Master thesis The Fading of the Rainbow Nation? A Study about Democratic Consolidation in Post- Apartheid South Africa. Author: Oskar Malmgren Supervisor: Daniel Silander Examiner: Emil Uddhammar Term: HT20 Subject: Political Science Level: Advanced Course code: 5SK30E Abstract This thesis addresses the level of democratic consolidation in South Africa. The study aimed to provide a deeper understanding of the current political situation and the general state of democracy. As a method, a single case study was used where the political situation in post-apartheid South Africa was applied upon the concept of democratic consolidation by using five distinctive consolidation arenas: civil society, political society, judiciary, bureaucratic society and economic society. The results of the analysis show a variance in the degree of democratic consolidation in the country. The judiciary is very much well-functioning and independent and can therefore be classified as consolidated. The civil society and some elements of the political society are mostly functioning and can be classified as mostly consolidated with some reservations, while the bureaucratic and economic societies are deemed to be not consolidated. However, South Africa also possesses several obstacles for genuine consolidation that applies to all arenas, namely high degrees of violence, low social trust, and institutional weakness. The democratic system in South Africa is not currently considered to be under serious existential threat and has proven itself capable of withstanding high degrees of pressure. Nevertheless, it is found to be suffering from a type of democratic fatigue and transformation stagnation, which could have the potential to result in more serious implications in the future. South Africa can therefore be classified as a partly consolidated democracy. Keywords: South Africa, post-apartheid, democracy, democratic consolidation, civil society, political society, judiciary, bureaucratic society, economic society. Table of Contents 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Research problem………………………………………………………….4 1.2. Aim and research questions………………………………………………..5 1.3. Disposition…………………………………………………………………5 2. Methodology & Material…………………………………………………..…7 2.1. Case selection……………………………………………………………...6 2.2. Research design……………………………………………………………8 2.2.1. Case study…………………………………………………………………..8 2.2.2. Interviews………………………………………………………………….10 2.3. The material of the study…………………………………………………11 2.4. Validity and reliability………………………………………………..…..13 3. Theoretical framework……………………………………………...............13 3.1. Democratisation………………………………....………………………..13 3.2. The third wave and the century of democratisation….....……………......15 3.3. Liberalisation……………………………………………………………..18 3.4. Transition…………………………………………………………………19 3.5. Perspectives on consolidation - the idea of democratic consolidation…...21 3.5.1. Democracy - "the only game in town"…………………………………….23 3.5.2. Consolidation - a versatile concept?............................................................25 3.5.3. The five arenas of consolidated democracy……………………………….29 1.1. Table - the five arenas of consolidated democracy………………...…….36 4. Analysis……………………………………………………………………….37 4.1. The South African civil society…………………………………………..37 4.1.1. Strenghts of the civil society………………………………………………37 4.1.2. Weaknesses of the civil society……………………………………………41 1.2. Table - Civil Society……………………………………………………..44 4.2. The South African political society………………………………………45 4.2.1. Strenghts of the political society………………………………….……….46 4.2.2. Weaknesses of the political society………………………………………..48 1.3. Table - Political Society………………………………………………….52 4.3. The South African judiciary……………………………………………...52 4.3.1. Strenghts of the judiciary………………………………………………….53 4.3.2. Weaknesses of the judiciary…………………………………………...…..58 1.4. Table - Judiciary………………………………………………….………62 4.4. The South African bureaucratic society………………………...………..62 4.4.1. Strenghts of the bureaucracy………………………………………………63 4.4.2. Weaknesses of the bureaucracy……………………………………………65 1.5. Table - Bureaucratic society……………………………………………..70 4.5. The South African Economic Society……………………………………71 4.5.1. Strenghts of the economic society…………………………….…………..72 4.5.2. Weaknesses of the economic society……………………….……………..74 1.6. Table - Economic society………………………………………………..79 5. Concluding remarks………………………………………………………...79 6. References…………………………………………………………………....86 1. Introduction For over three centuries, the governance of the South African state was vested in the hands of a white minority while the majority population was excluded from any decision-making, including suffrage. By the time of 1948, the white population of South Africa went to the polls in a general election which stood between the ruling pro-British United Party (UP) led by Prime Minister Jan Smuts and a coalition of opposition parties dominated by the National Party (NP) under the leadership of Daniel Malan. The UP, although not in favour of the total racial integration, was nevertheless considered more moderate and pragmatic in its stance on racial relations and believed that eventual racial integration in South Africa was inevitable. The NP, on the other hand, had campaigned on a radical promise of the introduction of a racially-instituted system based de jure separation of the country’s ethnic groups to safeguard the continuing domination of white South Africans in the society. The election resulted in a narrow victory for the NP along with its coalition partners, leading to the formal adoption of the Apartheid-system in 1950 (Meredith, 1988). During the years of Apartheid, the political arena of South Africa was dominated by the NP and until 1974, only one member of the South African parliament was officially opposed to Apartheid. Opposition to the system was often violently suppressed with political opponents being prosecuted and imprisoned. Opposition parties such as the African National Congress (ANC), the Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) and the Communist Party (SACP) were outlawed with its leaders forced into exile or incardinated for treason, including prominent ANC member and future leader Nelson Mandela, a lawyer who had been a member of the ANC since the 1940s and also co-founded the armed wing of the party. The system was seemingly left unchallengeable until the 1980s when more militant opposition towards the Apartheid-system started to erupt in South Africa, which at this time had 1(105) become increasingly internationally isolated. The NP-government, now lead by State President Pieter Willem Botha, proclaimed a nationwide state of emergency in 1986 in an attempt to quell the increasingly violent unrest in the country, leading to censorship of the press, suspension of many civil liberties and the detainment of thousands of people. Although some of the most draconic Apartheid-laws were repealed during the 1980s, the government refused to officially negotiate with the ANC and other outlawed opposition parties, or as State President Botha stated in his own words: “…I am prepared to talk with people who want constitutional changes, but not prepared to talk with people who want revolutionary changes…”, referring to the imprisoned ANC-leader Nelson Mandela (South African History Online, 2018; Kino Library – Youtube, 2013). In 1989, State President Botha resigned due to health reason and was succeeded by F.W. de Klerk, a former government minister who for most of his career had been known as a conservative “hardliner” and forceful proponent of continuing racial segregation as well as the preservation of white minority interests (de Klerk, 1991). He immediately announced the start of formal negotiations with the ANC as well as the lifting of bans against several opposition parties. Nelson Mandela was also released in 1990 after spending nearly 30 years in prison and was subsequently elected president of the ANC the same year, replacing the ailing Oliver Tambo. The aim of the negotiations was meant to eventually result in a constitutional arrangement which would include the official abolishment of Apartheid and the transition to majority rule. De Klerk later stated that the purpose of the negotiations was to avoid that South Africa descended into a civil war and the continuing international isolation of the country (Roherty, 1992; de Klerk, 1991). 2(105) By the beginning of the 1990s, the situation in South Africa further deteriorated into a violent spiral with staggering homicide rates and the rise of extreme right-wing groups as well as more radical political parties such as the Conservative Party (CP) lead by former cabinet minister Andries Treurnicht which opposed all negotiations with the ANC and instead wanted to preserve white minority rule at all cost. At the same time, violence also increased between rival parties within the black majority population, most notably between supporters of the ANC and the Zulu-dominated Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). The IFP and its leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi had earlier been a close ally of the ANC and had supported each other in the struggle against Apartheid. However, the relation between the two parties broke down during the 1980s due to the increased focus of IFP on tribal loyalty and Zulu ethnic interests as well as Buthelezi's position as a Bantustan leader and collaboration with the South African Defence Forces (SADF) (Southall, 1981; Busch, 2013). Inkatha members were also involved