After Apartheid: A Unified DemocracyThe Evolution of South Africa

For the pastthree-and-a-halfcenturies,South Africa has beena country characterizedbyethnic strife. In the twentieth century, the oppressivesystemof apartheiddivided racespolitically, economicallyandsocially. But now, with the historic April election,South Africahastakenthefirst steptowards creatinga democratic,non-racialsociety.

by David Colapintoand ShaneBarker

A s observersaround theworld watch the formal

dismantlingof apartheid,theprevailing mood within SouthAfrica is one of wariness,lacedwith hope.If the past few yearsare any indication, the future iscertain to containfurther conflict as South Africa continuesits tortuous transition todemocracy.

PresidentF.W. de Klerk,of the ruling National Party,first announcedin February,1990, that he was committed tothe reformation-indeed,transformation-of the apartheidstate. Afterfour years ofgruelling negotiations,April 26,1994 marked the dawn of anew era, as South Africans,regardlessof their race, votedin the country’s first democratic election.

The old parliament of threehouses-whites178 seats,coloreds 85, and Indian45-excluded blacks completely. It reignedby simplemajorityvote, thusallowing thewhite house todominate.The

David Colapinto is studying Modern European andAfrican History at York University in Toronto.

ShaneBarker grew up in

Kenyaand receivedhis B.A. in

Political Sciencefrom ReadingUniversity in England. Henowlives in Toronto and is anxiously awaiting thebirth of twins.

PAN AFRICANIST CONGRESS OF AZANIA

SPORTS ORGANISATION FOR COLLECTIVECONTRIBUTIONS AND EQUAL RIGHTS

THE KEEP IT STRAIGHT ANDSIMPLE PARTY

WOMEN’S RIGHTS PEACE PARTY

XIMOKO PROGRESSIVE PARTY

AFRICAN CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY

AFRICAN DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT

AFRICAN MODERATES CONGRESS PARTY

DEMOCRATIC PARTY.DEMOKRATIESE PARTY

DIKWANKWETLA PARTY OFSOUTH AFRICA

FEDERAL PARTY

LUSO . SOUTH AFRICAN PARTY

MINORITY FRONT

Since they registeredfor the electionjust daysbeforevoting began,special Inkatha Freedom Party stickers neededto beattachedto theballot. [SouthAfrican Embassy, Ottawa]

proposednew parliamentarystructurewill have a NationalAssembly and a regionalSenate. The 400-seatNationalAssembly will be elected byproportionalparty representation, and will selecta presidentfrom the governing party. TheSenate will consist of tenmembersfrom eachof the ninenew provincesreplacing thepreviousgeographicalorganization of four provincesandmany black "homelands".Inthe 27-memberCabinet, everyparty that captures over fivepercentof the popular voteisentitled to aseat.

The new governmentwillbe one of ‘national unity,’which will strive to govern byconsensusduring the next fiveyearswhile writing the newconstitution and smoothingthetransition to full democracy.In1999, complete majorityelections are to takeplace.

The stageis set in SouthAfrica for the preliminaryyearsof democracy.Its backdropincludes naturaland manufacturing wealthand a sophisticated infrastructure.Yet, over allthis falls a curtain ofinstability,disparity of living standards,ethnic tensionsand globalscrutiny. South Africa’sgnarledhistorical roots willmake its roadto prosperityandpeacean arduousone. At last,however,South Africa willface the future as a united,democraticcountry.

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VRYHEIDSFRONT . FREEDOM FRONT

WORKERS’ LIST PARTY

AFRICA MUSLIM PARTY

AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS

NATIONAL PARTY. NASIONALE PARTY

SUMMER 1994 . ORIGINS .

HERE IN NORTH AMERICA

SouthAfrica, before the newprovincial boundaries.[Electrornap,mc]

over 500 miles east ofCapeTown. As both the trekboersandthe Bantu tribes graduallyexpanded,the "Hottentots" werecaught between thesetwo largerand morepowerful groups.Bythe end of the eighteenthcentury, the original inhabitants ofthe southerntip of Africa were on thebrink of extinction.

The beginning ofthe nineteenth century markedthe riseofthe Zulu nation in modernday Natal. Conflicts betweentheBantutribes of the areaculminatedin the rise of Shaka,the

bastardson of the chiefof a small tribecalledthe Zulu. A fiercefighter and tyrannicalgeneral,Shakathroughconquestunited over ahundredof the smallsurroundingtribes tocreatethe Zulu nationof today. A directresult of the havocspread by his reignamongstthe peoplesofthe areawas themfecanegreatmigration,which lasted from1822 until 1836. In aneffort to escapehispower, tribes movedsouthwestinto Khosaterritory, west over themountainsand northinto modern-dayZimbabwe. It is estimatedthat over a millionBantusdied as a resultof the conflicts thattook place during thetribal upheavals ofthemfecane.

The British Presence and the Consolidation ofAfrlkaner Nationalism

The rapidly growing British Empirefirst becameinvolved withthe southernend of theAfrican continentwhen its soldiersoccupied the Cape colony in1795. After the ConventionofLondon in 1814, the British acquired full sovereigntyover thewhole territory ofthe Cape, whichincludedthe coastal stripasfar as the Fish River. TheBritish imposition of circuit judgesto mete out justice in the Boer communities,the introductionof 5,000British settlersin 1820, the replacementof DutchwithEnglish as the official language, andthe formation oftwo representativeassembliesto replacethe Burgheradministrationwere all seenas an attemptto deprivetrekboers of their independence andheritage.Two British legislativeacts in particular madethe situation intolerable for many Boers: in1828non-white races weregranted full civil rights, and in 1834 theslavesof the colony were freed.

The teachings ofthe DutchReformedChurchin Afrikanerthe generalterm for SouthAfricans of Dutch descentsocietywas-andstill is to somedegree-centralto the Afrikaner

Zimbabwe

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The Europeans: The Dutch EstablishThemselves

By the beginning of the seventeenth century,ships from themajor Europeantrading nations were pausingat the Cape ofGood Hope toreplenish theirstocks. The fate of southernAfrica was irrevocably altered when acrew working for theDutch East India CompanyVOC, having lost theirship in astorm, was forced tospend the winter inTable Bay. Uponreturning to Holland,they persuaded theVOC to establisha permanentreplenishmentstation, and Commander Jan vanRiebeeckwas dispatchedto organize a settlement.Theyearwas 1652.

The Dutch knewlittle of the indigenouspopulationupon theirarrival. In the coastalarea ofthe Capewherethey settled,the localpeople, nomadsfromthe Khoi-Khoi group oftribes,were nicknamed"Hottentot" from theDutch "stammerer"dueto the clicking soundsmade inthe tribes’ language.Initially, relations were basedontrade, but the VOCsoon discovered thebenefits of actuallyusingthe indigenouspeople to producethe goods neededbythecolony. Thisexploitation, combined withthe influx of FreeBurghersDutch settlersunrelated tothe VOC and the useofimported Angolanor Namibianslaves, createda racially stratified community.

Throughoutthe next centurythe colony expanded,particularly with the arrival of Huguenots-refugeesfrom the Europeanreformation.The Free Burghers sought farms beyondthegrowing population ofthe colony and the problemsof a rebellious labor supply. These Dutch farmers, Boers, pushedeastalong the coast,and north inland. The VOC ratherpresumptuously grantedthem plotsof land of approximately6,000acres.

As the trekboersthose farmers that pushedback thecolony’s frontier migrated, they came across Bantupeoples."Bantu" refersto a related groupof languages derived fromacommon ancestorin Central Africa, and the term has come todenotethe tribal groupingsbasedon theselanguages.Thesetribes have evolved intothe presentday Khosa, Zulu, Suthuand Tswana. The earliestrecordedconflict betweenthe trekboersand the Bantu peoples was in1702, when two "cattlebarteringexpeditions",one comprisedof trekboersand theother from the Khosaclashedin the area ofthe Fish River,

ORIGINS . SUMMER 1994

HERE IN NORTH AMERICA

abhorrenceof any integrationof blacks into white society.TheDutch ReformedChurch offered a literal interpretation ofthebible, which tells of Ham, the black son of Noah, going southafter the greatflood to spawnthe Banturaces.The Dutchinter-pretationintimatesthat thesepeopleswere the naturalslavesofwhites.

The GreatTrek to escape Britishdomination beganin1836, andit is impossibleto understandthe Afrikaner mentality without acknowledgingthe importance ofthis diaspora: thetrek was theChineseLong March, the American pioneerwagon trains and the Flight of Moses from Egypt rolled intoone. Forthe Voortrekker those who embarkedon the trek,from theDutch "topressforward", it was the ultimateembodiment of Boerindependence,courage,determinationand faithin God. The trek alsocoincided withthe end of the mfecane.

The mfecaneeasedthe Voortrekker’spassage northeast,asat the time of the Bantu migrations therewere no establishedtribal boundaries. Nevertheless,the trek did lead to numerouslocalized conflicts.The mostfamousof thesewas the Battle ofBlood River, whichoccurred betweena group of Voortrekkersand the Zulus. TheVoortrekkershad sentemissariesto theZulu king, Dingane, to arrange forpassageand settlementinthe greatly expanded Zuludomain. Thenegotiatorswereambushedand executedon their return journey,and theVoortreldcerssent a punitive force togain redressby raidingfor cattle. Dingane ordered his regimentsinto battle,and in theclash with superior Boerweaponrylost 3,000of his finestwar-riors. After Blood River, Zulu powerbeganto recede.

The Voortrekkers establishedtwo republics, which havesurviveduntil now as the Orange FreeStateand the Transvaal.By 1854,both had been recognizedby the British as independententities.The Boers,in moving north,had earnedthe enmity of the Bantutribes still recoveringfrom the effects ofthemfecanewho could do very little to preventthe agreementsfor independencebetweenBoer arid Briton. By this time, theBritish had addedthe coastal area of Natal to their territorialholdings.

In 1860, the British introduced indenturedlabor fromIndia into Natal. TheseIndians were usedto build the infrastructure, such as roadsin the colony. Certain conditionsper-tamedto wages,hoursand accommodation,and on completionof their obligations,the laborers’ families were brought fromIndia to settle.Thesearethe ancestorsof the large Indiancorn-munity now living in modernSouth Africa.

Diamonds, Gold Mines and Wars of Independence

Outright warbetweenBantu, Briton and Boer had beenavoid-ed in the first 200 yearsof the Europeanoccupation ofSouthAfrica. More serious conflicts markedthe second half ofthenineteenthcentury. One of the main reasons forthis was thediscovery of diamonds inthe OrangeFreeStatein 1 867 andofgold in the late 1 880s in the easternregion of the Transvaal.The combinationof British efforts to annexland for control ofthe mines,andthe hugeinflux of miners of all colorscontributed to risingtensionsbetweenBoer and Briton.

Large British-ownedmining corporationsusedmigrantBantusto labor in the mines. The ruling Boers tried to controlthis influx with various rules regarding employment,freedom

of movementand living arrangements,but the power of themining conglomeratesrenderedtheir efforts impotent. In 1880,the Boers went to war with Britain. TheFirst Boer War, inwhich the British were defeated,lastedtwo years.

Despitethis setback,the British continuedto expandnorthof the Boer republics, moving into modem-dayBotswanaand

Zimbabwe,and annexingZululand in 1887. As a result of theBritish expansion,the Boers found themselves geographicallysurrounded. Theirfeeling of insecurity intensifiedwhen L.S.Jameson,an associateof Cecil Rhodes,the Prime Ministerofthe Cape, led one hundredarmed men into the Orange FreeStatein an attemptby the British to regain politicalcontrol ofthe republic. The Jameson Raid of1 895 failed, yet it was onlya matter of time before war broke outagain.

During the SecondBoer War of 1899-1902,guerrilla war-fare initially provedeffective againstthe British military.However, the British beganincarceratingAfrikaner women toprevent them from supplying the Boer commandos.TheBritish thusexhaustedthe Boers,who surrenderedat Vereeniging in 1902. South Africa was incorporatedinto the British

SUMMER 1994 * ORIGINS * 23

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Empire, butthe victory was far from complete.During the war, in the concentrationcampsestablishedby

the British, Afrikaner womenand children died by the thousands fromdisease;this proved tobethe final nail in the coffinfor Boer-Britishrelations.The war did notdisheartenthe Boer,but ratherfanned the flames ofnationalismand the drive forindependencethat has remainedan obstacle to politicalreformin twentieth-centurySouth Africa.

Many factorsultimately contributedto the emergence ofSouthAfrica as an independent dominion. Most importantwerethe influenceof the new multi-national businesscorporations,the hugecost of the Boer War to the British nearly£200 million, and 22,000 lives and the resurgenceof Afrikaner politiciansin the OrangeFreeState, the Transvaaland the Cape. InOctober,1908, theDurban Conventionwas held with the intention of writing a constitutionfor an independentSouth Africa.In 1910,the Houseof Commonsin London voted to give SouthAfrica its independence.Eight yearsafter the PeaceofVereeniging,the Boersachievedby ballot whatthey had failedto achieveby bullet-anindependentUnion of SouthAfrica.

By the time of independence,the major divisions in society had begunto takehold. For Bantupeoples, survivalwas nolonger basedon raids and the protectionof grazing lands, buton the tough working environment ofthe mines. In the yearsimmediately after SouthAfrica’s emergenceas a dominion,LouisBotha’s Afrikaner-dominatedgovernmentbegan to enact

a seriesof laws that curtailed Banturights.

The Mines andWorks Act of 1911instituted certificates ofcompetence,but included a colorban to specific occupations. TheNative Lands Act of1913 designated22 million acresas reservesfor Bantu ethnic groupings, but prohibitedthesaleof land betweendifferent races. Afterbloody riots by whiteunion workers, theApprenticeshipAct of1922 definededucational standards forapprentice positions, and thusensuredthat the onlyeligible candidateswerethe better-educated

whites. The Urban Areas Actof 1923 regulatedthe flow ofblacks into populatedareas,and establishedlocations for themto live, ultimatelygiving rise to townshipslike Soweto.

Until 1948, whenthe Afrikaner-dominatedNational Partywon an overwhelming majority,political control tendedtofluctuatebetweenthe Englishand the Afrikaners. TheNationalParty has proved unshakableuntil this year’s multi-racial election. It was the erathat coincided withthe NationalParty’s riseto power in 1948 that formally usheredin the systemofapartheid.

The Rise of Apartheid

Apartheidmeans"separateness",and the word itself encapsulates the underlying political theme.The National Partyattemptedto createa society that wouldlegislatively keepracial groups separateand distinct. For this purpose,the governmenthired an academic,who proposedthat each racialgroup own a portion of land, and thateconomicinteractionbetweenthe racesbe encouraged butthat social intercourseberestricted.The peopleof South Africa were split into fourgroups;white,black, Indian and colored.

The positions grantedthe blacks were thoseof unskilledworkers; the Indians ran smallbusinesses;the coloreds-anyone who did not conveniently fitinto the threeothergroups-filled any gaps; while whites provided overall political andeconomicdirection. Social segregationwas not a new idea-separate buses and bencheswere notions imported fromtheUnited States.At the same time, thebiblical interpretationespousedby the Dutch ReformedChurch effectively meantthat the systemwas sanctionedby God.

Over the ensuingyears,the steady"Afrikanerization" ofall stateinstitutionshas ensuredthat the interestsof whites prevailed overthoseof the othergroups.In order to add legitimacy to this trend, whiteswere classifiedas one ethnic grouping,while the black populationwas divided intoas many tribalentities as was possible, makingwhites the largest groupinSouth Africa.

The four pillars of apartheid-theMixed MarriagesAct1949, the PopulationRegistrationAct, the Immorality Actand theGroup AreasAct all of 1950-were erectedtoenforce the legal separationof races. The intricate internalsecurity system spawneda vicious cycle of legislationand violence: restrictingthe freedom of most ofthe peoples ofSouthAfrica led to unrest, followedby further security measuresandlegislation tomaintain the statusquo.

Black Resistance and Modern South AfricaFounded in1912, the African National CongressANC wasthe first black political opposition groupin South Africa.TheANC’s founding vision was of a non-racialSouth Africa,where peoplewould be SouthAfricans, not whites, blacks,Indians or membersof tribes. Its Freedom Charterof 1955espousedthe socialisticgoals of nationalizingtradeand industry, and distributing both the naturaland material wealth ofthe country among thepeople. In the l950s, when NelsonMandelafirst appearedon the scene, theANC was rapidlybecoming a popular, radical outlet for black dissent. Itlaunched its now famouspassiveresistancecampaigns withstrikes and marchesto punctuatedemands for politicallibertyand social equality.

However, manybecame frustratedwith the campaigns’lack of progress.In 1959, Robert Sobukwe,an instructor at theUniversity of Witwatersrand, emergedas the leader ofthe Pan-African CongressPAC, a more radical alternativeto theANC. The fundamental ideologicaldifferencebetweenthe twothat remains to this day lies in their vision of the identity ofSouth Africa. While the ANC seesSouth Africa as a countrybelonging to all its people regardless ofrace,the PAC fervently believesthat Africa belongs to black Africans,the realnativesof the soil.

Inkatha leaderChiefButheleziright.[SouthAfrican Embassy,Ottawa]

4. ORIGINS . SUMMER 1994

In 1960, the National Party under Hendrik Verwoerdoutlawed Africandissent, banningthe ANC, PAC, as well as theSouth African Communist Party,as treasonous.In 1961, thePAC formed its military unit Poqo, and theANC formedUmkhontowe Sizwe Spearof the Nation-a military wingthat would carry on the struggle for black liberation,this timewith violence. Shortlythereafter,in 1964,Mandelawas arrested andjailed for life. SouthAfrica descendedinto violent civilturmoil, and the SouthAfrican military becamethe mostpowerful force in the region: in 1975, South Africa’s defencebudget accountedfor nearly 22 percentof total governmentexpenditures.

By the late 1970sSouth Africa had becomeunstable andeconomical

ly weak. The shortageofskilled labor due to theincreasing emigration ofeducated whites,as wellas international tradeembargoesenforcedbythe West, hurt SouthAfrica’s economytremendously. During the 1980s,the world watchedin horror as P.K. Botha President until 1989repeatedly imposedstatesof emergency,and usedthe notoriously brutalsecurity force to quellunrest.The value of therand South Africa’s currency crashed,and sanctions weretightened.Asthe country’s self-destruction seemedimminent,and the tenorof international condemnationrosein volume, it becameapparentthat drastic polit

equality in SouthAfrica. [S. Barker]ical reform was neces

______________________________

sary.Bothamade someconcessions regarding, forexample,the

legality of black tradeunions and the right for a small numberof black Africans to live in urban centers.In 1983, he createdthe chambers forcoloredsand Indians to makea tricameralparliament.However, thesereforms did not cut at the roots ofthe problem-apartheiditself. A stalematedevelopedbetweenthe government’sposition and the urgencyof black demands.Before he would evenconsider enteringinto any sort of dialogue with the ANC and theimprisonedMandela, Bothademandedthat the ANC first renounceits armedstruggle.Mandelarefused,arguing that in banning the ANC, the governmenthad given blacks both the right and the reasonto turnto weaponry.Until the governmentwas willing to commit togenuinenegotiations,the armedstruggle would not berenounced.Botha resignedin 1989,paving the way for his successor,F.W. de Klerk, to steerthe countryon its presentcoursetowardsdemocracy.

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The Transition to Democracy

In February, 1990, de Klerk stunned South Africa and theworld by announcingthat the governmentwas lifting the 30-year-old ban on the ANC and other blackliberation organizations, was freeing all political prisoners,and would negotiatewith thesegroups regardinga new national constitution.Nelson Mandela, the man thewesternworld associatedmostclosely with the the anti-apartheidstruggle,was releasedfromprison on February11, 1990 after27 yearsin confinement.

As the newly legitimized PAC and ANC prepared fortheirre-entry into organizedpolitics, othergroupsalsoresponded to thesechangesin South Africa.In the provinceof Natal,Chief MangosuthuButhelezi of the Zulus,bitter rival of the ANCand SouthAfrica’s largesttribe, felt threatenedbythe ANC resurgence.Formed in 1975, his presentpolitical party Inkathawas originally a culturalmovementwith a strongregional sentiment. Inmid-1990, Buthelezirelaunched Inkatha as apolitical organization-theInkatha FreedomParty-whose goal is Zuluindependence.

Buthelezi traditionallyrepresentedthe free enterprise alternative to theANC in SouthAfrica, andsupported cooperationwith the National Party.Now, as the countrymovedtowards de Klerkand Mandela’s sharedvision of a non-racial

South Africa,Buthelezi and his followers began to fearthat theZulu nation wouldlose its identity and territory under astrongcentral government.Thesefears sparkedsome of the worstviolence in recent memoryas Zulus took up arms to defendtheir nation,and ANC supportersrespondedin the nameof thenew South Africa.

The first stagein ANC-National Party cooperativeeffortswas the Conventionfor a DemocraticSouth Africa CODESA, a multi-party 19 parties were representedgatheringwhose task was to negotiatean interim constitution.Problematic issues in CODESA werethe geographicdistribution ofpower federal, confederal orunitary, and the allocation ofregionalpowers.

CODESA ultimately broke down over de Klerk’s proposed "special majority",which would be neededto approvethe final draft of the constitution.Not wanting to relinquish allpower in the face of a black majority, his vision was a system

Rally in front of thetownhail in Cape Town: demandsfor political and social

SUMMER 1994 . ORIGINS .

AROUND THE WORLD

of power sharing, wherebyblackscould vote and createlegislation, but a balance of powerwould remain withwhites, whowould have theright to veto. The ANC and itssupportersfiercely resistedthis as an un-democraticand illusory libertywhich essentiallyamounted tocontinuedwhite power. Mandela was chargedby his supportersto win nothing less thancompleteequality.

De Klerk, on the other hand,was under pressurefrom theConservativeParty andright-wing elementsin the NationalParty who accused him of actingwithout a mandateand ofselling off SouthAfrica to the Communistswhoseparty hasbeen, and still is, allied with the ANC. To quiet the opposition, in March of 1992 de Klerk put a referendumbeforethevoting whites:Did they approveof continuing negotiations fornon-racial democracyand the granting ofamnesty fordetaiiieesand returning exiles? The answerwas a resounding"Yes".

By May, 1992, the stalematehad not been resolved,andthe ANC walkedout on CODESA. It planned for asummerofmassaction to force thegovernment’shand with ashow ofpopularsupport. The ANC also intended to marchon homelands whereregional leaders,like Buthelezi, resistedthe ideaof a unified, non-racialSouth Africa andcontinuedto allythemselveswith the right-wing.

In June,1992, the factional violence which hadragedunabatedsince 1990reachednewheights: in that month, in theBoipatong townshipnear Johannesburg,a group of Zulusslaughtered fortyANC supportersand injured many others.Reportscame back saying that the Zulus had been aidedbysecurity forces. TheANC accusationthat a third force-thesecurityforces-hadbeenpromoting township violenceto destabilize blacks and undermine theANC gained supportand

castsuspicionon de Klerk’s governmentonceagain.By mid-1992, at the height of bloodshed afterBoipatong,

Amnesty International and the International CommissionofJurists issuedreports criticizing police forbeing partisanandcontributing tothe violence.By July and August of1992, theinternationalcommunitythreatenedsanctionsif somethingwasnot done to end thebloodshed.The first stage in thetalkstowardsdemocracyhad beencharacterizedby some of the

bloodiestviolencein SouthAfrican history. From 1990 to mid-1992, 8,000 people haddied during political violence; mostlyblack, and mostly deadas a result of intra-racialfighting.

Barriers to a "non-racial" South AfricaAt the end of 1993, Mandelaand de Kierk finally reachedanagreementthat would leadSouth Africa into democracy.Theirnewly createdTransitionalExecutiveCouncil, charged withcreating a new policeforce and overseeinga multi-racial election, was onebasedon the principles of a non-racial SouthAfrica. This notion has beenthe sticking point for manygroups within South Africa.

Significant Afrikaner resistancehasemerged-indeed,hadbeen there eversince the National Party announcedthat theywere determinedto reversethe courseof South Africa’s history. The rise of the right in SouthAfrica has been dominatedbya wide assortmentof people, ranging fromguerrilla-mindedmilitants to those committed tothe parliamentaryprocess.Atpresent,it is the Afrikaner WeerstandsbewegingAWB led byEugene Terre’Blanche,that embodiesthe mostradical threattoSouth Africa. This guerrilla organizationhas vowed touse allmeans necessary totopple an ANC government,including outright civil war.

Previouslyallied underthe banner ofthe AfrikanerVolksfront, the AWB and other right-wing Afrikaner groups,led byformer South African Defense Force head General ConstandViljoen, were committed to securingan independent Afrikanerhomeland. This past March, however, after bloody clashes inBophuthatswanabetweenANC supportersand an invadingAWB army, GeneralViljoen quit the Volksfront. He registereda new party, the FreedomFront, to pursuethe goal of anAfrikaner. "volkstaat" people’sstate from within the parliamentary process. Support forthe Front hascomefrom Conservativesand other Volksfront generals.

With the voice ofAfrikaner independencenow integratedinto the political process,a significant barrier toa democraticSouth Africa appearsto have been overcome.Afrikaners,regardlessof the image theAWB portrays,are not the trekboers of yesteryear, ever moving bravely intothe wild Africaninterior to scratch out an existencefrom the land. They are apart of South African society on every level, and, forthe mostpart, will work within the new South Africa. The AWB,thougha significant threatand not to beignored,has dwindledin numbersand in credibility.

Resistance tothe changessweepingthe countrytowardsanon-racial democracyalso came from black SouthAfricans.Conservative, anti-ANCleadersof homelands,like Buthelezi,wanted to retain greatregionalautonomy.Two allies ofButhelezi, and of theAfrikaner right, were thehomelandsBophuthatswana,led by LucasMangope, andCiskei, led byOupa Gqozo. Both leadershavebeendeposed,and their former strongholdsare now fully a part of the unified SouthAfrica championedby the ANC.

Justdaysbeforethe election,after negotiations withMandela andde Klerk satisfied his desire for guarantees of greaterZulu autonomy,Buthelezi renounced his election boycottandregisteredInkatha. Much ofthe concessionsagreed toby deKlerk and Mandelaare largely ceremonial regardingthe ZuluKing and Monarchy, towhom millions of Zulus feeltremendousloyalty-enoughto takeup arms and disrupt the progress

August 5, 1992: day ofmassaction in CapeTown.[S. Barker]

26* ORIGINS . S[.JMMER 1994

towardsa non-racialcountry. Now that theseregional powershavejoined the move towardsa unified South Africa,the fearsof many aboutthe possibility of civil war have beenassuaged.

The New South AfricaIt would be unreasonable toexpectthat all of SouthAfrica willmake a smooth transitionfrom a fragmented,oppressivesociety, to an interwoven, free one.Still, for the most part, themain playerswill all have a parliamentaryvoice. Dominatingthe political scenewill be the challengefacedby the ANC topleaseits own supporters-thosewho haveconsistentlylostout in South Africa,and who, for this reason,have somuch togain.

The legacy ofapartheidwill not be easy toovercome.Whites make up 15 percent ofthe population,but own approximately 90 percentof the formal businesses.Black income isonly a tenth of that of whites. Two-thirds ofthe black population lives in rural areaswhereover 80 percenthaveno electricity and 90 percentno sewage.Forty percentof the blackpopulationis illiterate, and half the labor force has no formaljob. The hopes pinnedon Mandelato transformwater intowine are high indeed.

The ANC’s election platformspoke of "a roof over one’sheadand reasonableliving conditions."It haspromisedto supply water and sewageto one million homes,and electricity to2.5 million. It plans to build homes,vastly improve the qualityand accessibilityof educationand will employ over2.5 millionpeople in its public worksprogram.This will cost an estimated$12 billion-though critics warnthat thisfigure is far too low.The ANC plans to fund its reconstructionof SouthAfrica withsavings from moneyusuallyallocatedto homelands,cuts in thedefensebudget, revenuefrom an improved tax collection system and funds froma surtaxon the rich.

The ANC has come a long way from its FreedomCharterof 1955.The rhetoric of nationalizationand redistributionhasnot been heard in1994, and theANC knows it must make

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friends with the businesscommunity sothat SouthAfrica canbuild on the structure alreadyin place. Even ANC candidates fromthe CommunistParty, whichcampaignedunderthe ANC banner,havedroppedtheir revolutionaryrhetoric infavor of the free-marketreality that thebusinesscommunity both within andwithout South Africawants to hear.Certainly, this stancewill gain the trust ofthe international community who arebeing countedon to pour investmentdollars backinto the country.

One of the biggestchallengesMandela faceswill be to work with the people themselves.Their organizationsexcludedfrom thepolitics and downtrodden for decades,they are a lost generation of protesters,unschooledin thepolitical reality of gradualevolution andgrowth. Mandelacautionsthat patienceis necessary,and that the legacy of

_______________

apartheidwill not disappearovernight.As the ANC statedin its election mani

festo, "Whenthe African National Congressset out its visionfor a non-racialsociety on January8th 1912, wedid not knowhow long it would taketo achieve."Indeed,much has happenedin the intervening82 years,and consequently,muchneedsto be donebeforethis country finds stability basedon anon-racial,equitablesociety.

Building a post-apartheidSouth Africa promisesto be asdifficult as toppling apartheiditself. On many levels-economic, social,political, regionaland tribal-the roadaheadisstill one that is certain to contain unexpectedcurves and pitfalls. For many South Africans, the end of apartheidwill notdirectly lead to improvedliving conditions,and for many, lifemay evenget worse. Still, the future is truly in the handsof thepeople.With the close of the polling stations, the first act inthe history of the new SouthAfrica hasended.As the symbolic victory sinks in, the real war against apartheidbegins inearnest.

NelsonMandela andF.W. de Klerk accepting the1993Nobel Peace Prize: onceopponents,nowpartners in change. [South AfricanEmbassy,Ottawa]

SUMMER 1994 ORIGINS .