South Africa's Negotiated Transition to Democracy as a Model

THE POLITICS OF ELECTIONS
Elections in Southern Africa: Comparative studies of
Elections, Governance and opposition.
A critical analysis of the extent to which the South African model of
transition to democracy through negotiation, settlement and reconciliation
might be applicable to other strife-torn or unstable democracies of
Southern Africa.
University of Port Elizabeth
Masters in South African Politics and Political Economy
4th
June 2004
BENEDICT CELE
MPHIL
Contact: 083 547 1868
South Africa’s negotiated pact settlement and reconciliation.
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CONTENTS
I. Introduction 3
II. South African transition as a ‘negotiated pact settlement transition’. 3
III. The characteristics of the South African negotiated settlement
transition and its applicability in the neighbouring state Zimbabwen’s. 5
IV. The Assessment of the Pact-driven Settlement; 11
V. Conclusion 18
VI. References 20
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1. Introduction
South Africa made its transition from a minority—ruled country to an inclusive
democracy in 1994. The country has recently celebrated its tenth anniversary of democratic
rule; hence, it is not surprising that there is increased interest in assessing what the country
has achieved so far and in attempting to gauge where the country might be destined in the
future. A special feature of this transition was that it was pact-driven, i.e. negotiated, between
and among the major political stakeholders at the time—it is generally accepted worldwide that
such a transition was indeed miraculous, especially in that no major social and political
convulsions occurred in the process.
The most interesting question after 10 years of democracy in South Africa is the extent
to which the South African model of negotiation, settlement and reconciliation in transition to
democracy might be applicable to other strife-torn or unstable democracies of Southern Africa.
In this essay, one will explore the positive spin-offs to-date from such a model as well as
assessing its current challenges in the 10nth year celebration of South Africa’s young
democracy. This essay will furthermore explore the extent to which this South African model
can be applicable to South Africa’s neighbouring states such as Zimbabwe.
II. South African transition as a ‘negotiated pact settlement transition’.
According to (O’ Donnel & Schmitter, 1986, 37), pacts can be defined as: “ an explicit
but not always publicly explicated or justified, agreement among a select set of actors which
seek to define (better or redefine) rules governing the exercise of power on the basis of mutual
guarantees for the ‘vital interests’ of those entering into it”. Such pacts are prescribed for a
specific period of time or contingent upon ongoing consent. Pacts are said to be used and
regarded as effective in periods of transition from the authoritarian regimes to more democratic
regimes, such as was the case for South Africa when it transcended from the Apartheid
Regime to a Government of National Unity democratic regime, marked by elections in 1994. It
is important to note however that pacts are not always a necessary element in all transitions
from authoritarian regimes. In some cases, the outgoing rulers may be so discredited such that
it is not possible for them to negotiate with their successors.
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Pacts can either be temporary solutions to avoid certain worrisome outcomes and
sometimes they may pave the way to more permanent arrangements in the resolution of
conflicts. Some of the pacts may eventually find their way to the constitution of the land,
institutionalised as the standard operating procedures of state agencies, political parties
interest associations and the like.
According to (O’ Donnel & Schmitter, 1986, 38): “at the core of a pact lies a negotiated
compromise under which actors agree to forgo or underutilise their capacity to harm each other
by extending guarantees not to threaten each others’ corporate authorities or vital interests.
This typically involves clauses stipulating abstention from violence, a prohibition on appeals to
outsiders, and often the commitment to use the pact-making again as a means for resolving
future disputes’. Pacts are said to be relevant in situations in which conflicting parties or
competing groups are interdependent, and cannot do without each other and impose their
preferred solutions if they are to satisfy their interests.
These features of the pact model to democratic transition are all inherent in South
Africa’s transition to democracy. Negotiations in South Africa are said to have started long
before F.W. de Klerk’s groundbreaking address to the South African Parliament in February
1990. Various working groups had already started the pre-negotiations activities towards a
settlement is South Africa which was later called ‘the public peace process. This process was
characterised by a series of public meetings including those of:
 Piet Muller, editor of the Afrikaans newspaper Beeld, and Professor H .W. van der
Merwe who travelled to Harare to meet with the exiled ANC IN 1985.
 Major Industrialists including Gavin Reilly of, chairman of Anglo American Corporation
who travelled to Lusaka to meet with the ANC.
 IDASA sponsored meeting with Afrikaner Intellectuals and the ANC in Dakar, Senegal,
1987.
 Micheal Young who facilitated 12 meetings in England between prominent Afrikaners
and the ANC.
 Ford Foundation in New York in 1986 attended by broederbond Chairman Pieter de
Lange and several top ANC leaders.
 Botha regime who commenced direct talks with the imprisoned Nelson Mandela I
complete secrecy.
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 Mandela whose diary notes at least 47 meetings with government officials to discuss
future negotiations.
With so many meetings the question that arises is what caused the delay into the
negotiation table. The conditions of a pact settlement had not been fulfilled at that time.
Mandela rejected an offer from the Botha Government to be released from prison in 1985 on
condition that he renounce violence unconditionally. He is quoted as having said: “I am in
prison as the representative of the people and the (peoples’ organisation, the African National
congress, which was burned. What freedom am I being offered while the organisation of the
people remains banned?….Only free man can negotiate. Prisoners cannot enter into contracts”
(Bouckaert, 243).
Formal negotiations did not take place until certain conditions for both ANC and NP
had been met. The NP called for an end to violence whereas the ANC reiterated the demands
of its earlier Harare Declaration: The release of political prisoners, the unbanning of all anti
apartheid organisations, withdrawal of government troops from the townships and the end of
the state of emergency and all political trials. Given that the consolidation of sanctions in the
mid 1980’s had started to strangle the S.A. economy, cutting the growth rate in half and costing
the country billions in foregone investments opportunities, the NP government had no choice
but to accept the ANC terms. The Groote Schuur Agreement of May 1990 provided a
framework for the return of exiles by providing temporary immunity. (Bouckaert, 243).
III. The characteristics of the South African negotiated settlement and reconciliation
transition and its applicability in the neighbouring state Zimbabwen’s.
South Africa’s negotiation process was an intensive four year process which began in
1990, February 2 when F.W. de Klerk’s announced the imminent release of Nelson Mandel,
and the lifting of the ban on the ANC, the South African Communist Party (SACP), and the Pan
African Congress (PAC). This transitional period can be characterised by the following
historical events:
1948 Electoral victory of the National Party (NP).
1985–1990 “Public Peace Process” meetings and secret negotiations between Nelson
Mandela and NP officials.
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1989 July 5: Secret meeting between President P.W. Botha and Nelson Mandela.
1990 Feb. 2: President de Klerk addresses the South African Parliament, announcing
the release of Nelson Mandela from prison, lifting the ban on
the African National Congress (ANC) and other parties, and inviting
parties to the negotiating table. May 2:Groote Schuur Minute: framework
for return of exiles. Aug. 7:Pretoria Minute: ANC renounces
armed struggle.
1991 Sept. 14: National Peace Accord signed by de Klerk, Mandela, and
Mangosuthu Buthelezi. Dec. 1: CODESA (Conference for a Democratic
South Africa) I negotiations, bringing all parties together for
talks.
1992 May: Resumption of CODESA negotiations. June 16:ANC abandons
negotiation process. July: Security Council Resolution 765 issued
,emphasizing
responsibility of South African government in stopping violence
and urging resumption of the negotiation process; United Nations
appoints Cyrus Vance as special representative for South Africa.
July 20–31: Cyrus Vance visits South Africa.Aug.3–4: Successful general
strike organized by ANC. Aug. 17: UN Security Council authorizes
deployment of UN observers to strengthen structures established
under the newly adopted National Peace Accord.
1993 Jan&Feb NP and ANC hold secret bilateral meetings
and reach agreement on the process and structure of transition to democracy
(agreement later rejected by a number of other parties).May:
Kempton Park talks held, aimed at gaining acceptance from other parties
for bilateral agreement.
1994 Apr. 8: Summit between Mandela, de Klerk, Buthelezi, and Zulu king
Goodwill Zwilithini. Apr. 27: Elections held successfully.
(Bouckaert, 243).
All the above events led South Africa successfully into the 1994 elections where the
Government of National Unity was formed. South Africa is respected internationally for its
peaceful transition to a multi-party democratic government. Whereas this transition is regarded
as a magical intervention by the rest of the world, it is however a product of a lot of hard work
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by South African, both NP and ANC, as well as other stakeholders, involving tolerance,
compromise, patience, sacrifice and forgiveness. It was characterised by parties entering and
re-entering negotiations until amicable agreements were reached. South Africa’s magical
negotiation success is said to have been a result of three important factors: The ideal of non-
racial democracy as advocated by the ANC and its allies, the non-interference by the
international community, its truth and reconciliation process, as well as the creation of
independent bodies to monitor the agreements made. These are the four factors that are
currently not existent in the Zimbabwen’s government, that would make it difficult, but not
impossible for the South African’s model of democratic transition to be effective in Zimbabwe,
amongst other factors related to the history of Zimbabwe.
When Zimbabwe originally received its independence, it also experienced transition through a
‘pact negotiated settlement’. This is the other reason why it would be difficult for Zimbabwe to
follow the South African route, because it has travelled that route before, with the same person
on the driving seat. Whereas the pact transition worked well for Zimbabwe for a number of
years, balancing the power between the Ndebele’s and the Shona’s, clearly in the long run it
became ineffective, a danger that also dangles over the South African negotiated settlement in
the near future if it fails to tackle the current challenges identified within the last 10 years of
democratic transition. One of the obvious reasons why the pact transition can sometimes fail is
because sometimes the compromises that are made for the sake of peace in the beginning are
unrealistic and they become unsustainable with time, as well as the fact that some parties in
the long run do not honour the pact that has been made. Clearly in the case of Zimbabwe, the
pact has not been honoured with respect to the distribution of Land, hence the current state of
the appropriation of white owned farming land. The once respected African Leader in the world
and in Africa particularly, is no longer cheered as he is seen to be destroying the country of
Zimbabwe and abusing the whites in Zimbabwe as well as his people.
As one weighs all the evidence, one is tempted to conclude that the solution for Zimbabwe
cannot be the application of the South African Model of transition, as Zimbabwe has done the
exact opposite of all that South Africa did to achieve its transition. The model can only be
applicable if Zimbabwe were to abandon all its strategies and adopt the South African model of
transition, that is much celebrated in the world today.
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 The ideal of non-racial democracy
The ANC’s slogan of the 1955 Freedom charter stated ‘that South Africa belongs to all those
who live in it. This slogan far appeals to the diverse people of South Africa than slogans of
most African Countries as well as other political parties in South African organised along ethnic
and racial lines. Non- racialism provided an alternative for Afrikaners that guaranteed their
continued survival. This addressed the fears of the Afrikaner people of annihilation amidst
political organisations that were proponents of the view that Africa belonged to Africans and all
non-Africans should pack and go. (Bouckaert, 243).
In Zimbabwe, on the other hand the white owned farm lands are being invaded, which is
increasing racial tension, hatred, insecurity and mistrust of the other groups. Divisions and
tensions between MDC, ZANU-PF, the white minority group are increasing. There is no attempt
towards reconciliation, peace and stability, but to an onlooker, war is being waged against
Britain and everyone else has to suffer in the process. (Bouckaert, 243).
 The non-interference by the international community.
One of the best things about South Africa’s transition to democracy is that its ‘solem pact’ was
a solution arrived at by the South Africans themselves, through direct negotiations. This built a
strong sense of National Identity manifested through many activities that were to follow,
amongst which are: the unanimous rejoicing over the World Rugby Cup victory of the
Springboks, once a despised symbol of Afrikanerdom, South Africa’s national symbols, e.g. the
new South African flag, the National Anthem sung in four main South African languages,
SABC1 ‘Simunye Grooves’ slogan, The rainbow nation slogan, etc. (Bouckaert, 243).
The international community played a role of supporting the transition process. Their role
included observing the process (particularly during the 1994 elections), encouraging positive
developments, offering logistical support, and interviewing. By working on the issues
themselves, the South Africans were able to overcome the past and move on to develop a
powerful new national consciousness, and since the negotiators would also be the
implementers for the agreements, there was pressure to arrive at agreements that were fair to
all and realistic when implemented. (Bouckaert, 243).
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There is no commitment in the ruling government of Zimbabwe for negotiations and the
reaching of agreements. There is no preparedness to compromise. Only the government of
Zimbabwe’s dictates what will happen, and other parties have no voice. The media is censored
and suffers abuse, citizens not wanting to comply with the ruling parties are imprisoned,
tortured, raped and abused. There is no sense of Nationality. Even African countries, including
South Africa are not influential enough to change the behaviour of the ruling party. Zimbabwe
is currently a dictatorship regime.
 The truth and reconciliation process
South Africa did not only end their transition process with the pact settlement, but went a step
further to embark on a process of truth and reconciliation. The truth and reconciliation has been
a subject of much controversy in South Africa, with some arguing that it was a useless exercise
that would not achieve anything. (Gibson, cited in Gerry Everding,1, 2004) though is adamant
that “without the truth and reconciliation process, the prospects for a reconciled, democratic
South Africa would have been greatly diminished.
The process of reconciliation in South Africa was entrusted to the Truth and Reconciliation
Committee (TRC) chaired by 1984 Nobel Peace Prize-winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu. It
was constituted in 1996, and completed its work in 2001. The TRC ‘s mandate was to
investigate apartheid era human rights violations committed between 1960 and May 10, 1994,
in order to grant Amnesty to those who committed politically motivated crimes and to
recommend compensation to victims of abuse. (Bureau of African Affairs, 6, June 2003).
(Gerry cited in Everding, 1, 2004) argues that “by creating a common understanding of the
nature of Apartheid, a” collective memory for the nation”, the TRC helped to foster
reconciliation, as defined by the acceptance of basic principles of human rights and political
tolerance, rejection of racial prejudice, and acceptance of the institutions of the new political
order”. Gibson believes that the reconciliatory process allows for the acknowledging of shared
responsibility for atrocities of the past which is important for moving forward. He states that “by
convincing all sides that their hands were dirty, and that the other side (the enemy) also was
unfairly harmed during thee struggle, a commonality was created that served as the basis for
reconciling South Africa. In this way, he argues, both a common history and common fate have
been created for South Africans of all races”.
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Such a process in Zimbabwe is long coming as the ruling party is still committing this atrocities.
 The creation of independent bodies to monitor the agreements made
South Africa also created independent bodies to monitor their negotiated agreements. The
following are few of the useful independent bodies created:
The Goldstone Commission:
It was established after the signing of the National Peace Accord in 1991 to enquire into public
violence. This commission was able to investigate the sources of violence during the transition
period and exposed quite a number of political organisation’ activities that led to the violence
including the ANC and the IFP.
The Transitional Executive Council
This body was set up with representation from all major parties with the exception of the IFP
which chose not to participate. The TEC was created because of the threat that the
government would use its power to manipulate the transition. There were concerns about the
government having control over media sources. The major concerns were around the elections.
This body was also tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that the elections were free and
fair. To this end the TRC was assisted by the creation of several commissions including the
Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), Independent Media Commission (IMC), Independent
Broadcast Authority (IBA). (Bouckaert, 243).
The IEC had the difficult responsibility of organising free and fair elections in a country where
most people had never voted before and with high illiteracy levels, and no voter rolls that could
be used to establish eligibility. The IEC was successful in training 200,000 voting officers,
deployed 9000 staff at polling stations across the country, and ran a massive voter education
campaign throughout the country.
Zimbabwe on the other hand is a dictatorship regime that is only accepting minimal interference
form any external sources such as other African leaders. Internally, it is not committed to
negotiate with any other stakeholders.
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Clearly then Zimbabwe would have to completely abandon its way of doing things if the South
African model were to be applied. However, though the processes of the South African pact
negotiation transition are said to be good and recommended to other African countries because
they are good for transition, the question remains as to how effective they are as a democracy
grows and mature. Clearly, if we were to generalise using the Zimbabwen case study, we
would conclude that in the long run there are problems. The next section will tackle this
question in light of South Africa’s young democracy.
IV. The Assessment of the Pact-driven Settlement;
As noted earlier, South Africa made its transition through a negotiated settlement that
lives up to this day. Indeed, some have noted that the negotiated character of the settlement
has severely affected the nature of governance and the ability of the new government to
pursue the original mandate of the movement (ANC) and the fight for democratisation. In this
respect, it has been argued that the very nature of procedural democracy has worked to the
benefit of the previously advantaged groups and, in the process, has compromised the
participatory and consultative forms of governance that had been emphasised in the original
RDP document. (Mhone, 2003) Thus, for some, the anticipated “people’s democracy” has
degenerated into a “bourgeois democracy”, in which the interest of the privileged are dominant.
Mhone (2003,35) insist that the consolidation of democracy in the final analysis should
depend on the degree to which all parties agree to live by democratic rules and procedures,
and that democracies built on pacts will only last as long as the conditions leading to the pacts
obtain. Once these conditions have dissipated, the chances are that democracy will collapse.
Przeworski (1991:26) observes that:
Democracy is consolidated when it becomes self-reinforcing, that is, when all the
relevant political forces find it best to continue to submit their interest and values to the
uncertain interplay of the intuition. Complying with the current outcome, even if it is a
defeat, and directing all actions within the institutional framework is better for the
relevant political forces than trying to subvert democracy. To put it somewhat
technically, democracy is consolidated when compliance—acting within the institutional
framework—constitutes the equilibrium of the decentralised strategies of all the
relevant political forces.
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A number of issues that are pertinent to the South African situation arise from the
above discussion. It is well known that the transition to democracy was based on a pact,
generally referred to as reconciliation, and understood to have entailed protection on minority
political, social, cultural and economic interest. Thus, the first question that arises concerns
how tenable such a pact can be, given the social and economic deficits that have to be
addressed in the context of South Africa. Mhone give the example of Zimbabwe as a warning
to South Africa. He states that the experience of Zimbabwe is illustrative, since it also made its
transition through a pact, which had the effect of making the government postpone a number of
critical decisions that should have been made to promote equitable development. Another
concern as articulated by Koelble (The global economy and democracy in South Africa: 1998;
147) relates to the rules that all are required to abide by in order to make democracy
sustainable.
If the rules are biased in favour of maintaining the status quo, as current rules and laws
in South Africa are, what is it that would induce those outside of the status quo, who do not
benefit from the status quo, to comply with such laws in the long term, especially if the benefits
of doing so are seen to be slow in being realised? There surely cannot be solely their faith and
patience in waiting for long-term outcomes. Of course, the key issues relate to what factors
actually facilitate such an outcome and how one incorporate actors who are not part of
organised political groups, since instability may arise even when there is general agreement
among formal political forces to abide by the rules.
An analysis of the Economic Policy and Development;
In the case of South Africa, Development is linked to the need to transform the
economy in order to make it more inclusive of the previously excluded majority and to ensure
the provision of basic needs and appropriate social safety nets. This constitutes the
developmental problem that the government has to grapple with and which, in the eyes of the
historically disadvantaged majority, is the very reason for government. In his view of the
development of democracy, one major conclusion Huntington (1991) arrives at is the fact that
the consolidation of democracy requires the realisation of inclusive growth and development,
which is the general understanding of what sustainable human development means.
Huntington shows that while the major first and second wave democracies embarked on
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market-led growth and development, more or less at the same time as they embarked upon
democratisation through major social and political convulsions, third wave democratic change
has been associated with an initial disjuncture between the emergence of democracy and
inclusive growth, each of which has preceded or followed the other depending on the context.
He argues that among the third-wave countries the sustainability and consolidation of
democracy has very much depended on the ability of the government to initiate and sustain
broad-based growth and development. Mhone defines “developmentalism” as a conscious,
strategic stance taken by government to promote accelerated economic growth, structural
transformation, social development and the repositioning of the economy in the international
division of labour by consciously influencing the performance of the market. The nature of the
developmental stance can range from mild planning, with the market as the main player, to
mandatory planning and socialism at the other extreme, or some form of mixed economy in
between. Mhone (2003) points out that in order to precipitate a developmental momentum,
redistributive measures are needed. This may not be easily compatible with current definitions
of democracy, especially when its procedural or bourgeois form is assumed. Essentially, in
countries with grave inequalities like South Africa, the initiation of development may require
tampering with the property rights of privileged individuals or groups, unless these individuals
or groups agree to such measures in their own long-term interest or in recognition of the
positive outcome that would result in the long term. It is therefore important for such pacts to be
built into the democratic agenda right from the beginning of the transition to democracy. This
leads us to a discussion on the Reconstruction and Development Program (RDP),
(a) The Reconstruction and Development Programme, (RDP)
As the democratic dispensation was approaching, the African National Congress
(ANC) embarked upon an extensive consultation process that resulted in the formulation of the
RDP as the major guiding policy document of the movement and the imminent new
government. (Mhone: 2003) This initial document was later formally issued as a government
White Paper immediately after the ANC assumed state power. The White Paper describes the
RDP as “an integrated, coherent socio-economic policy framework. It seeks to mobilise all our
people and our country’s resources towards the final eradication of the results of apartheid and
the building of a democratic, non-racial and non-sexist future. It represents a vision for the
fundamental transformation of South Africa.” (RDP White Paper, 1994) The White Paper went
on to outline the six basic principles of the RDP:
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(i) The need to pursue an integrated and sustainable program, since the legacy of
apartheid “cannot be overcome with piecemeal, uncoordinated policies. The
RDP brings together strategies to harness all our resource in a coherent and
purposeful effort that can be sustained into the future. These strategies will be
implemented at national, provincial, and local level by government, parastatals,
business and organisations within civil society all working within the framework
of the RDP. All levels of government must pay attention to affordability given our
commitment to fiscal discipline and to achievable goals.”
(ii) The RDP must be a people-driven process: “Our people, with their aspirations
and collective determination, are our most important resource. The RDP is
focused on people’s immediate needs and it relies, in turn, on their energies.
Irrespective of race or sex, or whether they are rural or urban, rich or poor, the
people of South Africa must together shape their own future. Development is not
about delivery of goods to a passive citizenry. It is about active involvement and
growing empowerment.”
(iii) There must be peace and security for all.
(iv) The above will facilitate nation building: “We are a single country, with a single
economy, functioning within a constitutional framework that establishes
provincial and local powers, respect for minorities, and a process to
accommodate those wishing to retain their cultural identity. It is on the bases of
our unity in diversity that we will consolidate our national sovereignty.”
(v) “Nation-building links reconstruction and development. The RDP is based on the
notion that reconstruction and development are parts of an integrated process.
The RDP integrates growth, development, reconstruction, redistribution and
reconciliation into a unified programme.”
(vi) All of the foregoing will depend on the need for “thorough-going democratisation
of South Africa. Minority control and privilege in every aspect of our society are
the main obstruction to developing an integrated programme which will unleash
all the resources of our country and fundamentally change the way that policy is
made and implemented.”
The RDP White Paper proceeded to outline the five main programmes originally stated in the
RDP base document, the original ANC policy statement, as the following:
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• Meeting basic needs;
• Developing human resources;
• Democratising the state and society;
• Building the economy; and
• Implementing the RDP.
It is clear from the above that the key areas of focus of the RDP were the need to consolidate
democratisation and the need to promote sustainable human development, and that the two
are interlinked since “if we do not succeed in democratising the State and Society, the
resources and potential of our country and people will not be available for a coherent program
of reconstruction and development. In linking democracy, development and a people-centered
approach to government, we are paving the way for a new democratic order.” (RDP White
Paper, 1994) Through the RDP, it can be inferred that the new government was intent on
pursuing the following objectives: formal and substantive democracy; a pluralistic and
participatory form of governance; and a developmentalist agenda.
(b) The Growth, Employment and Redistribution policy;
After the RDP Ministry was disbanded, the government announced its new
macroeconomic policy framework in the name of the Growth, Employment and Redistribution
(GEAR) policy framework document (Department of Finance, 1996). Mhone states that this
policy document was voluntarily embarked upon by the government with the encouragement
and support of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, who were
periodically consulted in its preparation, was very much a structural adjustment and
stabilisation programme of South Africa’s own making.
The government gave as its rationale for adopting the framework, the changing
international economic environment, especially the need to insulate South Africa from the Asian
economic and financial crisis and other similar crises that might occur among emerging
markets in the future. Implicit in adopting the GEAR was the contention that the government
needed such policy statement as a way of not only allaying the concerns and fears of foreign
and domestic investors, but of actually attracting such investors as well. The document cites
the implications of the depreciation of the rand, which had just occurred, as presenting both a
threat and an opportunity, hence “ an uncoordinated response, embroiled in conflict, will cause
further crisis and contraction. Linked to an integrated economic strategy, on the other hand, it
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provides a springboard for enhanced economic activity” (Department of Finance, 1996:1). The
foregoing statement was meant, in part, to suggest that current global and domestic
circumstances demanded drastic measures to be put in place and, in part, to indicate that the
government would not tolerate unnecessary debate over the new policy.
GEAR begins by noting that, as the next century approaches, South Africa would seek
to achieve the following:
(i) a competitive, fast-growing economy, which creates sufficient jobs for all work
seekers;
(ii) a redistribution of income and opportunities in favour of the poor;
(iii) a society in which sound health, education and other services are available to all,
and
(iv) an environment in which hopes are secure and workplaces are productive
The GEAR was seen as a “strategy for rebuilding and restructuring the economy…in
keeping with the goals of the RDP”. It further claimed that “in the context of this integrated
economic strategy, we can successfully confront the related challenges of meeting basic
needs, developing human resources; increasing participation in the democratic institutions of
civil society and implementing the RDP” (Department of Finance, 1996:1). The message of
GEAR was however clear, and this was that the market would be the paramount vehicle for
allocating resources and that macroeconomic fundamentals would be pursued resolutely and
not tampered with in achieving this goal. (Mhone: 2003)
While the government has continued to insist that GEAR merely represented the
clarification of an obvious omission in the RDP, namely the absence of an explicit
macroeconomic framework, and that as such it was a continuation of the RDP, one may argue
that the GEAR is an explicit break with the RDP, with the government shifting towards the
Washington Consensus characteristic of structural adjustment and stabilisation programmes
associated with the Bretton Woods institutions. The government insist it has not changed
policies, but has merely adapted to changing domestic and global circumstances; however,
within the ANC alliance itself and among many non-governmental organisations and experts
observers on the right and the left there is consensus that, with the adoption of GEAR, the
government has made a major paradigm and policy shift to the right.
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Breytenbach (2000: 3), state that the adoption of GEAR is likely to have been influenced by
President Thabo Mbeki’s Africanist approach. He argues that Mbeki does not see South Africa
as a single nation, but two nations: rich white and poor black. He refers to the president as an
Africanist with a capitalist agenda (some say this is an enigma), which might have implications
for the continuation of the ANC’s tradition of non-racialism that was strongly supported by
Nelson Mandela. Moreover, the ANC’s non-racial partners, the SACP and COSATU, might
become uncomfortable with too much capitalism. Breytenbach, concludes by stating that the
ethno-racial divisions in South Africa may therefore work towards Mbeki’s advantage (there is a
black majority in South Africa), but the downside may be that non-racialism takes a backseat.
How this will affect the confidence of white business and other than black voters in South Africa
is uncertain. A more racialised electorate and a more nervous business sector (still worried by
what happened in Zimbabwe) can surely not be steps in the right direction.
Challenges facing our Democracy;
At the moment, the dispute over GEAR threatens to disrupt the alliance of the dominant
ruling party, the ANC, with its main partners, the COSATU and SACP, which vehemently
disagree with the ANC over the shift towards economic liberalism. The economic problem
concerns the degree to which the economic reforms can begin to deliver in terms of achieving
the goal of sustainable human development, especially to the benefit of the majority of the
historically disadvantaged constituency. Both these considerations combine to influence the
degree of confidence that the majority of the people have in the economic reforms and in the
ability of the government to deliver on its promises.
According to Mhone (2003:49), GEAR has not been able to result in an appreciable
improvement in the real economy. One might argue that matters could have been worse in the
absence of GEAR-type measures, given the turmoil in the world markets since the democratic
dispensation. It could be claimed also that external factors have constrained the efficacy of
GEAR. It is, nonetheless, true that the government has not had a bold approach to
development, so the consequences of a proactive and grand state-led strategy of
transformation are also not known. Regardless, the issue is that the marginal changes
anticipated by GEAR have not materialised on the real economy side, and the major structural
inequities inherited from the apartheid era have either worsened or not changed much at all.
Instead, evidence suggests that income inequalities among Africans are increasing.
17

The major concern, however, remains the fact that unemployment, poverty and socio-
economic inequalities, with their associated pathologies such as high levels of crime, abuse of
women and children, social dislocation, and now the impact of HIV/AIDS, continue to beleaguer
the South African polity. When socio-economic maladies afflict a large proportion of the
population, and persist unabated, they do not only represent a development problem, rather
than a mere growth problem, but they also pose a risk to the maintenance and consolidation of
a democratic dispensation.
V. Conclusion
Having highlighted the challenges of the South Africa’s ‘pact negotiated agreement’,
the question remains: Is this model applicable to other South Africa strife –torn countries in
Africa-to Zimbabwe for instance? The state of South Africa after 10 years of Democracy should
be able to tell us.
The South African socio-economic environment is fundamentally one in which legacies of
past oppression and inequality still obtain, and such liberal democracy and its accompanying
economic liberalisation merely entrench the interest of the historically advantaged and the new
elite’ drawn from among the historically disadvantaged. Thus, the current environment
compromises both substantive democracy and developmental objectives, and under such
circumstances it is questionable whether democracy can be consolidated.
South Africa has succeeded in making the transition from an oppressive non-democratic
system to a democratic one through institutionalisation of procedures and constitutional
provisions that have become the basis for regular democratic practices. (Mhone: 2003) This
essay has shown that while South Africa is committed to development, it has been less
successful in promoting sustainable human development by precipitating an inclusive growth
path, which would broaden the economic base to the benefit of the historically disadvantaged
groups, primarily in a positive sum outcome of growth and development. With the adoption of
GEAR as the lynchpin policy paradigm, the government appears to have placed itself in a
quandary. This may reflect a realignment of class dominance within the ruling party, implying a
shift of influence in favour of an emerging middle-and upper-class elite” of professionals,
entrepreneurs and middle-class workers, whose interest may be seen to harmonise more with
18

those of the status quo White population and those of influential external bodies, among which
the IMF and the World Bank stand out. ( Mhone: 2003, 65)
It has been shown that GEAR is not adequate to address the major economic and social
legacies inherited from the past and is not able to promote sustainable human development.
While procedural democracy and economic liberalisation as represented by GEAR appear
compatible, in that the status quo can find solace in and is supportive of both, it is questionable
as to whether this mix provides a basis for the consolidation of democracy and the promotion of
sustainable human development in the medium to long term. Mhone (2003), suggests that, if
sustainable human development is to remain a primary goal of government then the nature of
democracy has to be deepened beyond procedural formalities toward substantive realities
rooted in a combination of formal, participatory and consultative structures that adequately
represent the disadvantaged, with the adoption of a development-oriented stance and an
economic policy paradigm that places the interest of the majority at the fore.
This would require the centre of influence to shift in favour of the poor and
underprivileged, or that a splinter party that accommodates such interest emerges to pursue
and promote the developmental project. In the absence of such an outcome, it is likely that the
hard-won gains of procedural democracy are likely to be dissipated on the altar of narrow
interests. This is partly a normative issue, which needs to be addressed on these very same
grounds; but it is also a positivist prediction, which hypothesises that the current status quo is
not likely to be sustainable in the long term if issues of substantive democracy and
development are not addressed boldly. Perhaps then, when these issues have been
addressed, would we be in a situation to say for certain if our ‘pact negotiated and
reconciliatory model’ is applicable to the rest of Africa or not.
19

VI. References:
Huntington, S.P. (1991) The Third Wave. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Held, D., McGrew, A., Goldbatt, D., & Perraton, J. (1999) Global Transformations: Politics,
Economics and Culture. London: Polity Press.
Mhone, G., & Edigheji, O. (2003) Governance in the New South Africa: Challenges of
Globalisation.
Haggard, S., Robert, R., & Kaufman (1994) Journal of Democracy: Challenges of
Consolidation
Koelble, T., A. (1998) The Global Economy and Democracy in South Africa
Beetham, D., (1994) Defining and Measuring Democracy
Cloete, J., J., N. (1993) Prospect for South Africa: Democracy
Alter, P., (1994) Nationalism: second edition
Diamond, L., & Plattner, F., M., (1999) Democratisation in Africa
Palmberg, M., (1999) National Identity and Democracy in Africa
Breytenbach, W., J. ( 2000) Democracy in South Africa: What kind, Is it Consolidating?
Du Toit, A., (1993) The meaning of Democracy
Department of Finance (1996) Growth, Employment and Redistribution: A Macro-economic
Strategy. Pretoria.
Koebler, T. (1999). “Globalisation and Democratisation: The prospects for social Democracy in
South Africa: Politikon. Vol. 26, No. 2, pp 259-268
O’ Donnel,G.,Schmitter P.C. (1986). Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Tentative conclusions
about uncertain democracies: John Hopkins University Press. London
Everding, G. (2004) Overcoming apartheid: Landmark survey reveals South Africa’s peaceful
transition to democracy: Washington University. St Louis
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Bouckaert, P. South Africa: The Negotiated transition from apartheid to non-racial democracy.
Bureau of African Affairs: Background note: South Africa: June 2003.
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