The purpose of the research is to examine the effects that Apartheid had/has on the shaping of leadership styles of South African political leaders from all political affiliations and different backgrounds. The research phenemenon and tentative hypothesis is that these leaders were influenced in vastly different ways according to their positions as either advantaged, disadvantaged or unaffected by the system of Apartheid. The study will examine how these different experiences under the system of Apartheid shaped current leadership styles. / The system of apartheid, caused different life experiences for South Africans,
and can be seen as a defining moment in the development of South Africa, its
leaders and citizens. This study investigated how these different life
experiences under apartheid influenced leadership styles of South African
political leaders.
After completion of a literature review, semi structured life history interviews
were conducted with a representative sample of members of the South African
Parliament, to generate qualitative data for analysis. Content analysis was
applied to this data to generate a basis from which valid and reliable
conclusions and recommendations were made.
The research found support in both the literature review and qualitative life
stories data collected for the following propositions:
• Leadership is a complex construct, which is composed of many different
characteristics and influences.
• The life histories of individuals comprise of a combination of unique life
experiences and subjective interpretations of those experiences.
• Individual life histories influence leadership development.
• Apartheid was a time line event that encompassed many different life
experiences of individuals within the broad phenomenon, which
phenomenon does not necessarily in itself have a significantly
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homogeneous effect on the shaping of leadership styles. What is a
more significant shaper of leadership style is the leader’s experiences in
and attitude towards the event or phenomenon.
• Life experiences under the phenomenon of apartheid influenced the
leadership styles of South African political leaders differently in
accordance with their unique life experiences itself, and their subjective
interpretations thereof.
The recordal of the life stories of South African political leaders presents an
opportunity to learn at a broader interface from the experiences of the past, to
shape a collective future for a free and democratic South Africa.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/152 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | Ulrich, Neil |
| Contributors | Ackermann, P. L. S. (Petrus Liebetrau Schmidt), 1945- |
| Publisher | Unisa |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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