Consolidating Democracy in South Africa
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Consolidating Democracy in South Africa 18–20 August 1999 Holiday Inn Umtata Table of Contents Introduction 5 Prof. Roy du Pré, Dean: Faculty of Arts and Professor of History, University of Transkei (Unitra) Opening Remarks 7 Xoliswa Jozana, Dept. of Political Studies, Unitra Welcoming Remarks 9 Dr Michael Lange, Resident Representative, Konrad Adenauer Foundation Keynote Address: Consolidating Democracy in South Africa 13 Prof. Wiseman Nkuhlu, Development Bank of South Africa, Midrand Consolidating Democracy in Eastern Europe After the Collapse of Communism, 17 With Special Reference to Russia Dr Anita McCreath, Dept. of Russian Studies, Unisa Consolidating Democracy in Southern Africa, With Special Reference to Namibia 23 Prof. Tapera Chirawu, Dept. of Political Science, University of Namibia The Silent Revolution: the Aids Pandemic and the Military in South Africa 29 Dr Robert Shell, Population Research Unit, Rhodes University, East London South Africa’s Three-in-One Revolution 43 Allister Sparks, SABC Television, Johannesburg The 1999 Election and the Prospects of Consolidating Democracy in South Africa 49 Prof. Alexander Johnston, School of Undergraduate Studies, University of Natal Crime, Corruption, and Democracy in South Africa 57 Dr Constanze Bauer, Dept. of Public Administration, Vista University 3 Table of Contents Unemployment, Poverty and Democracy in South Africa 67 Dr Tembeka Mpako-Ntusi, Dept. of Social Work, Unitra Racism and Democracy in South Africa 71 Anthony Johnson, Reader’s Digest, Cape Town Effective and Efficient Multilingualism in the Building of a Democratic South Africa or 75 Linguistic Hegemony and Marginalisation Dr Kathleen Heugh, Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa (PRAESA), UCT Globalisation and Democracy: Reconciling Economic and Political Liberalism in South Africa 83 Dr Meenal Shrivastava, Dept. of Political Studies, Unitra Racial Categorisation: Threats to South Africa’s Fledgling Democracy 87 Prof. Roy du Pré, Dean: Faculty of Arts and Professor of History, Unitra Consolidating Democracy in South Africa: the New National Party Perspective 101 Francois Beukman, NNP Spokesperson, Constitutional Affairs Consolidating Democracy in South Africa: the African Christian Democratic 105 Party Perspective JoAnn Downs, ACDP MMP Towards Consolidating Democracy in South Africa, With Special Reference to the 107 Concept of Self-Determination Dr Petrus Liebenberg, Director, Foundation for the Study of Minorities in South Africa Democracy and Human Rights 115 Pansy Tlakula, South African Human Rights Commission Democratic Consolidation in South Africa: Weaknesses and Pitfalls 119 Xoliswa Jozana, Dept. of Political Studies, Unitra Programme 125 Participants’ List 129 Seminar Reports 133 Occasional Paper Series 135 4 Introduction For the first time in its history, South Africa experienced a non-racial, one-person, one-vote democratic election in April 1994. This election was considered a miracle by most South Africans after 44 years of apartheid rule. International observers considered it one of the most remarkable in history and a first of its kind for Africa. What made this first democratic election notable was the absence of violence. In fact none of the well publicised fears were realised. South Africa experienced a remarkably peaceful election and a stable period thereafter. Despite predictions to the contrary, the new government made encouraging strides. Laws were passed which entrenched human rights; which turned the police service around, protected workers, and which recognised the rights of domestic workers, the poor, children, the abused, the aged and the downtrodden. In 1999 South Africa went to the polls a second time. Against the odds, and in the face of dire warn- ings, South Africa had survived five years of “black” rule. The scorecard of the ANC government showed that while there were areas of concern, the government had passed its first test. Consolidating our fledgling democracy therefore began to loom large as the next important step deserving attention. Because of the importance of consolidating a young democracy in South Africa, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, in collaboration with the Faculty of Arts of the University of Transkei, organised a confer- ence from 18 to 20 August 1999. The international conference on Consolidating Democracy in South Africa met at Umtata, Eastern Cape, South Africa to examine ways to achieve this aim. The organisers provided a forum for academics, non-governmental organisations, politicians, political parties, govern- ment spokespersons and others to discuss dimensions in the consolidation of democracy in this country. The first objective of this conference was to compare and contrast democracy in other countries with that in South Africa. Speakers were invited from a variety of backgrounds and countries so that a com- parative perspective of democracy could be gained. Academic papers addressed the problems, nature and trends in democracy in regions and countries such as Central America, Eastern Europe and Russia, and Zambia and Namibia. Academics, political activists, journalists and researchers examined the developments – negative and positive – which led to the establishment of a democratic dispensation in this country. A number of speakers examined the threats to democracy in South Africa, while others looked at positive steps being taken to consolidate democracy. A second objective of the conference was to bring together representatives of the established and repre- sented political parties in South Africa. Representatives not only presented their parties’ views on democracy and how they saw it, but made suggestions on how they could contribute towards strength- ening and broadening democracy. 5 Introduction The third objective of the conference was to find ways to strengthen and consolidate democracy in South Africa. While it was accepted that a conference of this nature could not hope to find all the solu- tions and the answers, it nevertheless provided a forum for political and other interested parties to meet, discuss, debate and identify issues. It is to be hoped that by publishing a representative sample of some of the papers presented at the conference, we can stimulate debate and provide a basis for an on-going examination of ways to strengthen democracy in South Africa and provide an example for Africa to emulate. It is the hope of the organisers that the democratic miracle in South Africa will not turn out to be a mirage or a flash in the pan, and that this conference will have begun a debate which looks at ways to strengthen what we have and to ensure that a solid and secure political dispensation is left for future generations. Moreover, it is our earnest desire to prove that democracy can work in Africa. Professor Roy du Pré Dean: Faculty of Arts and Professor of History University of Transkei 6 Opening Remarks Xoliswa Jozana INTRODUCTION ly, an attempt, albeit limited, has been made by The current conjuncture of democratisation in David Beetham who proposes a “two-election Africa raises one fundamental question: what test” by which an incumbent government are the prospects for the consolidation of which came to power through free and fair democracy in Africa? We are gathered here elections is defeated at subsequent elections today to discuss the prospects for the consoli- and accepts the verdict of the ballot box. In dation of democracy in South Africa. In assess- other words, the defeated incumbent govern- ing the prospects for the consolidation of ment must respect the wishes of the people and democracy in Africa, political analysts have forego the spoils of the office. More important- asked different questions and have employed a ly, as Beetham argues, democracy can be variety of criteria. deemed to be consolidated when a government Christopher Clapham and John Wisemen rec- is “capable of withstanding pressures and ommend “a minimalist system of democracy”. shocks”, including the shock of dissent and By this they mean a system in which there is opposition (1994). However, while the transfer political competition between political parties of power to the opposition is a vital ingredient in free and fair elections and which allows for of democracy, a robust and sustainable democ- the real possibility of alternative parties and the racy requires more than a merely procedural involvement of civil society in the public form of democracy. realm. In defense of this conception of democ- racy, they argue that their model of “a merely 2. BEYOND ELECTORALISM procedural form of democracy” does represent Meaningful democracy goes beyond electoral- “a marked improvement on the level of democ- ism to include the improvement of the material racy that most African states have hitherto conditions of the people and the fulfillment of experienced (Clapham and Wisemen, 1997: their expectations. Zambia is a case in point. 220). Should we stop at this conceptualisation There was a successful transfer of power to the in our search for factors and indices of a gen- opposition in that country, but its democracy uine democratic consolidation in South Africa? was threatened when President Frederick Chi- Does electoralism or formal political democra- luba’s government failed to meet the expecta- cy really constitute a path to the consolidation tions of the ordinary people in the country. of democracy? What do we mean by consolida- There was a real danger to Zambia’s democra- tion and how do we judge a consolidated cy when the restive