Democracy under Threat by Ursula van Beek

Author:Ursula van Beek
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

Conclusion

In the late 1940s, there were indications that South Africa was on the threshold of reform, moving towards a more racially inclusive state and pragmatic policies. The rise of Afrikaner nationalism and the political entrepreneurship of the NP to channel those sentiments for its own political purposes put an end to such expectations. Instead, 1948 ushered in radicalism and an exclusive form of nationalism , which alienated and suppressed the black majority. The NP and its policies left a morally and economically bereft state.

In the 1990s, South Africa would come to enjoy the fruits of the decisions and actions of moderation . Moderate elites came to the fore from within both the ANC and the NP to lead the country through its heady transition and into the euphoria of Nelson Mandela’s pursuit of moderation and racial reconciliation. The starting block for a new dispensation had been laid with the potential for a democratic political culture characterized by accommodation, moderation , compromise and civility to develop.

Twenty years later, South Africa ’s democratic dispensation and the provisions of the 1996 Constitution for impartiality, along with its endowment of a South Africa “for all who live in it, united in our diversity” are being threatened. Perceptions of declining government performance and a decay in trust of government institutions have created a legitimacy gap in South Africa . This legitimacy gap has made the country vulnerable to the rise of radicalism. Our analysis of data from the WVS between 1995 and 2013 confirmed our hypothesis that levels of support for a democratic regime will decline, as a result of the perceptions of poor government performance and subsequent loss of confidence in state institutions. The findings highlight the urgent need to address the legitimacy gap in South Africa through improving the quality of governance so as to quell the rise in radicalism.

Notes

1.See the EFF website, where they refer to themselves, “radical” and “militant,” http://​effighters.​org.​za/​about-us/​.

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