Is there a future for a Labour Accord in South Africa?

2003 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Harcourt ◽  
Geoffrey Wood
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Protest ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Track Record ◽  
National Congress ◽  
Wage Increases ◽  
Persistent Inequality

Foreign experience suggests that strong unions with close connections to the state can use political exchanges to mould social and economic policies to more readily reflect the needs of labour. South African unions could conceivably form a similar pact with the African National Congress by agreeing to moderate their demands for wage increases and to cooperate in the restructuring of the economy in exchange for pro-labour policies. Given persistent inequality and a rich tradition of social protest, it could be argued that neo-corporatism represents an unnecessary compromise in the South African situation. Nonetheless, neo-corporatism's track record underscores the role institutions can play in redressing social inequality, yet creating the conditions for economic growth. However, the key actors—labour, capital and government—may be neither able nor willing to strike a comprehensive deal.

Stability and Governability the Benign Effects of Party Dominance in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-75
Author(s):  
Ainara Mancebo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
The Other ◽  
Democratic Transitions ◽  
African Countries ◽  
National Congress ◽  
Independence Era ◽  
Party Dominance

A tripartite alliance formed by the African National Congress, the South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions has been ruling the country with wide parliamentarian majorities. The country remains more consensual and politically inclusive than any of the other African countries in the post-independence era. This article examines three performance’s aspects of the party dominance systems: legitimacy, stability and violence. As we are living in a period in which an unprecedented number of countries have completed democratic transitions, it is politically and conceptually important that we understand the specific tasks of crafting democratic consolidation.

Michael Harmel (1915-1974): A South African Communist and His Discourse

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Milan Oralek
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Core Beliefs ◽  
Literary Interpretation ◽  
Nelson Mandela ◽  
Private Correspondence ◽  
National Congress ◽  
Actual Contribution

<p>This thesis explores the life and work of a South African journalist, editor, and activist Michael Alan Harmel (1915–1974), a political mentor and friend of Nelson Mandela. A resolute believer in racial equality and Marxism-Leninism, Harmel devoted his life to fighting, with “the pen” as well as “the sword”, segregation and apartheid, and promoting an alliance of communists with the African National Congress as a stepping stone to socialism in South Africa. Part 1, after tracing his Jewish-Lithuanian and Irish family roots, follows Harmel from his birth to 1940 when, having joined the Communist Party of South Africa, he got married and was elected secretary of the District Committee in Johannesburg. The focus is on factors germane to the formation of his political identity. The narrative section is accompanied by an analytical sketch. This, using tools of close literary interpretation, catalogues Harmel’s core beliefs as they inscribed themselves in his journalism, histories, a sci-fi novel, party memoranda, and private correspondence. The objective is to delineate his ideological outlook, put to the test the assessment of Harmel—undeniably a skilled publicist—as a “creative thinker” and “theorist”, and determine his actual contribution to the liberation discourse.</p>

Michael Harmel (1915-1974): A South African Communist and His Discourse

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Milan Oralek
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Core Beliefs ◽  
Literary Interpretation ◽  
Nelson Mandela ◽  
Private Correspondence ◽  
National Congress ◽  
Actual Contribution

<p>This thesis explores the life and work of a South African journalist, editor, and activist Michael Alan Harmel (1915–1974), a political mentor and friend of Nelson Mandela. A resolute believer in racial equality and Marxism-Leninism, Harmel devoted his life to fighting, with “the pen” as well as “the sword”, segregation and apartheid, and promoting an alliance of communists with the African National Congress as a stepping stone to socialism in South Africa. Part 1, after tracing his Jewish-Lithuanian and Irish family roots, follows Harmel from his birth to 1940 when, having joined the Communist Party of South Africa, he got married and was elected secretary of the District Committee in Johannesburg. The focus is on factors germane to the formation of his political identity. The narrative section is accompanied by an analytical sketch. This, using tools of close literary interpretation, catalogues Harmel’s core beliefs as they inscribed themselves in his journalism, histories, a sci-fi novel, party memoranda, and private correspondence. The objective is to delineate his ideological outlook, put to the test the assessment of Harmel—undeniably a skilled publicist—as a “creative thinker” and “theorist”, and determine his actual contribution to the liberation discourse.</p>

scholarly journals Facilitation and Mediation in South Africa: Three Case Studies

1998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrik Van der Merwe
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
South African ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
The South ◽  
National Congress

In this paper I discuss three case studies of facilitation and mediation in South Africa: 1) facilitation between the South African apartheid establishment and the African National Congress in exile from 1963 to 1989; 2) facilitation that eventually led to mediation between Inkatha and the United Democratic Front in Natal over 10 months from 1985 to 1986; and 3)mediation between the African National Congress and the Afrikaner Freedom Foundation (Afrikaner Vryheidstigting, also known as Avstig) over 18 months from 1991 to 1993.

"The Struggle Made Me a Nonracialist": Why There was so Little Terrorism in the Antiapartheid Struggle

2007 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Goodwin
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
The South ◽  
Social Basis ◽  
White Allies ◽  
History Of ◽  
National Congress

Most theories of terrorism would lead one to have expected high levels of antiwhite terrorism in apartheid South Africa. Yet the African National Congress, the country's most important and influential antiapartheid political organization, never sanctioned terrorism against the dominant white minority. I argue that the ANC eschewed terrorism because of its commitment to "nonracial internationalism." From the ANC's perspective, to have carried out a campaign of indiscriminate or "categorical" terrorism against whites would have alienated actual and potential white allies both inside and outside the country. The ANC's ideological commitment to nonracialism had a specific social basis: It grew out of a long history of collaboration between the ANC and white leftists inside and outside the country, especially those in the South African Communist Party.

scholarly journals Black economic empowerment in post-1994 South Africa: ANC curse and/or socialist/communist covenant?

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 162-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis P. Krüger
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Jel Classification ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Economic Empowerment ◽  
Employment Equity ◽  
Black Economic ◽  
Black Economic Empowerment ◽  
National Congress

After more than 21 years under the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC), post-1994 South Africa finds itself yet again embroiled in race-related politics. Government policies such as black economic empowerment (BEE) and employment equity (EE) have not brought about the economic growth, social development and political democracy that the late former President Nelson Mandela had envisaged and what the ANC had promised to all the people of South Africa. South Africa is currently disengaging itself from the West including the Unites States of America (USA) and certain European Union (EU) countries and appears to rather embrace and align itself with countries such as Russia and China that pursue socialist and communist ideologies. Both these two issues may have a profound impact on how businesses will be managed in the future. In an exploratory, qualitative study using a “5 Star” research methodology, the direct and indirect impacts of BEE policies were investigated and the possible movement in South Africa’s ideological stance was explored. BEE does not appear to have helped to bring about high economic growth to help to reduce unemployment and eradicate the high levels of poverty and inequality, and government graft and corruption have increased at all levels of government, including local municipalities. BEE appears to have become the ANC’s curse to economic, social and political progress and should be scrapped. A national debate should follow on whether the ANC’s current covenant with pro-socialism and pro-communism rather than Western free-market capitalism is the appropriate ideology for South Africa to pursue. Keywords: black economic empowerment (BEE), employment equity (EE), African National Congress (ANC), capitalism, socialism, communism. JEL Classification: M14, M21

‘We, the South African Bolsheviks’: The Russian Revolution and South Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 935-958
Author(s):  
Irina Filatova ◽  
Apollon Davidson
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Black Population ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Russian Revolution ◽  
Socialist Revolution ◽  
National Congress ◽  
Soviet Russia

In South Africa, the Russian Revolution was admired by socialists and nationalists alike. The National Party soon stopped praising the Bolsheviks, but the effect of the Revolution on the nascent Communist Party was important and lasting. South African communists closely watched developments in Soviet Russia and established relations with the Communist International (Comintern) even before the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) was born. The Party’s ideology and policy were shaped by the Comintern’s ideas and instructions. In the 1920s and 1930s the struggle around the Comintern-imposed slogan of the independent native republic and the Comintern’s campaigns for ‘bolshevization’ nearly brought the party to its demise. But it survived, and its leadership took the Comintern’s ideals and ideas into the postwar era. The Comintern’s theoretical legacy, particularly its idea of a two-stage (national and socialist) revolution proved long-lasting. This idea became entrenched in the programs of the African National Congress, the party of national liberation and since 1994, the party of government. Even today a significant proportion of South Africa’s black population cherishes the vision of a radical revolution and demands its implementation.

scholarly journals ANALISANDO A TRANSIÇÃO DA ÁFRICA DO SUL À DEMOCRACIA: neoliberalismo, transformismo e restauração capitalista

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 328
Author(s):  
Evandro Alves Barbosa Filho ◽  
Ana Cristina de Souza Vieira
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
The South ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
National Liberation Movement ◽  
National Congress

Desde 1994 a África do Sul pôs fim à sua estrutura oficial de segregação, baseada na ultra exploração da força de trabalho negra e na total segregação racial: o Apartheid. Embora esse sistema tenha acabado e o país seja governado pelo antigo movimento de libertação nacional, o African National Congress (ANC), as desigualdades sociais se aprofundaram. O objetivo deste artigo é analisar os processos políticos que condicionaram a transição Sul-africana do Apartheid à democracia. A pesquisa tem natureza qualitativa e foi realizada por meio de revisão bibliográfica da sociologia crítica sulafricana, da análise de documentos oficiais e na análise crítica de discurso. O estudo identificou que a transição à democracia foi tutelada pela mais rica fração da burguesia sul-africana e viabilizada pelo ANC, que aderiu às ideologias neoliberais.Palavras-chave: Apartheid. África do Sul. Transição. Neoliberalismo.ANALYZING SOUTH AFRICA'S TRANSITION TO DEMOCRACY: neoliberalism, transformism and capitalist restorationAbstractSince 1994 South Africa has put an end to its official segregation structure, based on the overexploitation of the black workforce and total racial segregation: The Apartheid. Although this system is over and the country is ruled by the former national liberation movement, the African National Congress (ANC), social inequalities have deepened. This paper aims to analyze the political processes that conditioned the South African transition from Apartheid to democracy. The research has a qualitative approach and It was conducted through a bibliographical review of South African critical sociology, analysis ofofficial documents and critical discourse analysis. The study found that the transition to democracy was led by the wealthiest fraction of the South African bourgeoisie and made possible by the ANC, which adopted the neoliberal ideologies.Keywords: Apartheid. South Africa. Transition. Neoliberalism.

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