Africa's tragedy has at different times been subjected to various paradigm shifts ranging from modernisation to neo-Marxist theories with each paradigm identifying different sources of the tragedy. The tragedy, to some scholars, is rooted to the crisis of development. But to some African scholars, a key aspect to the crisis remains the question of 'which and whose democracy?' The central issue for investigation in this thesis is the efficacy of 'best-practice' political and economic templates prescribed by both liberals and socialists for Africa. These templates appear to be producing hybridised political order that breeds crises of political instability, leadership, economic hardship, violent conflicts etc; with no visible solution in sight. There is therefore a need for the reconstruction of Africa's development strategy with unique models based on a foundation of 'best fit' values nurtured by the indigenous grains of the African societies. The thesis adopts critical theory using textual and contextual analysis as its methodology to engage literature on liberal, popular, social, and socialist democracy. It also engages the Africanist and African debate on democracy to discuss what works contextually in Africa and what does not work. The thesis sets out to establish how neo-communitarianism and speconomy can collectively serve as models for development in the sub-Saharan Africa, that is currently mediated by the alienating role of an incoherent public sphere dominated by representations of foreign ideologies which do not seek to create a common consciousness in all citizens but rather to help maintain and perpetuate a fractured image of the Enlightenment.

M.A. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Bibliography: pages 381-191. / Eight years after Transkei has been granted independence, the independent states have become an important component of the South African political landscape, and their existence cannot be ignored despite the fact that no other country but South Africa has recognised their independence. This thesis is concerned with the evaluation of the choice of independence. The reasons are examined which led the South African government to grant independence to the homelands, and those which induced some of the homeland leaders to accept it. An evaluation is made of the political and economic benefits and lack thereof this choice has brought to those who made it and to their communities, with a view to the role the independent states may play in future developments in South Africa. A descriptive-analytical approach has been adopted and the main subjects have been presented in their chronological unfolding, in order to stress the basic continuity in the aims pursued both on the part of the South African government and on the part of the homeland leaders, despite numerous tactical adaptations to the circumstances on both sides. Most of the information has been gathered from the Hansard of the House and from reports of various commissions and government White Papers. Official documents from the independent states and the economic corporations working therein have also been extensively used. Other information and data have been gathered during a period of fieldwork in Ciskei and Transkei and through a number of interviews. The time passed since the granting of independence to the homelands which opted for it is still too short for an exhaustive evaluation of the effects this choice had for their population. It is however possible to draw a few preliminary conclusions regarding the effects the independent states will have in the evolution of the political situation in South Africa. The most important is that they are here to stay, bar a total defeat of the white government in an all-out war, and that they may be a factor in a still possible peaceful solution of the South African problems.

This study seeks to use the structural-functional model of Almond and Powell to explain the functioning of the political system of Lebowa as a self-governing territory in the Republic of South Africa. Against the background of the historical development of Lebowa and the emergence of apartheid - or separate development as it was also termed - the political process in Lebowa is described and analysed in terms of the conversion function of Almond and Powell's model. Interest articulation, interest aggregation, rule-making, ruleapplication, rule-adjudication and communication are examined as functions of the conversion process in Lebowa. It is evident that Lebowa's position within greater South Africa, the importance of traditional structures, and the existence of modern political structures, play a major role in the political system of Lebowa. / Political Sciences / M.A. (Politics)

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS. / It is widely assumed that the development of a country depends generally on the organization and the management of the state apparatus. Ostensibly the relative development of South Africa and the underdevelopment of Zaire would seem to confirm this. This study sets out to examine the validity of these assumptions by investigating the way the state apparatus is organized in Zaire and South Africa. The central role the state has played in the developmental process is the main concern of this thesis. The thesis attempts to understand this process through an in- depth investigation of the political and economic framework in both countries. It will present its arguments in five parts. The first outlines the conceptual framework necessary to compare and evaluate the political institutions by establishing the distinction between a "soft state" and a "hard state". The second part deals with the political system of both countries and the third contains an empirical analysis of their economic structure. The fourth provides a comparative institutional and process analysis of the state’s capabilities in Zaire and South Africa and largely emphasizes the state’s organizational strategies adopted to solve problems. A brief conclusion supplies an overall comparison and explanation of relative state capacity in the two countries and the consequences for development in each case of the state’s degree of competence. / Andrew Chakane 2018

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This study seeks to use the structural-functional model of Almond and Powell to explain the functioning of the political system of Lebowa as a self-governing territory in the Republic of South Africa. Against the background of the historical development of Lebowa and the emergence of apartheid - or separate development as it was also termed - the political process in Lebowa is described and analysed in terms of the conversion function of Almond and Powell's model. Interest articulation, interest aggregation, rule-making, ruleapplication, rule-adjudication and communication are examined as functions of the conversion process in Lebowa. It is evident that Lebowa's position within greater South Africa, the importance of traditional structures, and the existence of modern political structures, play a major role in the political system of Lebowa. / Political Sciences / M.A. (Politics)

D.Litt. et Phil. / The international and national historical realities triggered the fragmented white South African business community to unite. These realities also influenced the National Party (NP) government to consider the views of business people with regards to the impact of apartheid politics on the South African economy. South African business people, and especially the Afrikaner business people, exploited the access that they had with Afrikaner political decision makers by influencing them through business organisations such as, the Urban Foundation. The united South African business people took on a leadership position as a result of their increased influence on the political decision-makers. As the leadership group with an inclination towards a non racial democracy, the business community soon found themselves at loggerheads with the NP government. The enlightened Afrikaner business persons refrained from criticising government openly, and supported government’s reform strategies in order to keep debate on reforms alive. The Afrikaner business community shed their ‘passive resistance’ and legitimisation role after the Rubicon speech in August 1985. From thereon, they openly played a role of bridge building by reaching out to anti-apartheid movements and to identify common areas of interest within the society. Towards 1987 enlightened Afrikaner business people were active in the broader South African business community and they were able to mobilize the Consultative Business Movement (CBM) to participate in the dismantling of apartheid. The vision of business was to establish a free market system through broad base consultation. The business community actively supported the democratisation of South African businesses, the redistribution of wealth, the active participation of blacks in a free market economy, as well as the advancement of growth in black communities. The Enlightened Afrikaner business people adopted a social involvement strategy that piloted Black Economic Empowerment transactions, such as Sanlam’s initiative to broaden black equity share ownership. Broad based consultation also cultivated a practical approach to the economy and established a framework for debate that incorporated socialist and capitalist ideas. This compromise strategy was aimed to counter non-viable socialist options regarding redistribution of wealth and the opening up of the economy to previously disadvantaged groups. After 1990, when the NP government accepted that the political landscape must change, the business community embraced a change role, a bridge building role, a facilitator role and a catalyst role to usher in a New South Africa with a bigger middle class and acceptable free market principles as government policy. Accordingly, the enlightened Afrikaner business people actively participated in the negotiation for a political future of South Africa. However, they always remained politically neutral during the actual political negotiation process.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies March 2019 / The 1930s and 40s marked a tumultuous political period in South Africa. Central political players and their respective parties, whether government, opposition, extra-parliamentary or other all jostled for power. Socio-economic and political events locally and on a global scale merged with religionationalistic ideology to mobilise Afrikaners into a collective and to form a maelstrom within which antisemitism flared up in the country. This rise of antisemitism created a serious ‘Jewish Question’ in South Africa and is the entry point for this research paper which takes a closer look at the reasons for the content of the opinion piece that Verwoerd, as editor of this Nationalist Party paper, penned in the first edition of Die Transvaler in October 1937, namely the ‘Nationalist viewpoint on the Jewish Question: the solution’ which effectively championed economic antisemitism. It also looks more in depth at the media libel case between Verwoerd and The Star and finds that there were multiple instances of falsification of news in the court case that found Verwoerd guilty of promoting Nazi propaganda and making his paper a tool for the Nazis during the Second World War. The outcome of this research directly links Dr. H.F. Verwoerd’s negative portrayal of the Jewish Question in Die Transvaler with the intent to mobilise Afrikaner Nationalism in the lead up to the 1948 elections. / NG (2020)