South
Africa, on 'the*' alona llaa tha onua to changa.
In tha eords of a racant bookt
Tha graat problem for South Africa...la
assantlally a problem for tha Afrikaners slnca
thay hold tha poamr In avarything that matters.
Thua tha raal political questions in South Africa -
thoaa of tha capitalist stata, and the social relations
on ohjch it raats - ara naatly mvoidad and displaced,
ao legitimising bourgeois politlca.
An analysis of muldergata as a crials for both
government and ruling party must nacasaarlly break
alth thasa myriad confusions to confront tha problem
of tha capitalist atata In South Africa. In racant
yaars a growing body of South African litaratura has
ralsad this question. Hoeaver, as Volga's racant
revle-s of this litaratura has demonstrated, all tha
varioua tandanclaa hava remained trappad althin an
instrumentalist concaptlon. Hara, tha state ia in
affact analysed aa an lnatltution external to class
struggle, available for uaa as an undiffarantlatad
instrument in tha hands of a political party
raprasantlng spaciflc and puraly economic Interests,
Thla litaratura haa fallad to grasp tha charactar of
tha stata as a diffarantlatad and contradictory
unit/t ltsalf conatltutad througn, and a sits of, „
class atruggla.
Such a concaptlon of tha stata aa a aita of class
struggls furthar poses tha problem of tha relationship
bataaan classas dafined at tha laval of relations of
production, and tha concrata ldaologlcal and
organisational fonts through which class struggls is
fought out. As hara concaivad, classas dafinad at
tha laval of ralatlons of production exist in class
struggls in and through multiple fonts of concrata
organisation. Thus, in any conjunctura, tha unity
of this or that class as a social force cannot simply
be rsad off fro* tha ralatlons of production, but
needs to ba constructed via tha ensemble of concrata
organisational and ldaologlcal forms in and through
which that claaa axiats. In thaaa tarsia than, an
analysla of tha atata concaivad as a alta of class
atruggla lnvolvaa, intar alia, a focus on praclsaly
tha contradictions and conflicts althin and bataaan
tha varioua institutions and apparatuses of tha state.
This papar rapraaants a flrat attempt to bagln
such an analysis. It focuses mainly on but ona aspact
of tha stata - tha signlflcanca of tha currant crisis
in Afrikanar nationalism for tha stata as a ahola.
This la takan as a uaaful antry point into tha much
aora Caspian quastlons of class struggls and tha atata
as a ahola. Thua the analysla prasantad hara la
nacasaarlly partial and tentative, leaving unraaolvad
nutrous thaoratical and saiplrlcal problema* Thaaa
ara hopafully to ba confrontad in futura rasaarch.
Tha lluldargata itibrogllo aaa tha culmination of
a long-aiaaiaring crisis in both tha Nationalist Party
and tha HP government, than plunging both party and
government still daapar into crisis* Yat it rapraaants
much mora than tha simple lntamal crisis of Afrikaner
nationalissi as it is usually daplctad. I would argue
that It aaa but an aspact of, and a product of a crisis
for tha capitalist stata as a ahola in South Africa.
Ita 'resolution' llkasriaa rapraaants an attaaptad
resolution of tha wider crisis of tha South African
atata.
If this if in fact tha caaa, to assess tha
signlflcanca of Wuldergate for tha stata as a ahola,
it ia necessary to answer thrsa intarralatad quastlons:
Ihat aara tha broad features of thla crisis of tha
capitalist stata in South Africa? «hat mas tha
q»q«
signlflcanca of tha particular for* that it assumed in
tanas of tha contradictions and conflicts althin tha
Nationoliat Party and govarnmant? And ahat la tha
signlflcanca of its for* of resolution for tha —
contradictions and conflicts althin tha stata?
Tha Crisis of tha 1970a
THE crisis confronting tha South African stata and
ruling class in tha arid* 1970a aaa complex and eultl-
lavallad - an ensemble of simultaneous and mutually
dwtemining economic, political and ldaologlcal crials,
producing significant shifts In tha balanca and
alignment of class forces, A graat daal of furthar
rasaarch la nacasaary to arrive at an adequate analysis
of this ganarallsad criaia. Hara Is examined vith vary
dlffarant oepheees but three of its elements: firstly,
aspects of tha growing crisis of capital accumulation
In tha 1970a: tacondly, tha rapid Intensification of
tha class struggls during this decade; and thirdly,
in thaaa contexta, tha aorfelnga of Afrikanar
nationalist politics. Tha alsi la to attempt to
understand hos tha flrat tao elements both structured
and articulated alth the internal dynamic of
Afrikaner nationalist politlca to produce a political
crisis in its particular for* of muldergata. Thla
• ill provide a basis for a tantatlva aeasisment of
tha signlfloanca of tha changes occurring in tha
sake of lluldargata.
Ourlng tha 1960a tha South African economy had
expanded mora rapidly than that of any other capitalist
country except Japan, averaging an annual growth rata
of GOP of bataaan 6 and S parcant. A number of
features of this boo* should ba noted, aa hera aara
established tha condltiona for this crisis of tha
1970s. Flratly* the brutal aupprasalon of tha
national liberation movement by 1963 created the
requisite condltiona for rapid capitalist growth*
Particularly significant hare ass tha eamshing of
tha econoalc organe of tha stocking class. Thus,
bataaan 1964 and 1969, leas than 2 000 africen eorfcars
par annus) aant on atrlka. Secondly, tha moat notable