One of the most critical moments during any transition is when the executive power of the old regime is transferred to a new government in waiting. This is often characterised by instability and conflict. Hence the Transitional Executive Council (TEC) was established in South Africa to facilitate its gradual and peaceful transition in 1994. The TEC can be seen as a negotiated, temporary and transitional institution that managed and prevented conflict in South Africa prior to the April 1994 general election. Although it existed only for four months, from December 1993 to April 1994, it played a significant role in South Africa's democratic transition. The TEC contributed to levelling the political playing field and creating a climate favourable for free and fair elections. The TEC's seven sub-councils further contributed to the smooth transition and creation of the Government of National Unity. In this study special attention has been given to the Sub-council on Foreign Affairs and its role in integrating South Africa into the international community. The Foreign Affairs sub-council played a pivotal role in laying the foundation for South Africa's membership of the various organizations like the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the Commonwealth. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the TEC, several theoretical frameworks are applied to analyse the different perspectives namely: transition theory, conflict resolution, power-sharing and constitutional negotiations. / POLITICAL SCIENCE / MA (INTERNAT POLITICS)

M.A. (Political Studies) / The Afrikaner had a gradual development as a "value-oriented society" and "siege culture" on the Cape eastern frontier from the eighteenth century onwards. Eventually they developed into a nation with its own features, values and philosophy of life. In times of crisis these values were emphasised and became the centre around which "the nation" was united. The Afrikaner can be seen as a "value-oriented society" and the values were represented by the National Party (NP) as leading political party for a long time. The Afrikaner felt culturally threatened and by 1948 this lead to a "siege culture". The NP took part in the 1948 general election and came into power with "apartheid" as policy or ideology and was therefore a "closed belief system". The split in the NP (and therefore in Afrikaner nationalism) lead to the forming of the Conservative Party (CP) in 1982. The purpose of this dissertation is to show that the CP, similar to the NP, developed from a "value-oriented movement" into a "siege culture segment" and eventually into a "closed belief system". To achieve this goal the following aspects were investigated : Factors which caused the split in the NP, the founding of the CP and its role in South African politics. The emphasis, however, is on the CP's participation and performance in the general election of 1987. In the late seventies and early eighties the governing NP moved away from its ideology of "apartheid" and initiated a process of integration. Through this the NP necessarily deserted a significant part of the Afrikaner nation politically and economically. Given unfavourable economical and political conditions, this segment of the Afrikaner felt threatened by extreme black nationalism, the so-called liberalism of the NP and various external factors. The CP was founded with traditional Afrikaner values such as religion, language and purity of race as basis and developed from a "value-oriented movement" into a "siege culture segment" due to the factors mentioned. The CP presented an ideology of partition for its first participation in a general election (that of 1987). Partition as "closed belief system" became the slogan of the CP in the 1987 general election. Since its foundation, the CP tried to take over the Afrikaner symbols which were originally articulated and represented by the NP. The CP only partially succeeded in this, since the Afrikaner is politically divided between the NP and the CP. The NP and CP both try to secure the overall survival of the Afrikaner by integration and partition respectively. This political disunity among Afrikaners was evident from the results of the 1987 general election.

The aim of this study was to conduct a comparative analysis of the low voter turnout of the 2006 and 2011 municipal elections in Lukhanji Municipality. The study came as a result of the researcher’s observations of the low voter turnout during the 2011 municipal elections across the country. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that the previous municipal election of 2006 also experienced low voter turnout. However, this was not the case with national and provincial elections, because since the first election that took place in 1994, voter turnout has been high. Lukhanji Municipality, which is the area of residence for the researcher, was no different from the rest of South Africa, when it comes to low voter turnout for the municipal elections and high voter turnout for national and provincial elections. It was noted that there has never been a detailed research study conducted in Lukhanji Municipality regarding the subject in question, and also that there is a limited amount of literature that seeks to investigate voter turnout in local elections in South Africa. The large amount of available literature focuses on voter turnout during national and provincial elections in established democracies. The literature review extensively explored the determinants of voter turnout in all levels of elections. From those tested elsewhere, it was evident that no single factor can be the cause of low voting during an election, therefore it was fundamental to investigate the causes of low voter turnout of the municipal elections with special focus on Lukhanji Municipality. It became evident from the study, that indeed various factors may have led to low voter turnout during 2006 and 2011 municipal elections in Lukhanji Municipality.

This thesis examines the political public relations campaign of the Democratic Alliance in the 2009 elections in order to explain the party’s performance in these elections. The research is premised on John Petrocik’s (1996) issue ownership theory. A number of quantitative and qualitative content analyses were conducted to provide answers to the main research questions. These involved: the party’s 286 media releases; party leader Helen Zille’s 2009 campaign speeches; and Zille’s Facebook platform. Results revealed that although the DA demonstrated extreme political resilience amidst fierce challenges in the 2009 elections, the party primarily campaigned on an anti-ANC ticket and a fair amount of negative advertising against the governing party to win itself votes. Not only did the party fail to “associate” itself with real issues affecting South African voters—especially the poor Black African majority which constitutes the largest voting bloc—it failed to pronounce itself clearly on other issues. Instead, the party attached itself to a multitude of shared issues, often “trespassing” on issues of common concern not necessarily “owned” by any one political party. This study also deduced that while Facebook facilitated public opinion on the DA in the 2009 elections, it still could not be regarded as a genuine public sphere in the South African context. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication)

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Nuwe media het ’n duidelike impak op die manier waarop moderne politieke partye en partyleiers hulle verkiesingsveldtogte bestuur. Hierdie studie fokus daarom op die vraag: Hoe is nuwe media tydens die 2014 Suid- Afrikaanse nasionale verkiesing gebruik? Dit word gedoen deur konteks te gee aan wat nuwe media behels, hoe dit in die moderne politiek gebruik word, en wat die impak is wat nuwe media op verkiesings en verkiesingsveldtogte het. Drie gevallestudies, die Obama-veldtog, asook die 2014 verkiesings in Indië en Brasilië, word gebruik om spesifieke elemente oor die impak wat nuwe media op verkiesings het, uit te wys. Die ontleding word dan gebruik om ’n kriteria-raamwerk te skep waarteen spesifieke Suid-Afrikaanse politieke partye se gebruik van sosiale media in die 2014 verkiesing gemeet word, om hulle sukses al dan nie daarmee te bepaal. Die sukseskriteria maak dit moontlik om politieke partye in ’n rangorde te plaas en punte aan hulle toe te ken. Die punte-telling, uit ’n totaal van 50, word dan gebruik om te bepaal waarom die partye sukses behaal het, of nie. Nog 50 punte word toegeken op die basis van ’n subjektiewe oordeel oor taalgebruiken aanslag asook geteikende kieserskommunikasie op nuwe media platforms, meer spesifiek Twitter. Dit word gedoen deur insigte uit ’n studie van relevante literatuur oor die verkiesingveldtog, Suid-Afrika se demografiese en geografiese verskille asook om te oordeel of die partye wat in die studie bestudeer word kommunikasie strategieë benut het om die verskillende groeperings van kiesers te teiken. Die studie bevind dat die spesifieke partye, gemeet teen die raamwerk vir kriteria vir sukses, sowel as die subjektiewe opinie oor taalgebruik en aanslag in kommunikasie, hulle sleg van hul taak gekwyt het in die 2014 nasionale verkiesing in Suid-Afrika. Hulle het in meeste gevalle, met die DA as ’n uitsondering, nie geslaag om die nodige digitale-platforms te vestig en om suksesvol deur die nuwe media platforms te kommunikeer nie. Hulle het ook nie geslaag om die apatie van die Suid-Afrikaanse jeug aan te spreek nie en daar was ’n gebrek aan geteikende en relevante kommunikasie met spesifieke sosiale groepe. Die partye het ook nie daarin geslaag om die kiesers wat partyloos is, of van party wil verander, ’n beter opsie te bied nie. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: New media is seen as having a big impact on the way modern political parties run their campaigns during election periods. This paper focuses on answering the question: How was new media used in the 2014 South African national election? It does this by creating a context regarding the understanding of what new media is, how it is used in politics, and what impact it has on electioneering and political campaign strategies. Three case studies, the Obama campaign and the 2014 Indian and Brazilian elections, are used to highlight how new media has impacted on elections. This analysis is then framed into a set of criteria for success that is used to measure the chosen South African political parties against, to determine whether or not they used new media well in the 2014 South African national election. A set of criteria for success thus makes it possible to rank and assign points to each party and from those points determine whether that party used new media well or poorly. Each party is given a score out of 50. The other 50 points were awarded based on a subjective view regarding the actual use of language and focused voter communication on new media platforms, specifically Twitter. This was done by looking at the insights garnered from the literature regarding electoral campaigning, South Africa’s demographic and geographic differences and seeing if the parties analysed in this study employed communication strategies to target these voter differences. This study found that the parties identified, when measured against the set of criteria for success that was created and the subjective views of the way in which the parties communicated, did not use new media well in the 2014 South African national election. They failed in most cases, with the DA being the exception, to build the necessary online platforms or to communicate effectively through new media platforms. There was also too little focus on addressing voter apathy in the youth and there was a lack of targeted communication to specific social groups. Parties also failed to present themselves as a viable alternative to voters who did not already identify with a party or those who were looking for an alternative party.

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The democratic order is still in its early evolutionary stages in South Africa. Although the success of the 1994 democratic elections kindled hope for a promising future, democracy needs to be safeguarded if it is to develop in South Africa. Safeguarding a democracy requires a constant scrutiny of governing policies and procedures to ensure that they remain conducive to its positive development. Of fundamental importance to the transmission of democracy is an electoral system and its policies. Any electiongoverning policy that reduces public confidence in the electoral system is not conducive to the development of a democracy. This study analyses the policy of voter registration as it directly impacts on the format of an election. Since this policy is being applied for the first time in the short history legitimate democratic elections in South Africa, the study looks beyond the noble objectives as given by the policymakers. The lEC and the Government argue that the policy is aimed at improving the legitimacy of the electoral system by eliminating the ID related forms of electoral fraud. The significance of the study lies in its critical analysis of the actual policymaking process of this legislation, as well as its implementation. In order to assess the democratic legitimacy of the policymaking stage, the study takes a closer look at the roles of all the stakeholders in the policymaking process. Further, the study describes the constitutional controversies of the provisions of the policy, as well as its actual registration process. The understanding behind the latter description is that a policy is of no use if it cannot be implemented. In short, by describing, explaining and analysing the policy from its historical, legislative, and implementation phases, the study gives an insight into how this new policy relates to the development of the South African democracy. Although this study found no conclusive evidence of the negative impact of the policy on the outcome of the election, the nature of debates, the practical difficulties of implementation by the IEC, as well as the Court debates have all raised new questions that could require further analysis. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die demokratiese bewind in Suid-Afrika is tans nog in die vroeë stadia van ontwikkeling. Hoewel die sukses van die demokratiese verkiesings in 1994 die vertroue in die moontlikheid van 'n belowende toekoms laat styg het, moet voortdurend gewaak word teen afbreek van die demokrasie in Suid-Afrika, en ruimte gemaak word vir die verdere ontwikkeling daarvan. Die beveiliging van 'n demokrasie verg aanhoudende noukeurige beskouing van die regering se beleid, en die uitvoer daarvan, om te verseker dat dit die positiewe ontwikkeling van die demokrasie bevorder. Die verkiesingstelsel en beleid is van fundamentele belang vir die vestiging van demokrasie. 'n Beleid wat die algemene vertroue in die verkiesingstelsel benadeel, sal nie die ontwikkeling van enige demokrasie bevorder nie. Hierdie studie ontleed die direkte invloed van die kieserregistrasie-beleid op die formaat van die 1999 verkiesing. Aangesien hierdie beleid vir die eerste keer in die kort geskiedenis van Suid-Afrikaanse verkiesings toegepas word, kyk die studie verder as die edele doel beoog deur die skeppers van die beleid. Die OVK en die Regering beweer dat die beleid gerig is daarop om die regverdigheid van die verkiesingstelsel te verbeter deur die uitskakeling van ID-verbonde verkiesingsbedrog. Die studie is veral belangrik in die kritiese ontleding van die skeppingsproses van die beleid self, sowel as die implementering daarvan. Om die demokratiese regverdigheid van die skeppingstadium van die beleid te kan beoordeel, val die soeklig veralop die rol van alle deelnemers aan hierdie proses. Die grondwetlike probleme met dele van die beleid sowel as die registrasieproses word beskryf. Hierdie beskrywing word gedoen vanuit die oogpunt dat 'n beleid geen doel kan dien tensy dit geïmplementeer kan word nie. Kortliks, deur die beleid te beskryf, te verduidelik en te ontleed in sy historiese, wetgewende en implementeringsfases, gee die studie 'n insig in die verhouding van hierdie nuwe beleid tot die ontwikkeling van die Suid-Afrikaanse demokrasie. Hoewel geen afdoende bewyse van 'n negatiewe invloed van die beleid op die uitkoms van die verkiesing deur hierdie studie bewys is nie, is sake wat verdere ontleding kan verg geopper in verband met die aard van die besprekings om die beleid, die praktiese moeilikhede van implementering deur die OVK, asook die besprekings in die hof.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Over the past three decades the practice of international election observation has shifted its focus from elections taking place within a decolonialisation context, to those in independent, but formerly undemocratic, states. The latter accepted the presence of international observers with some reservation, citing the contention that observation amounted to an infringement on national sovereignty. The demise of the former East Block, however, established the primacy of the liberal democratic ideology in world politics, leaving these states with a limited choice between democratisation and isolation. Pro-democracy supporters in former authoritarian countries embraced the change in ideological climate. Realising the lack of capacity and trust to run elections by themselves, they generally supported the presence of international observers in elections of states emerging from prolonged periods of authoritarianism. Over the past decade this affinity with international missions has been transformed into skepticism. Three primary reasons for this disenchantment have been the apparent lack of electoral standards, uncoordinated observer missions and failure to convince voters of their impartiality. This assignment represents a scholarly attempt to evaluate the contributions of international election observers to South African elections. On a theoretical level it addresses the three criticisms against foreign observation. Drawing on the vast body of international literature, the author suggests three countermeasures. These suggestions, aimed at enhancing the contributions of international observer consist of: 1) a greater consideration for the political context within which an election takes place; 2) the pooling of international observer capacity and 3) more scope to, and cooperation with, local observer groups. Each of these measures is transferred to the South African electoral reality to establish the extent of their application in this practical context. With regard to the first proposal the author finds that clear consideration has been given to contextual factors in both elections. An assessment of the quality of coordination of international observer groups also indicates that the practice of pooling resources have been employed with success by a number of missions. In this field the U.N. played a leading role. Cooperation between international observers and their local counterparts is however an aspect that has been lagging behind. The opportunity for capacity building, a significant benefit of such cooperation, has therefore to a large extent been lost. In the light of this, and the uncertainty of future international involvement, the author asserts that in future South Africans will increasingly be dependent on the cultivation of homegrown capacity. He therefore believes that initiatives such as the creation of the SADC Electoral Forum in 1998 are commendable and should be encouraged. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die fokus van internasionale verkiesingwaarneming het in die loop van die laaste drie dekades wesenlik verskuif van die tradisionele dekolonisasie verkiesingskonteks, na waarneming binne onafhanklike state waar die omskakeling van outoritêre na demokratiese regeringsvorms redelik onlangs plaasgevind het. Laasgenoemde state moes waarnemers, en die verkiesings wat waargeneem is, met voorbehoud aanvaar. Die alternatiewe was egter beperk. Die val van die voormalige Oosblok en die gevolglike triomf van die liberale demokrasie, het ondemokratiese state met 'n eenvoudige keuse gelaat: hervorm of staar isolasie in die gesig. Pro-demokratiese groepe in voormalige outoritêre state het die nuwe klimaat van politieke vryheid verwelkom. In die besef dat nuwe demokrasieë waarskynlik nie oor die nodige ervaring en wedersydse vertroue binne die bevolking beskik om verkiesings volkome te laat vlot nie, is buitelandse bystand - met inbegrip van internasionale waarneming - deur dié groepe verwelkom. In die afgelope dekade het die positiewe konnotasie aan internasionale verkiesingswaarneming egter in gedrang gekom. Drie kernredes hiervoor was die skynbare gebrek aan universele verkiesingstandaarde, swak georganiseerde waarnemer afvaardigings en 'n algemene gebrek om hul motiewe bo verdenking te plaas. Die sentrale oogmerk van hierdie werkstuk is die evaluasie van die bydraes gemaak deur internasionale verkiesingswaarnemers in die twee Suid-Afrikaanse verkiesings van 1994 en 1999. Op 'n teoretiese vlak is die drie bogenoemde gebreke aangespreek, en na raadpleging van internasionale literatuur oor die onderwerp is drie teenmaatreëls geidentifiseer. Hierdie aktiwiteite, gemik op meer effektiewe internasionale betrokkenheid bestaan uit: 1) groter aandag wat geskenk moet word aan politeke konteks; 2) die kombinering van internasionale waarnemer vaardighede vir beter resultate, en 3) groter klem wat gelê moet word op samewerking tussen nasionale en internasionale waarnemers. Elkeen van hierdie vereistes is oorgedra na die Suid-Afrikaanse verkiesingskonteks om vas te stel tot watter mate dié gebruike in Suid-Afrika wortel geskied het. Wat betref die eerste voorstel met betrekking tot konteksgebonde evaluasie, is daar vasgestel dat dit wel deel was van internasionale waarnemer praktyk in beide verkiesings. 'n Waardeskatting van die koordinasie van internasionale waarnemingsgroepe dui verder daarop dat samewerking tussen waarnemergroepe oor die algemeen bygedra het tot 'n versterking van inisiatiewe deur internasionale waarnemers. Op hierdie gebied het die Verenigde Nasies veral 'n sleutelrol gespeel. 'n Aspek wat egter agterweë gebly het, is die vlak van samewerking tussen internasionale waarnemers en hul Suid- Afrikaanse eweknieë. Hier is 'n waardevolle geleentheid verspeel om die kapasiteit van plaaslike verkiesingswaarnemers te versterk. Dit, en die feit dat toekomstige internasionale teenwoordigheid in die toekoms nie 'n sekerheid is nie, sal volgens die skrywer, beteken dat Suid-Afrikaners in die toekoms toenemend aangewese sal wees op die ontwikkeling van eie kapasiteit. In die lig hiervan moet inisiatiewe soos SAOG se nuutgestigte Verkiesingsforum verwelkom en aangemoedig word.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Democracy is understood by many to be a government for the people by the people. As far as academic or scholarly traditions are concerned however, this is a rather populist depiction of the concept. According to the intellectual tradition, democracy is such when a system of governance meets several conditions. For the purpose of this study, the institutionalist tradition or theory of democracy which sees democracy as being dependent on institutions of contestation (elections) and participation (parliament) as well as others, is an important variable. However, the very same theory on democracy is not limited to institutions as the sole requirements for democracy. For the economic determinists, the point is that whilst institutions are important for democracy, they are not sufficient. In order for there to be such, favourable socio-economic conditions are important as well and these include affluence amongst other issues. The scientific orientation of this study being comparative, it seeks to take both the institutionalist variable of elections and the economic determinist variable of affluence as operational measures of the state of democracy in South Africa and Zimbabwe. As an additional operationalisation, the issue of civil and political liberties as per Freedom House classifications is also investigated in a similar comparative manner. The outcomes of the study show that at an electoral level, South Africa's model of proportional representation in the seat allocation system gives minorities a voice as opposed to Zimbabwe's fast past the post system based on the winner takes all principle. It was also established that the electoral machinery in Zimbabwe is more chaotically arranged and thus susceptible to abuse than in South Africa. At a socio-economic level, conditions have also been found to be a lot more favourable to the consolidation of democracy in South Africa than in Zimbabwe because of a wide array of issues, the most serious one being the declining income patterns for the average Zimbabwean as compared to the South African. Though the issue of high income inequality in South Africa should be highlighted as a threat, it should also be noted that in Zimbabwe, the apparent disrespect of the rule of law has an added negative implication for Zimbabwe as Freedom House has highlighted the declining of the country from partly free of 3.4 in 1980 to a partly free of 6.5 in 2000. The overall analysis comes to the conclusion that given the findings above, it seems South Africa's democracy can still hold stronger given an accelerated equitable distribution of wealth whilst for Zimbabwe, the revitalisation of democracy needs to start from the re-engineering of institutions to the regeneration of the concept of respect for the rule of law. Thus the comparison seems to show a democracy better suited for consolidation than the other. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Demokrasie word deur talle verstaan as regering van die volk deur die volk. Hierdie is egter 'n populêre voorstelling van die konsep. Volgens intellektuele tradisies, moet 'n demokrasie aan sekere vereistes voldoen. Vir die doel van hierdie studie, word die institusionele denke aanvaar wat die demokrasie as afhanklik van sulke instellings soos mededinging (verkiesings) en deelname ('n parlement) beskou. Dieselfde denke beklemtoon ook dat instellings nie die enigste vereistes is me, byvoorbeeld vir ekonomiese deterministe, is instellings nodig maar nie genoegsaam nie. Dit beteken dat gunstige sosio-ekonomiese toestande ook moet geld, spesifieke relatiewe hoë welvaartspeile. Die wetenskaplike orientasie van hierdie studie is vergelykend. Dit vergelyk sowel ekonomiese as institusionele kriteria, asook twee state, Suid-Afrika en Zimbabwe. 'n Addisionele saak word ook geoperasionaliseer, te wete burgerlike vryhede en politieke regte. Hier word Freedom House se klassifikasies aanvaar. Die studie toon dat op die vlak van verkiesings, Suid-Afrika se proporsionele verteenwoordigingstelsel kleiner partye en minderheidspartye verteenwoordiging bied, teenoor Zimbabwe se wenner-vat-alles-stelsel. Die Zimbabwiese stelsel was meer vatbaar vir wanbestuur en onvrye en onregverdige verkiesings. Op die sosio-ekonomiese vlakke is toestande vir die konsolidasie van demokrasie in Suid-Afrika veel beter as in Zimbabwe, waarvan die vernaamste die afname in welvaartspeile in Zimbabwe is. Hierteenoor is die styging van ongelykheidsvlakke in Suid-Afrika 'n negatiewe faktor. In Suid-Afrika is vryheidsindekse van Freedom House egter steeds op 'n hoë vlak, terwyl die Zimbabwiese vlakke drasties agteruitgaan, byvoorbeeld vanaf 3.4 in 1980 tot 'n onvrye vlak van 6.5 in 2000 waar 'n punt van 7 totaal onvry is. Die konklusie is dat demokrasie in Suid-Afrika konsolideerbaar is, terwyl Zimbabwe ook instellings sal moet red van ondergang. Die herstel van regsoewereiniteit kan 'n beginpunt wees. Die vergelykings wys dus uit dat Suid-Afrika veel beter daaraan toe is as Zimbabwe.

Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2018 / This study analyses the national election manifestos of the African National Congress on the subject of service delivery between 1994 and 2014. One of the arguments advanced in this thesis and corroborated in the theory of democratization by elections is that elections play an important role in the struggle for better governance and democracy. The election manifestos, in this regard, serve as instruments of ensuring accountability to the voters as well as gauging the performance of those in government. The party in government must implement its election manifestos; otherwise it must face electoral consequences through a democratic election process. However, there is a view aptly sustained in the study that elections are at times not a reliable or credible measure of a democratic outcome because many voters do not have the necessary knowledge to make rational choices in order to counteract the effects of poor or lack of implementation of election manifestos regarding service delivery. Therefore, as cautioned in the thesis, conscious public participation will remain an empty slogan if the majority of the electorate is left and forgotten languishing in poverty and arrogance. The sustainability of participation by citizens is hugely compromised in an environment infested with rampant corruption and runaway impunity. The study followed an interpretivist paradigm with a qualitative approach. ANC members in four villages –Duthuni, Tshisaulu, Ha-Mushavhanamadi and Ha-Ratshiedana (ward 35, Thulamela Municipality) were purposively targeted as the research population for the study. For practical reason, not all members of the ANC in the villages were reached to participate in the study. Ultimately, 42 members of the ANC in the villages formed the research sample. Data collection techniques used were face-to-face interviews, semi-structured questionnaire and document review (data triangulation). The rationale for using data triangulation in the study was to ensure that the weaknesses of a single data collection strategy were minimized and to ensure that the strategies complemented and verified one another. A total of 12 interviews were conducted, 30 questionnaires were administered and five ANC national election manifestos were perused. Three qualitative data analysis strategies were adopted, namely, conversation analysis, discourse analysis and content analysis. Analysis and interpretation of qualitative data consisted of words and observations and not numbers or statistics because the researcher did not want to quantify nor generate numerical data for purposes of statistical analysis.

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.