Peter Walshe
Professor of Political Science

Crime, disillusionment and economic imbalance stand in the way of South Africa’s progress, according to experts who took part in a roundtable discussion of that country on the second day of the RIREC “Peacebuilding After Peace Accords” conference.

Two prominent South Africans, Dr. Mamphela Ramphele and Dr. Charles Villa-Vicencio, shared their views on South Africa’s progress since its first non-racial elections in 1994. The discussion, titled “The Peace Process in South Africa: Achievements and Challenges,” addressed political, socio-economic, and justice issues facing the country’s policy-makers a decade into democratic governance.

Dr. Peter Walshe, a fellow at the Kroc Institute and a South African, opened the discussion with an introduction to the political context that formed the liberation movement. His presentation highlighted two themes: the political culture and goals of the liberation movement as it confronted the apartheid regime, and the challenge of meeting those expectations. Walshe located this political culture in a commitment to non-racialism, equality of all people before the law and adherence to the “traditional African culture of respect for human beings, Ubuntu.” He recognized the leadership of the African National Congress in the decades following its formation in 1912, as well as the contributions of the Black Consciousness Movement in the 1960s and 1970s, the South African Communist Party, activist religious organizations, the United Democratic Front of the 1980s, and international anti-apartheid organizations.

Addressing the growing discontent and disillusionment in post-apartheid South Africa, Walshe noted that the political transition of the 1990s occurred as the government’s ability to redistribute resources was constrained by the regulations and competitive nature of the global economic system.

Ramphele, managing director of the World Bank and former vice chancellor of the University of Cape Town, is well known for her activism in the Black Consciousness Movement. In a stock-taking report on South Africa’s progress at the end of a decade of freedom, Ramphele lauded the government’s achievements, but conceded that much work remained to be done. The most visible accomplishments are “forceful implementation of sound macroeconomic policies and greatly enhanced fiscal planning,” she said; the biggest challenges are “low growth and pervasive high unemployment.” Despite reconstruction and development initiatives, she said, the country continued to experience growing unemployment and economic disparity. Ramphele linked poverty and unemployment to rising crime rates, which, together with the HIV/AIDS pandemic, deterred foreign investment. She concluded by making six recommendations for the South African government: improve employment absorption, invest more in human capital, increase domestic savings, maintain fiscal prudence, promote investment and exports, and improve the criminal justice system.

The second speaker, Villa-Vicencio, was the National Research Director of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and is founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation. His presentation continued the theme of South Africa’s achievements and challenges since 1994. Like Ramphele, he highlighted the persisting, dualistic nature of society and the widening gap between the haves and have-nots. Recognizing progress in economic planning and advances in access to public services such as health, education, water and electricity, he qualified his optimism with a warning: “We at the same time face several major challenges that need to be overcome in order to consolidate these gains, lest we drift into the kind of malaise that could recreate so many of the tensions that we faced in 1990, bringing the nation to the brink of collapse.” He identified these crucial challenges as racism and poverty, disease and health care, and crime and corruption.

“To talk about poverty, unemployment and HIV-AIDS is to talk about race,” VillaVincencio contended. “Unless economic redistribution and empowerment is negotiated, political discord and social unrest is likely to intensify.” A positive development in efforts to alleviate the AIDS scourge was the Cabinet decision to provide anti-retroviral treatment, though the health infrastructure is ill-equipped to cope with the demands.

Crime and corruption will continue to hamper the country’s progress, Villa-Vicencio said, especially with regard to foreign investors. He commended the fact that corruption cases are being reported rigorously by the media. Crime, he argued, had a crippling impact on society and had hurt South Africa’s international reputation.

From the presentations and a lively debate that followed, a clear message emerged: that while South Africa had a set an exemplary precedent regarding the possibility of peaceful political transitions, the challenges posed by post-accord peacebuilding are numerous and often daunting. One contested issue was the appropriate role of the state in redistributing wealth. Ramphele contended that the government could do more. The mere transfer of wealth to a small, elite group of blacks would not solve the country’s problems, she said. She mentioned the government’s indecision about whether to act directly or rely on the private sector that, to date, had not shown a keen interest in redistribution of wealth.

The panelists agreed that the constraints imposed by a highly competitive globalized economy set severe limits on state initiatives, forcing the South African government to choose between orthodox economic policies and the basic needs of its people - which, if unmet, might threaten the country’s hard-earned peace.

Top of Page

Home > Publications > Peace Colloquy > Issue 5 (Spring 2004) > What next for South Africa?