Opposition and Democracy in South Africa

Nelson Mandela's African National Congress won an overwhelming victory in South Africa's liberation election and repeated that triumph when the electorate went back to the polls in 1999. Whilst testifying to the enduring popularity of the ANC, these results have precipitated an emergent debate about the quality of the country's hard won democracy. In particular, a critique of the new government's performance in office has developed around the notion of the ANC as a "dominant party," one of which for demographic, historical and social reasons is unlikely to be displaced from power in an election for the forseeable future. This has led, in turn, to key questions about the role of the political parties of opposition. The debate about the ANC's dominance therefore becomes a debate about whether democracy in South Africa is just formal or whether it is real.

This collection examines the nature, scope and prospects for political opposition under African National Congress political dominance.

Opposition in South Africa - issues and problems, Roger Southall; the electoral system and opposition parties in South Africa, David Pottie; opposition in the new South African parliament, Lia Nijzink; race, democracy and opposition in South African politics - as other way as possible, Gerhard Mare; the politics of adaptation and equivocation - race, class and opposition in 20th-century South Africa, Paul Maylam; reflections on the politics of minorities, race and opposition in contemporary South Africa, Ivor Sarakinsky; democracy, power and patronage -debate and opposition within the ANC and the tripartite alliance since 1994, Dale McKinley; political alliances and parliamentary opposition in post-apartheid South Africa, Adam Habib and Rupert Taylor; "white" political parties and democratic consolidation in South Africa, Eddie Maloka; cynicism at the grassroots? political opposition in Kwazakele township, Port Elizabeth, Janet Cherry; conclusion - emergent perspectives on opposition in South Africa, Roger Southall.

Roger Southall