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PSC2601 South African Politics Great notes
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PSC2601 SouthAfrican Politics
Great notes
,PREFACE:SOUTH AFRICAN
POLITICS ö SOME INITIAL FACTS
Since 1994, South African politics have often been discussed in
euphoric, even miraculous, terms. This is at least partially because
the South African political regime prior to 1994 attracted so much
criticism and hostility. The aim of this course is to give you a brief
introduction to South African politics. Please do not regard this
course as final and definitive. We draw your attention to the fact
that other modules in this Department also cover South African
politics, for example:
PLC202±V (public policy and politics). This course looks at
policy in general, but refers to many South African examples
of public policy. This is why I have not paid much attention
to public policy in this course (ie PLC801±H).
HNPCS5±A (South African politics): an Honours course
which discusses both specific political issues in South Africa
(eg macro-economic strategy, housing, crime, affirmative
action, etc) and general developmental strategies in South
Africa.
1 THE CONTEXT OF SOUTH AFRICAN POLITICS
context The distinction between domestic politics and international politics
is gradually disappearing; this is a fact that both political parties
and other political actors have to adapt to.
This new context is dominated by the end of the Cold War.
Commentators such as Francis Fukuyama have called our era ``the
end of history'', meaning the disappearance of competing ideolo-
gies. Fukuyama announced the victory of liberal democracy in 1989,
although he later acknowledged that he underestimated the
vibrance of political Islam in world politics. The end of the Cold
War also released the new energy of nationalism, and new states
emerged as a result, especially in Eastern Europe and the former
USSR.A side effect of this was increased sensitivity for minorities
and an acknowledgment that such minorities had to be politically
accommodated. Generally, the end of the Cold War encouraged
people to question existing identities, especially social identities,
iv
,and to search for new ones. This new look at identities also
politicised and activated certain social issues and interests, and new
social movements now play a cardinal role in domestic and global
politics.
In the absence of a balance of nuclear power and militarisation of
societies after the end of the Cold War, it seemed reasonable to
expect a more peaceful global environment. The opposite, however,
has proved to be closer to the truth. Internal conflicts have
escalated, accompanied by gross violations of human rights. While
the early 1990s was still part of the ``third wave'' democratisation
period, the latter part of the 1990s saw a reversal of this trend, such
as the military coups in Pakistan and Co Ãte d'Ivoire. The South
African consolidation of democracy had to be sensitive for such a
reversal.
Arguably, we are now living in the post-Fukuyama period. At the
beginning of the 21 st century the world is characterised by a clear-
cut North/South divide combined with a West/East dichotomy.
The West is presented as liberal, democratic, free and predomi-
nantly Christian. The East is presented as Islamic, fundamentalist
and intolerant. It is also accused (by the West) of supporting
terrorism, a word that tends to include anybody who does not
accept western values. Samuel P Huntington became known for his
description of this scenario as the ``clash of civilizations''. South
Africa occupies an awkward position in this global picture: it is part
of the South; the ANC maintains a policy of non-alignment and has
good relations with both the West and the East. Other political
parties, however, differ quite significantly on their preference of
where SA should be positioned.
The post-Cold War context is also characterised by what has
become known as globalisation. Please note that there are many
definitions and explanations of what is meant by globalisation. An
issue of great importance for South Africa is the influence of
globalisation on trade. After the 1994 elections, South Africa was
entitled to re-join the international economic system. On the one
hand, this created immense new opportunities; on the other hand,
the South African economy was not equipped, as it were, to
withstand this sudden, new exposure to international competition.
The new international trade regime, spearheaded by the World
Trade Organisation, meant a radical deregulation and liberalisation
of trading conditions. This, in turn, meant that local economies no
longer had sufficient protection mechanisms against external
competition.
m v
, Emerging markets or developing countries such as Brazil, Argen-
tina, South Africa or the Philippines were and are therefore exposed
to the fluctuations of international markets. The international
financial markets, dominated by stock exchanges and national
currency speculations made all these countries particularly vulner-
able. The crises that occurred in Thailand, Russia, Argentina and
Turkey are all examples of the effect of internationalisation on these
countries' economies.
Notwithstanding globalisation, the new context is also charac-
terised by, ironically, a new economic and political regionalism. On
the one hand, post-Cold War nationalist resurgence emphasises
individual statehood and self-determination. On the other hand,
globalisation highlights the cumulative or holistic strength of
regional integration. The economy may be global, but it has to
operate through and in specific regions. Regional organisations
such as the European Union (EU), North Atlantic Free Trade Area,
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, the Economic
Community of West African States or the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) are not only directed at
increasing intra-regional trade cooperation, but are also promoting
their trade and attempting to improve their competitiveness.
Regionalism is, in fact, a new variation of trade protectionism.
South Africa is a member of the SADC and other regional
organisations. It experienced this regional protectionism (European
in this case) firsthand during its negotiation with the EU for a free
trade agreement when many of its agricultural products were
excluded from the agreement. Regionalism is also a factor in
North/South relations. The G8 countries constitute the core of the
economies of the North. The South is centred around the Non-
Aligned Movement (NAM), which South Africa chaired from 1998
to 2002. Another manifestation of economic regionalism is the free
trade agreements between the EU and the ACP (Asian, Caribbean,
Pacific) countries, from which South Africa is economically
excluded, though politically included.
These economic trends obviously have a direct impact on South
Africa. As a developing country (sometimes called an emerging
market), South Africa receives the same treatment from the North
as for example Brazil, Argentina and India. Other African states
have experienced the dire consequences of economic structural
adjustment programmes Ð programmes which were the ``brain-
children'' of a neoliberal economic philosophy. Though not directly
imposed on South Africa, the same philosophy entered the South
vi
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