The New Partnership for Africa's Development- NEPAD is the continued search by African people and its leaders to develop Pan African structures that will initiate social and economic transformation in a rapidly globalizing world which continues to marginalize Africa. According to the human indicators of the United Nations Development Programme, Africa remains the poorest continent under the sun. Half of Africa's 875 million people survive on US $ 1 daily and they have little access to socio - economic infrastructure. South Africa, guided by her foreign policy, which advocates respect for human rights, democracy and economic development, is at the forefront in efforts to promote NEPAD. South Africa's promotion of NEPAD is encouraged by her will to promote the philosophy of African Renaissance, to maintain her prestige in Africa and to assert South Africa's leadership in Africa. Many internal and external problems have been encountered by South Africa whilst promoting NEPAD. Internal problems have been; unemployment, poverty, tuberculosis, HIV I AIDS, corruption and an excruciating debt. The forces of globalization such as economic marginalisation and the non-representation of South Africa within the multilateral institutions such as the World Trade Organization have presented external problems. NEPAD should develop social policies that complement liberal policies in order to address internal problems such as unemployment and poverty. African .governments should not withdraw from being involved in their nation's economies and solely rely on liberal policies for economic capital flows. Lastly, NEPAD should fight for the restructuring of the multilateral institutions such as the World Trade Organization. / M.Admin. (PSIS) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2004

Thesis (MA (History))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) may be described as one of the most important events in the recent South African past. The TRC’s activities included an examination of gross human rights violations between 1960 and 1994, as well as amnesty hearings for those believed to be guilty of human rights violations. In addition, the TRC had to decide on the possibilities for reparations to victims, and had to compile a comprehensive report on the nature of the abovementioned violations. This process was shrouded in controversy. For example, criticism was levelled at the TRC because of the perception that it was intended as a witch-hunt against Afrikaners. The danger of subjectivity was also mentioned often. How was the public kept up to date about the activities of the TRC? The media played an important role in the distribution of information to those who could not readily attend the various hearings of the TRC.

Thesis (MA (History))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Throughout the history of South Africa, the Afrikaners have been described as a "strange society". Calvinism was a key to their lifestyle and ideology and they saw themselves as God's special instruments. Their political philosophy of separate development was to a certain extent, revolutionary and was known as "apartheid". This was an attempt to remake a society according to a socio-political ideal which was rooted in the concept of safety in power. This thesis investigates the Afrikaners with regard to their primal ancestors, the origin of their identity, their identity during the reign of the NP government and their identity in the post apartheid South Africa. Discrepancies concerning Afrikaner identity during this time are also investigated. In this thesis special emphasis is placed on the right-wing actions of the Afrikaners, their political development from the time of separation from the NP which arose from the conviction that the leaders of this party were deviating from the moral and political prescriptions of their predecessors, their ideals and visions of freedom. The right-wing tends to qualify the term “nationalism” with the term “Christian” and they therefore believe that their nationhood is widely ordained. Culture, for the right-wing means an inclusive concept which covers every aspect of their lives. Language, i.e. Afrikaans, is seen as the verbal and written expression of their national culture. This study is directed towards the right wing of Afrikaners' quest for a "volkstaat" (state nation) and specifically the foundation of Orania in the Northern Cape and investigates whether it is a viable option for Afrikaners in general to live. The right-wingers believe that the only feasible constitutional option for peace in South Africa lies in partition The origin of the volkstaat idea , the early thoughts and the development of this concept are also investigated as well as the different models and role players. The main aim of this thesis is to investigate the success of Orania as a possible growing point of a "volkstaat" for Afrikaners. The early stages in the development of this small town e.g. the purchase, their efforts in achieving autonomy, their constitutional rights, their efforts in developing their community as well as their image to the outside world are investigated. During a visit to Orania in 2005 questionnaires were handed out to residents in order to compose a social profile and to investigate domicile statistics as well as views on Afrikaner identity. Ultimately this thesis indicates that although Orania functions successfully in most instances the possibility of it serving as a growing point of a “volkstaat” needs a much larger effort and larger support from other Afrikaners.

Bibliography / Thesis (MPhil (Journalism))--Stellenbosch University, 2010.

Thesis (MA (Journalism) -- Stellenbosch University, 1983. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: no abstract available / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: geen opsomming

Although the history of the Eastern Cape has been recorded from the eighteenth century, virtually nothing has been written about the political entity known as the independent Republic of Ciskei (1981 – 1994). This hiatus in our history, coupled with the fact that many of the official records of that period have been destroyed, make it imperative that the role-players of the period be contacted and their evidence be recorded before it is lost to prosperity. This need has motivated the writing of the thesis. The thesis commences with a brief description of the early history and constitutional development of Ciskei. It then has a substantial chapter on Lennox Sebe, the ruler of Ciskei from 1973 to 1990, who is described as the catalyst of Gqozo’s coup d’état. This is followed by a short personal biography of Oupa Gqozo, and his rise to the position of Brigadier in the Ciskei army. On 4 March 1990 Gqozo led the coup by the Ciskei Defence Force that dethroned Sebe. At the outset he ruled in an exemplary manner, but after being misled by South African agents he turned against the African National Congress and his own people. When he established his own party, the African Democratic Movement, and re-instated the hated headman system, civil war followed in Ciskei. Separate chapters in the thesis relate the various traumatic events that occurred during Gqozo’s reign: the killing of Anton Guzana and Charles Sebe; the dismissal of the senior officers of the CDF; the strife during 1991/2; the Bhisho Massacre; its aftermath; the mutiny by the security forces and Gqozo’s resignation on 22 March 1994. The thesis concludes that although Brigadier Gqozo respected the rule of law, and was free of corruption, he was devoid of the necessary academic qualifications, experience and ability, including the necessary insight and foresight, to rule a country. He became paranoid about his own safety and the possible overthrow of his government, and he was too easily swayed by others. In short, Gqozo was inept, rather than evil.

This thesis examines the transition to democracy in South Africa through the use of case study methodology. The nature of political participation and the form of democracy to emerge at the end of the transition process are the central subjects of inquiry. They are examined through an in-depth study of the African community of Kwazakele, a township in the Nelson Mandela metropolitan area in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The study covers the period from 1993 to 2000, and uses as a primary data source five surveys conducted among residents of Kwazakele during that period. The emphasis of the study lies on the experience of political participation of ‘ordinary people’ – in particular, the African urban working-class in South Africa who make up the core support base for the governing African National Congress. The primary findings of the thesis are as follows: * Representative democracy has been successfully consolidated in the community under study. * Levels of political participation by urban Africans in the Eastern Cape are consistently high, both in formal political institutions (primarily elections) and in institutions of civil society. * As politics has normalised at the end of the transition period, forms of direct democratic participation have declined. * Despite the structural constraints on development, there is still potential for a high level of participation by citizens in effecting change at local level. * Drawing on the experience of ordinary people in structures of direct democracy, this level of participation can result in a deeper and stronger form of democracy than exists in many established representative democracies.

Two of the post apartheid elections held in South Africa (1994, 1999) have been used as mechanisms to analyse and assess the extent to which the country’s transition from apartheid to a democratic dispensation is succeeding or not. The primary analytical focus of the 1994 and 1999 elections has revolved around the nature of the party system and voting behaviour. Basically, contestation has arisen over two primary and related issues: the dominance of the African National Congress (ANC) weighed against the weakness of opposition parties and the implications that this development has for effective democratic consolidation. Also, whether voting decisions based on divisive racial and ethnic identities that underlie electoral contests are pervasive enough to derail the process of democratisation. Generally, the primary conclusion has been that the unfolding pattern of South African electoral politics indicates sufficient grounds on which to doubt the prospects for effective democratic consolidation. This dissertation engages these debates with particular reference to the 2004 elections. In contrast to this pessimistic view of the prospects of successful democratisation in South Africa it upholds through an analysis of the 2004 elections the view that there is insufficient empirical evidence, to conclude that South Africa’s democratisation process is imperiled. It maintains that although there are problems related to the to the nature of the party system and some elements of voting behaviour there is enough countervailing evidence revealed by the 2004 election results that this does not present a substantially serious threat to the prospects of South Africa attaining a democratic society.

South Africa is a new democracy that has had to deal with many historical remnants of apartheid. One of the main remnants has been land dispossession and massive inequalities along racial lines of access to land for agricultural purposes. In countering this, the post-apartheid state has pursued land redistribution programmes since the end of apartheid in 1994, as part of a broader land reform project. Simultaneously, post-apartheid South Africa has been marked by significant state restructuring notably a process of state de-centralisation including the positioning of municipalities as development agents. Amongst other goals, this is designed to democratise the state given the authoritarian and exclusive character of the apartheid state, and thereby to democratise development initiatives and programmes. Land redistribution and state decentralisation in South Africa are different political processes with their own specific dynamics. They have though become interlinked and intertwined but not necessarily in a coherent and integrated manner. Within broader global developments pertaining to state decentralisation and land redistribution, the thesis examines the complex relations between these two processes in South Africa. In particular, I analyse critically the decentralised character of the land redistribution programme in South Africa. In order to concretise and illustrate key themes and points, I discuss a particular land redistribution project called Masizakhe located in Makana Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province.

This study analysed the representation of South African women politicians in the Sunday Times’ election news during the 2004 Presidential and general elections, by drawing on perspectives from cultural studies, the constructionist approach to representation and the sociology of news production. Using content analysis and critical discourse analysis, the study found that very few women politicians were used as news actors/sources in the Sunday Times, and that when women politicians were figured, the paper tended to present them in ways that serve to sustain women’s subordinate status in society. Using content analysis, the study analysed 106 news items published between January 1, 2004 and April 30, 2004, and found that of all the 588 identifiable news actors/sources counted, 135 were women and 453 were men. Of these, only 7.67% (or 26) were women politicians and 92.33% (or 313) were men politicians. On average however, the amount of words allocated to a woman politician was more than that allocated to a man politician. The discourse analysis also revealed how the Sunday Times managed to reproduce textually the hegemonic power relations between women and men, by constructing different subject positions for women politicians and men politicians, which generally tended to be negative and positive respectively. In the representation of women politicians, the study revealed patterns that tended to ascribe them negative personality traits, accentuate their passivity and dependency on men, and construct them as incompetent political leaders. This study’s conclusions pose a challenge to the role of the national newspaper in the transformation of gender relations and the promotion of equal access to political and decision-making positions, and to the news media. News discourse, as a social practice, both determines and is determined by the social structure in which it is produced. By systematically reproducing subordinate subject positions for women in the news, the Sunday Times helps to further women’s subordinate status in society. Particularly, as part of the broader social cultural context that is embedded in patriarchal and gender ideologies, the Sunday Times does not merely reflect but actively and effectively constructs the reality it claims to be representing.