Towards an understanding of the Afrikanerisation of the South African state

Africa ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 477-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette Seegers
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
South African ◽  
Majority Rule ◽  
African State ◽  
The State ◽  
National Party ◽  
African Politics ◽  
The South ◽  
South African Politics

AbstractWith President F. W. De Klerk's speech of 2 February 1990 and the dramatic changes subsequently evident in South African politics, many scholars have aptly turned their eyes on the state. If a transition towards some form of majority rule is at hand, as most observers believe, the questions are: what is the condition of the state to be inherited by the new governors, and how did it acquire this condition?One of the most striking processes has been the so-called afrikanerisation of the state, occurring throughout most of the twentieth century and especially after the (Purified) National Party victory of 1948. The article therefore first identifies beliefs and habits Afrikaner members of the bureaucratic elite acquired during their ascent through Afrikanerdom and, second, analyses the attempt to institutionalise these beliefs and habits within the state. The article is thus about the actions of an Afrikaner bureaucratic elite, ensconced in leading positions in all sectors of the state over the last forty years at least.

F. S. Malan, the Cape Liberal Tratition, and South African Politics 1908–1924

1974 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Kallaway
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
National Party ◽  
African Politics ◽  
Citizenship Rights ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
South African Politics ◽  
Labour Legislation

F. S. Malan's role, and the influence of the Cape ‘liberal’ tradition in the post-Union era, have been seriously under-estimated. As Minister of Mines and Industries and effective Minister of Native Affairs, Malan was responsible for the passage of a comprehensive system of labour legislation between 1913 and 1924, linked to a new initiative in ‘native policy’ in urban areas. The limitations of such an initiative must, however, not be lost sight of, for in the last analysis few of the Cape ‘liberals’ would have been prepared to face the full social and economic, let alone the political implications of a multi-racial society, and Malan was no exception. His initiative can best be seen as differing in tone rather than in substance from the politics of his colleagues. In his defence of the Cape franchise, Malan sought to defend African citizenship rights within a limited ‘political’ context. It was only during the brief period after 1918 that he attempted a settlement of race and industrial problems, but even then, as a Cape ‘liberal’, he never challenged the basis of the status quo in South Africa. Yet it is still true to say that he was ousted from party politics in the Union after 1924 largely because he persistently adhered to a different political tradition to that held by those who led both the SAP and the National Party.

Taking Charge

2019 ◽  
pp. 107-129
Author(s):  
Nicholas Rush Smith
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Community Policing ◽  
Fear Of Crime ◽  
African State ◽  
The State ◽  
The South ◽  
State Authority ◽  
Taking Charge ◽  
Legal Procedures ◽  
Do So

Vigilantism is often understood as a substitute for state authority. If that is the case, why does the South African state encourage citizen crime-fighting, given risks that patrollers might resort to illegal violence? This chapter shows that the state promotes citizen crime-fighting to combat feelings of disempowerment produced by the fear of crime. It does so by examining two moments in a community policing program in Sebokeng. The first was a public spectacle relaunching the program where government ministers exhorted citizens to “take charge” of crime while suggesting citizens may need to occasionally violate legal procedures to do so. The second was a night of patrolling with a community policing group where initial fidelity to legal procedures gave way to targeting the homes of specific alleged criminals. The chapter shows how patrollers sometimes experience their strongest feelings of agency as they violated the state’s procedural protections for suspects.

Writing South African Legal History: A Prospectus

1989 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Chanock
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Legal History ◽  
African State ◽  
State Power ◽  
The State ◽  
The South ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Criminal Control

This article outlines the approach to the writing of South African legal history being taken in a book in progress on the South African legal system between 1902 and 1929. It suggests that legalism has been an important part of the political culture of South Africa and that, therefore, an understanding of legal history is necessary to a comprehension of the South African state. It offers a critique of the liberal notion of the rule of law as a defence against state power, arguing that in the South African context ideological and legitimising explanations of law should be de-emphasised in favour of an approach which emphasises the instrumental nature of law in relation to state power. Elements of the existing legal and historical literature are briefly reviewed.The basic orientation is to consider the South African legal system as essentially a post-colonial British system rather than one of ‘Roman-Dutch law’. The study is divided into four parts. The first looks at the making of the state between 1902 and 1910 and considers the role and meaning of courts, law and police in the nature of the state being constructed. The second discusses ‘social control’. It considers the ideological development of criminology and thought about crime: the nature of ‘common law’ crime and criminal law in an era of intensified industrialisation; the development of statutory criminal control over blacks; and the evolution of the criminalising of political opposition. The third part considers the dual system of civil law. It discusses the development of Roman-Dutch law in relation to the legal profession; and outlines the development of the regime of commercial law, in relation to contemporary class and political forces. It also examines the parallel unfolding of the regime of black law governing the marital and proprietal relations of blacks, and embodied in the Native Administration Act of 1927. The final segment describes the growth of the statutory regime and its use in the re-structuring of the social order. It suggests that the core of South African legalism is to be found in the emergence of government through the modern statutory form with its huge delegated powers of legislating and its wide administrative discretions.

scholarly journals Taking stock of the last 20 years: Responses to organised crime in a democratic South Africa

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khalil Goga
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
African State ◽  
Organised Crime ◽  
The State ◽  
The South ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Consciousness ◽  
State Responses ◽  
Insight Into

Following the end of apartheid, the South African state has faced a number of challenges. One of these has been the growing spectre of organised crime, which has weighed heavily on the public consciousness. The narrative has been one of organised crime, which is becoming increasingly sophisticated and dangerous, pitted against a weakening and ill-equipped state. This article seeks to give insight into the legal and institutional measures taken by the South African state over the last 20 years. It focuses on direct state responses to organised crime, primarily changes to legislation and enforcement structures. It finds that although the state has been active in changing legislation to combat organised crime, it has often been its own worst enemy where enforcement is concerned, and has consequently lost some important tools in the fight against organised crime.

Competing policy imperatives in Post-Apartheid South Africa : An analysis of the effects and larger significance of ESKOM restructuring on the South African automotive industry, 2005-2014

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lucas Nkosana Sibuyi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
African State ◽  
Import Substitution ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Developmental State ◽  
The State ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
The South ◽  
Finance Industry

The state has played an indispensable, major role in the industrialisation of South Africa, and its transformation from an economy of agriculture and mining to one based on manufacturing and services by the 1970s. Large state-owned corporations in communications and transportation, finance, industry and power have been key to this process, which also involved an extensive (and racist form of) import substitution industrialisation (ISI) from the 1920s. The 1970s saw a shift towards neoliberal policies, first under the National-Party-led apartheid government and then under the African-National-Congress-led democratic government formed in 1994. Since the 1980s, this restructuring has profoundly affected state-owned enterprises (SOEs), including the monopoly electricity utility ESKOM, and manufacturing industries, such as the automotive sector. This thesis examines the evolution of and interaction between different areas of neoliberal policy, and their evolution over time through a consideration of the relationship between the restructuring of SOEs and manufacturing, with a focus on ESKOM and autotomotives respectively. Relying on interviews with senior officials, policymakers, union leaders and industrialists, as well as primary documents, the study examines the responses of OEMs in South Africa (BMW, Ford, General Motors, Mercedes Benz/Daimler, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen) to ESKOM’s actions, and analyses the root of these actions. It argues that while restructuring has been framed by a common framework, policy development and implementation is not coordinated or cohesive. ESKOM, for example, gutted investment in electricity and maintenance generation capacity to become profitable and create space for Independent Power Providers (IPPs) – neoliberal measures for which it was rewarded and lauded. This took place at a time when national policy emphasised the need to grow manufacturing and attract direct investment by creating an investor-friendly climate resting on infrastructure. It also took place when the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) rolled out highly successful plans – also praised and rewarded – to help adjust automotives to open markets; the sector grew much larger than under ISI, while other sectors like textiles collapsed. ESKOM’s measures, however, led to a rapid decline in the capacity and stability of the power system, and directly contradicted the drive to expand and globalise manufacturing, in which automotives was now the leading edge. Corruption in the utility worsened, much of it through subcontracting measures rooted in neoliberal reforms, but this did not cause the basic problems. It is argued that this situation of competing policy imperatives reflects deeper, long-term problems in the South African state, including contradictory policies, uneven capacity and a lack of coordination. For example, there was no coordination between the DTI and stakeholder departments that regulate ESKOM, being the shareholder ministry, the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) and its policy ministry, and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE). These types of problems did not start postapartheid, and post-1994 reforms have not adequately addressed them. What exists is not a “developmental” state, as policymakers hope, but a fractured state of an intermediate type that combines “developmental” and “predatory” features in a oneparty dominant system in which lines between ruling party and state blur, and state resources are leveraged for elite class formation. Such was the case under apartheid skippered by the NP, with Afrikanerisation, and it continues today post-apartheid under the ANC with BEE. Major reforms are needed, but not just in SOE governance or budgets, as many have suggested. If we are to take the nation forward, the basic design of the state must be reformed. The state needs professionalised, coherent policy-making and implementation, proper coordination of state entities and hard decisions. It should manage high levels of public infrastructure, guarantee political stability and credit ratings, and provide policy certainty and predictability. Without big reforms it will remain a chronic underperformer.

scholarly journals Anglo American Corporation and the South African State

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 1399-1423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa Hammond ◽  
Christine Cooper ◽  
Chris J. van Staden
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Physical Violence ◽  
African State ◽  
The State ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
The South ◽  
Content Type ◽  
American Corporation ◽  
Ongoing Relationship ◽  
Anglo American

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the complex and shifting relationship between the Anglo American Corporation (Anglo) and the South African State (“the State”) as reflected in Anglo’s annual reports. Design/methodology/approach This paper builds on research on the role of annual reports in ideological conflict. To examine the ongoing relationship between Anglo and the State, the authors read all the annual reports published by Anglo American from 1917 to 1975, looking for instances in which the corporation appeared to be attempting to address, criticise, compliment, or implore the State. Findings During the period under study, despite the apparent struggles between the South African State and Anglo American, the relationship between the two was primarily symbiotic. The symbolic confrontation engaged in by these two behemoths perpetuated the real, physical violence perpetrated on the oppressed workers. By appearing to be a liberal opponent of apartheid, Anglo was able to ensure continued investment in South Africa. Social implications The examination of decades’ worth of annual reports provides an example of how these supposedly neutral instruments were used to contest and sustain power. Thereby, Anglo could continue to exploit workers, reap enormous profits, and maintain a fiction of opposition to the oppressive State. The State also benefited from its support of Anglo, which provided a plurality of tax revenue and economic expansion during the period. Originality/value This paper provides insights into the ways the State and other institutions sustain each other in the pursuit of economic and political power in the face of visible and widely condemned injustices. Although they frequently contested each other’s primacy, both benefited while black South African miners suffered.

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