The death of Nelson Mandela on 5 December 2013 was in a sense a wake-up call for South Africans, and a time to reflect on what has been achieved since ‘those magnificent days in late April 1994’ (as the editors of this volume put it) ‘when South Africans of all colours voted for the first time in a democratic election’.          

In a time of recall and reflection it is important to take account, not only of the dramatic events that grip the headlines, but also of other signposts that indicate the shape and characteristics of a society. The New South African Review looks, every year, at some of these signposts, and the essays in this fourth volume of the series again examine and analyse a broad spectrum of issues affecting the country. They tackle topics as diverse as the state of organised labour; food retailing; electricity generation; access to information; civil courage; the school system; and – looking outside the country to its place in the world – South Africa’s relationships with north-east Asia, with Israel and with its neighbours in the southern African region.

Taken together, these essays give a multidimensional perspective on South Africa’s democracy as it turns twenty, and will be of interest to general readers while being particularly useful to students and researchers.

Also available as a PDF ebook: 9781868147649.

INTRODUCTION

Devan Pillay and Roger Southall

 

PART ONE: ECOLOGY, ECONOMY AND LABOUR

INTRODUCTION

Devan Pillay

CHAPTER 1 The South African labour market after eighteen years: It’s class struggle, stupid!

Nicolas Pons-Vignon and Miriam Di Paola

CHAPTER 2 The state of organised labour: Still living like there’s no tomorrow

Ian Macun

CHAPTER 3 Citizen Wal-Mart? South African food retailing and selling development

Bridget Kenny

CHAPTER 4 Transcending South Africa’s oil dependency

Jeremy Wakeford

CHAPTER 5 The politics of electricity generation in South Africa

Keith Gottschalk

 

PART TWO: POWER, POLITICS AND PARTICIPATION

INTRODUCTION

Prishani Naidoo

CHAPTER 6 Platinum, poverty and princes in post-apartheid South Africa: New laws, old repertoires

Aninka Claassens and Boitumelo Matlala

CHAPTER 7 amaDiba moment: How civil courage defeated state and corporate collusion

John GI Clarke

CHAPTER 8 Secrecy and power in South Africa

Dale T McKinley

CHAPTER 9 The contemporary relevance of Black Consciousness in South Africa 

Xolela Mangcu

CHAPTER 10 Death and the modern black lesbian

Zethu Matebeni

 

PART THREE: PUBLIC POLICY AND SOCIAL PRACTICE

INTRODUCTION

Roger Southall

CHAPTER 11 Why does Zimbabwe’s school system out-perform South Africa’s?

Martin Prew

CHAPTER 12 Higher Education in 2013: At many crossroads

Ahmed Bawa

CHAPTER 13 Democracy without economic emancipation: Household relations and policy in South Africa

Sarah Mosoetsa

CHAPTER 14 Prisons, the law and overcrowding

Clare Ballard

 

PART FOUR: SOUTH AFRICA AT LARGE

INTRODUCTION

Gilbert Khadiagala

CHAPTER 15 South Africa in Africa: Groping for leadership and muddling through

Gilbert M Khadiagala

CHAPTER 16 South Africa and Israel: From alliance to estrangement

Ran Greenstein

CHAPTER 17 South Africa’s economic ties with north-east Asia

Scarlett Cornelissen

CHAPTER 18 Regional parastatals within South Africa’s system of accumulation

Justin van der Merwe

CHAPTER 19 The leadership challenge in Southern Africa

Mopeli L Moshoeshoe