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“Not yet uhuru” : the usurpation of the liberation aspirations of South Africa’s masses by a commitment to liberal constitutional democracy
(2018) Sibanda, Sanele
At the heart of this study is the idea of constitutionalism; its promise, conception and deployment in South Africa’s post-apartheid constitutional discourse; and ultimately the need for its re-imagination if it is to be part of advancing a truly decolonising liberatory project. A core premise of this study is that there exists, in post-apartheid South Africa, a stark discursive disjuncture between what has emerged as a hegemonic liberal democratic constitutional discourse and the discourse of liberation that served as the ideological pivot of the anti-colonial struggles. Animated by this premise, this study asks why it is that liberation as a framing set of ideas has either played no part or exerted so little obvious influence on how post-apartheid South Africa self-comprehends and organises itself in constitutive terms? Recognising that the formal end of colonial-apartheid as a system in 1994 inaugurated a seismic shift in the country’s constitutional discourse as the notion of constitutionalism took centre stage, this study seeks to problematize this idea by examining its underlying assumptions, connotations and import as deployed in mainstream South African academic and public discourses. In doing this the study aspires to offer a novel perspective that shifts the fixity of the conceptualisation of constitutionalism by amplifying the point that how one chooses to conceptualise constitutionalism has profound implications for what one understands to be the function, scope, ambition and possibility of a constitution. Crucially, the study seeks to advance a historicised, yet non-ideological understanding of the emergence of modern constitutionalism. This, the study argues, is necessary if the real constitutive work and worth of constitutions of different types and thrusts is to remain open to critical engagement as well as fostering the possibility of constitutional imaginings of new, different forms of society or social ordering. As the study works towards responding to the core question it poses, it embarks upon a critical historiography of South African constitutionalism from the 1910 Union constitution to the present one. It does this in an attempt to demonstrate that some of the challenges faced by the current constitution are, profoundly influenced, if not directly produced, by legal, structural, cultural and economic continuities rooted in the past, with race being a central axis around which South African constitutionalism has been imagined, enacted, opposed and resisted. In so doing, the study seeks to demonstrate that despite the indisputable paradigmatic shift ushered in by the fall of colonial-apartheid, on current evidence that shift has been unable to displace nor disrupt the many continuities that remain stubbornly etched into the South Africa’s constitutive DNA inherited from earlier racially exclusive and exploitative constitutional expressions. Engaging South African constitutionalism from a critical historical perspective, the study turns its attention to the emergence and eventual ascendance of transformative constitutionalism as arguably the mainstream conception of contemporary South African constitutionalism. The study argues that transformative constitutionalism, whilst claiming radical far reaching means and ends, has established limited intellectual and programmatic horizons focused on litigation. From within this discourse, it is argued, there is little or no evidence of other work directed at inculcating institutional or structural power shifts or innovations beyond the courts and lawyering. Ultimately, the study argues that transformative constitutionalism is an inadequate framework through which we can begin reimagining South African constitutionalism and its attendant political, social and cultural dynamics in a more emancipatory and inclusive ways. Finally, in light of the discursive disjuncture identified earlier, the study concludes by turning its attention to the notion of liberation. It does this in an attempt to reveal liberation thought’s constitutive potentialities through its political, social, economic, and cultural dimensions that exist as the epistemic underpinnings of the visions of liberated societies and states as imagined and put forward by the like of Steve Biko, Amilcar Cabral and Frantz Fanon amongst others.
The degradation of skill?: understanding the acquisition, development and maintenance of 'skills' in the context of South African capitalism
(2018) Tshabalala, Themba
This research project has attempted to understand and articulate the relationship between ‘capitalist deskilling’ and the post-apartheid discourse of skills development. It has engaged the contradiction that seems to exist in the current ‘skills’ discourse, using a labour process approach. Put briefly, if all capitalist societies inevitably degrade skilled-labour for the purpose of increasing surplus-value, why is South Africa, as a capitalist society, constantly lamenting the lack of skills? What does it mean for management to complain about not having skills, if having them may mean fewer profits? Why, for the past three decades to date have there been concerted efforts, from government, industry and education to produce skilled-labour if skilled-labour has the potential of demanding higher wages? Using the ideas of Braverman (1974) on the capitalist labour process and its effects on skilled-labour as an entering-wedge, the findings from this project have articulated the state of ‘skills’ in democratic South Africa. Chisholm (1983) has argued that most of the discourse (and ensuing practise) that has arisen from the drive to revive skilled labour in South Africa was characterised by what she refers to as ‘technicist’ interpretations to explaining and dealing with the skills-impasse. These (in our generation) are typically initiatives to improve the education system for the training of skilled labour and create synergy between society, education, industry and government. These are ‘technicist’ because they focus on the ‘technical’ aspects of the skills impasse. They emphasize that the problem of skills is simply a technical discrepancy, that if pedagogy, transition-into-the-workplace strategies, labour and educational policies around skills are improved, this will lead to the eradication of the problem with all its ramifications. These approaches do not consider what the ideological and social dimensions of the skills-impasse may be and hence this predicament may plague South African society for a long time to come. Choosing skilled labour from the apparel sector as a case, this project has sought to provide a socio-ideological approach towards articulating the state of skills in South Africa. I argue that the discourse of ‘skills’ is a governmental strategy used by the South African capitalist state to rationalize the risks of free-market capitalism, to further segment the working classes and to transfer the responsibility of a lack of adequate social protection to the masses. The framework for this project is qualitative; the strategy is a case study with ‘ethnographies of work’ of respondents from the Johannesburg apparel sector. Open-ended interviews were used to collect data and discourse analysis was used to argue that the ‘skills-debate’ is a discourse in and of itself.
"Deepening democracy?" Democratic practices and values in co-operatives operating within a Solidarity Economy framework: a case study of the Tswelelane bakery in Gauteng
(2016-03-07) Bentes, Saulo de Tarso Vale
This research report analyses the relationship between the Solidarity Economy framework and democratic values and practices. The research involved a literature review of the principles informing the Solidarity Economy (SE) framework, the experience of the SE in Brazil compared to South Africa, and the differences compared to conventional co-operatives. The field work involved semi structured interviews and participant observation in a worker co-operative located in Ivory Park, Gauteng. The co-operative is a bakery with approximately seven years of history with struggles and changes. The observation focused on the organization of power relations within the co-operative, the social relations between members themselves, with the community and with another institutions The research found that, despite facing challenges and being a small size cooperative, the social relationships are marked by democratic decision making, a flat, horizontal form of internal organisation and harmonious, collegial social relationships with an overall emphasis on solidarity. It suggests that co-operatives organised in terms of the Solidarity Economy framework have the potential to deepen sustainable democracy. Keywords: Solidarity Economy, Worker Co-operative, South Africa, Brazil, Qualitative method, Leadership, Social Relations, Democracy.
What is the relationship between democracy and development according to policies of aid conditionality as implemented in Africa?
(2015-08-27) George, Emma Lavinia
This research project looks at the relationship between democracy and development according to policies of aid conditionality in Africa. This involves an analysis of major donors, mainly international financial institutions such as the IMF and World Bank as well as bilateral donors, and the evolution of aid conditionality through the theoretical framework of liberal internationalism. This research focuses on both economic and political conditionality but reveals that economic interests are at the heart of conditionality and are always prioritized over political development. This has important implications for democracy and development because development discourse has identified key correlations between the principles of good governance promoted by a democratic system and development. Through an examination of two African case studies, this research shows that aid conditionality, with its emphasis on neoliberal, free-market economic adjustment, has not fostered adequate development with many recipients of such aid qualifying for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative that provides debt relief in the interest of poverty reduction. Looking forward, sustainable development can only be achieved with equal dedication to all its spheres; political, economic, and social, thereby providing an adequate foundation for increased international cooperation.
The representation of extremists in Western media
(2015-08-20) Kapelari, Laura
As radicalised Muslim converts gain ever greater attention within the War on Terror (WoT) and the media, an investigation into their portrayal and the associated discourses becomes ever more relevant. This study aims to shed more light on the representation of these extremist individuals in the Western media, specifically white converts to Islam who become radicalised, exploring whether there is indeed a difference between the portrayal of female and male extremists, at the same time seeking to reveal any related social or national anxieties. The findings indicate that there is indeed a difference: while women extremists are stripped bare of all political agency, the men, though exposed to rhetoric condemning their treachery as well as often depicted as capitulating to mental illness, remain largely intact as agents. This comes down to men being located in the international sphere, while women are fixed within the domestic equivalent. In terms of the link to social and national anxieties, it becomes evident that not only has the domestic fear surrounding the “homogenous Islamist terrorist enemy” (Samiei 2010, 1149) led to the terrorist (and by extension the white Muslim convert) being equated with the foreigner, but that as a result, terrorism/extremism and immigration have come to be situated within the same framework, where the slippery slopes of counter-terrorism and anti-immigration meld together.
How can the Community of Enquiry (CoE) methodology be used to help make the decision making processes of a school managment team (SMT) in South Africa more inclusive, democratic, effective and collaborative?
(2015-05-28) Marriott, Hassiena
An authoritarian and bureaucratic ethos adopted by South African Schools prior to 1994 continues to be adopted in many schools. It may be assumed that with the advent of the new South African democratic government in 1994 there would be more freedom given to schools to adopt different leadership styles that were relevant to their school context. Given the top-down culture and authoritarian leadership structures of schools that were designed and developed during the apartheid era, secondary school principals and school management teams have struggled to adopt a more democratic approach to running a school since 1994. In the previous dispensation, school decision making was mostly not a collective effort, and involved a minimum of consultation and sharing of ideas, with staff not being seen as having the role or potential to positively influence significant school decisions. The national Department of Education (2003) refers to this as “… the entrenched bureaucratic and hierarchical management practices inherited from apartheid traditions.” However, greater choice and autonomy of thought are part and parcel of the democratic paradigm. A comprehensive literature review on the Community of Enquiry (CoE) methodology, a resource developed by Matthew Lipman, revealed a more open and inclusive approach to thinking together and embraces the principals of choice and autonomy. It is proposed that this methodology could be used to help school management teams (SMTs) become more collaborative and democratic in their approach to decision-making. Particular attention will be paid to the democratic values that underpin a CoE, in particular the values of equality, justice and freedom will be discussed with specific reference to the South African context. Bureaucratic, autocratic and democratic leadership styles may be adopted by the SMTs in various schools and each leadership style could influence the decision making process as well as the culture within a school. The CoE methodology could work in conjunction with a democratic leadership style to allow SMTs to be more collaborative and inclusive in the decision making process.
Citizen participation in local policy making in Malawi
(2013-06-03) Malamulo, Terence Crayl
In the last two decades, a number of discourses on democratic governance and development in the developing countries position citizen participation as a public accountability mechanism. Most countries have adopted decentralization governance reforms to enable local citizens to influence government policies and services. Literature on decentralization shows weak coherence on how public accountability works to achieve local development and democracy consolidation. Hence, the research study proposes a citizen participation model that should be used in investigating citizen based public accountability in policy making. The evaluation study intends to measure the extent to which citizen participation influences public accountability in local policy making in Malawi; using an evaluation framework based on the suggested citizen participation model. The evaluation investigated the influence of citizen participation in the making of the Lilongwe City Development Strategy (2009). It used qualitative research design and a case study of Ngwenya, a peri-urban area in Lilongwe City. The study used a clarificative evaluation approach. The study found that there is poor citizen participation to influence public accountability in local policy making in Malawi. The findings depict that the conceptualization of citizen participation model should underpin policy principles and associate laws to frame contextual base that helps decentralization benefits reach the local citizens. The report suggests that to improve public accountability through citizen participation primarily there should be: i) clear social, constitutional or political contracts between local government and citizens; ii) adherence to democratic governance; and iii) consistent alignment of programme implementation to assumed contexts in their design.
Opportunities and constraints for Zimbabwean civil society participation in the African Union policy initiatives
(2012-10-04) Moyo, Qhubani
This study set out to examine the opportunities and constraints for Zimbabwean civil society participation in African Union policy initiatives. The work came up after a realisation that there are serious challenges that inhibit participation of Zimbabwean civil society organisations (CSOs) in the policy-making initiatives of the continental body. The problem arises from the structure of the African Union (AU) in that it is an inter-state organ and, as such, any engagement with the African citizens has to be done through the various governments of members‘ states. This means that for Zimbabwean CSOs‘ voices to be heard in the AU policy-making, they have to go through their Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Zimbabwean situation is a very unique and problematic one in that the government and CSOs are sworn enemies. The animosity arises from the allegations by the government that the CSOs are part of a well-orchestrated plot led by the United States of America and Britain to effect illegal regime change in Zimbabwe. It is the argument of the ZANU PF government that the West is sponsoring the opposition as a response to the land redistribution exercise. Given this background, it has been difficult for CSOs to make their representations to the government. This work therefore sought to determine alternative avenues for engagement by CSOs. The research was done through interviews of 20 CSOs involved in issues of democracy and good governance. It also utilised a lot of secondary information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the AU. The research came to the conclusion that CSOs need to improve their working relations with the government and also try to utilise other avenues for engagement like the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC). The work further concluded that the ―cat and mouse‖ relationship between the government and civil society in Zimbabwe has created a situation where the latter has been demonised, if not totally criminalised to the extent of limiting its access into mainstream AU affairs. This, in brief, has presented a situation 5 where the feasibility of a democratic experience in Zimbabwe becomes increasingly remote and misty. Zimbabwe‗s contribution to African political and economic life has been disabled by the Zimbabwean government‘s next to single-handed approach to African and international affairs. The absence of the Zimbabwean civil society‗s voice in the African economic and political life reduces Zimbabwe‘s place in African affairs to a narrow and shallow location. The democratic doctrine of multiplicity of voices and diversity of opinions, which are important ingredients of democracy as it is globally perceived, are negated by the Zimbabwean government‘s enduring interest to collapse the civil society to dormant national shareholders whose role is theoretical at the expense of being real and meaningful. At a prima facie level, the Zimbabwean civil society is an isolated and hindered entity through legislation and economic and political conditions that the Zimbabwean government has caused. On the other hand, on a point of strategy and creative positive thought, this creates a window of opportunities and some interesting challenges to the actors and players in the Zimbabwean civil society to generate methods and approaches relating to the greater African economic and political reality without the co-operation, or the consent, of the Zimbabwean government. This presents a case study to the test of Africa and the globe that governance is not only a preserve of the governments, but is an all-inclusive process that must also involve non-state actors, lest it becomes a partisan and narrow meaningless affair. That, in the African context, can be summarised in a West African saying that ―no matter how big your hand is, it can not cover the sky‖. In this context, no matter how big the AU can be, it cannot adequately serve the interests of the whole of Africa without involving other key players like the civil society movement.
Public participation in the constitution making process in Zimbabwe (2009-2010)
(2012-10-04) Shonhe, Toendepi
The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which participatory deliberative democracy is being practised in the constitution making process in Zimbabwe. The nature of public participation determines the character, quality and extent of consultations and democratic deliberation in policy formulation Constitution making has inescapably remained an ‘unfinished business’ in Zimbabwe as a consequence of the Lancaster House settlement of 1979. Yet, a national constitution is a biography of the nation, whose crafting must embody legitimacy and credibility. This research sought to examine the processes available for public participation for constitution making in Zimbabwe. The research focused on the constitution making process as a case study against the background of a partocratic policy making system that existed since 1980, and the advent of the Inclusive Government consummated on 13 February 2009 whose policy making architecture is premised on the GPA. The central question of this study was: “What processes are being used to secure deliberative democratic participation in the constitution design process in Zimbabwe? The research relied on documentary evidence, the researcher’s experience and observations as well as targeted semistructured interviews on public participation in the constitution making process in Zimbabwe for data collection, as a case study. The researcher relied on secondary data from published and unpublished literature and tracked newspaper publications to gather data related to the constitution making process. The researcher also visited and observed some of the Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) outreach meetings to gather information relating to the quality of deliberation at the meetings. The main findings were that the COPAC structure did not adequately provide a framework for delivering deliberative democracy as political parties retained decision making at stages of the process. The research concluded that political parties, the Executive and Parliament, dominated the process. Participation was cosmetic and “Executo-partocratic driven” rather than a “people-driven” process. The prevalence of citizen harassment and intimidation as well as the occurrence of violence during the consultative process hampered meaningful participation in deliberative processes by citizens. Similarly the inauspicious operating environment discouraged the free flow of information and debate, alienating citizen views and limiting deliberative participatory democracy. In the main, the policy making approach adopted was ‘Executo-partocratic’ and as such limited the citizens participation in equal, open and free deliberation resulting in a process that lacked legitimacy and credibility.
What is the relationship between state sponsored worker co-operatives, local markets and the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality?
(2012-09-05) Nathan, Oliver
This research report examines the relationship between state-sponsored worker co-operatives, local markets and the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM, on the East Rand, South Africa) in the 2000s, to examine how state support impacts upon democracy in worker co-operatives (“co-ops”) more generally. Worker co-ops are democratic and voluntary organisations, simultaneously owned and managed by their members (“co-operators”), have a substantial history in South Africa and elsewhere, and have often been seen as a potential alternative to capitalism. But are they? An extensive literature demonstrates market pressures erode co-op democracy (e.g. Philips): to survive, worker co-ops develop increasingly into capitalist enterprises, which fundamentally challenges notions that co-ops can challenge capitalism. Several commentators (e.g. Satgar) admit this problem, but see the solution in state support, which can purportedly shield worker co-ops from the market, so enabling their democratic content and socialist potential to be maintained. This pro-state approach is tested by examining actually-existing worker co-ops in the EMM, where a number of state-sponsored worker co-ops were established from the 2000s; the two most successful co-ops are the subject of this case study. It is shown that, on the contrary, state sponsorship fostered dependency and subtle (and less subtle) forms of state control over the co-ops. Most of the co-operatives failed to survive, as state control foisted upon them impractical goals (e.g. competition in poor community markets with overwhelming rivals,) while creating additional problems (e.g. failing to allocate marketing budgets) and also undermining co-op democracy (e.g. through imposing external priorities on the co-ops). The co-ops that survived remain trapped between state patronage and the capitalist market: unable to ensure accumulation, they remain dependent on the state, but as a result, are continually pushed by the state back into the market. It is not the South African state’s push to constitute the co-ops as black-run capitalist firms that is crucial to this story, but what this push reveals: state sponsorship was irredeemably linked to state control, and it was state control that enabled the state to force its agenda on iii the co-ops in the first place; an alternative state policy framework would simply change the goals imposed. The hierarchical and elitist class logic of the state is fundamentally incompatible with the popular, self-managed logic of worker co-ops. In short, the findings on the interaction of internal co-op dynamics with the state and open market pressures suggest that democratic worker co-ops are basically fundamentally incompatible with both markets and states. They are also fundamentally incapable of transcending either, as their survival requires either emulating capitalism or embracing the state. Lastly, this research report argues that the erosion of democracy in worker co-ops cannot simply be reduced to external forces (the state, the market), although these play a central role in such erosion. Of the two co-ops examined as case studies, one is characterised by authoritarian decision-making, the other by a fairly democratic practice. A key factor in such divergence were the co-operators’ own political and work cultures. Argued Bakunin: while worker co-ops can play a demonstrative role, challenging authoritarian politics by showing the possibility of workers’ self-management, they cannot provide a transformative role, overcoming capitalism or the state. A state-sponsored worker co-ops movement cannot form the heart of a radical, democratic and working class strategy for fundamental change. To answer the research question, the research asks which factors are important in determining the internal democratic or authoritarian form of the co-ops under study. Two state-sponsored worker co-ops are taken as case studies. The first co-op is characterised by authoritarian decision-making, while the other is characterised experiences democratic decision-making. The findings of the research agree with Philip’s (2006) argument that market factors are important in determining the internal form of a co-op. However, this research clearly shows that while market factors are important, they are by no means the sole determinant of the internal dynamics of a co-op. Non-market factors are equally important in determining the internal form of a co-op.

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