South Africa

Nelson Mandela

• active in ANC in 1950s

• leader of military wing

• spent 27 years in prison

negotiations to end apartheid

• F.W. de Klerk became president in 1990 and surprised many people starting reforms

  • Lifts ban on ANC

  • Releases Mandela from prison

  • De Klerk unlikely agent of democratization

explaining democratization in South Africa

• Growing unrest in S.A but increasingly in the 1980s

  • Larger scale protests

• Economic stagnation

  • White population frustrated with lack of economic growth

  • Limiting foreign trade and investment within country

• International pressure 

• Split within apartheid leadership: intensify repression or begin reform

  • Public took advantage of that split and exploit it

• Individual initiative like Mandela

negotiations to end apartheid

Not everyone supported peace talks.

• Hardline white groups opposed change

• Some anti-apartheid activists thought compromise was too soft

Still, they agreed to:

• Write a new constitution

• Hold free national elections in 1994

Mandela and de Klerk won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993

new regime in South Africa

• In 1994 elections, the ANC won 62% of vote

• Mandela becomes president

• De Klerk and Mbeki deputy presidents

• National unity government

mandela’s resignation

• Mandela resigns as ANC chairman in 1997

  • Already in late 70s

  • Replaced by Mbeki

  • Does not run for re-election as president

• Mbeki becomes president after 1999 elections, re-elected in 2004

• Replaced by Jacob Zuma in 2009

• Cyril Ramaphosa in 2018

political institutions in South Africa

South Africa uses proportional representation.

This means:

• Parties win seats based on percentage of votes

• If a party gets 20% of votes, it gets about 20% of seats

Benefit: Fairer for smaller parties.
Weakness: Can create many parties and unstable coalitions.

How is president elected in South Africa

South Africans do not directly vote for president.

Instead:

1. Citizens elect Parliament

2. Parliament chooses the president

Since ANC usually had the most seats, its party leader became president:
Mandela → Mbeki → Zuma → Ramaphosa.

challenges to ANC

Major economic problems:

• Slow growth

• High inequality

• Persistent poverty

• High unemployment

South Africa has one of the highest inequality levels in the world. Many Black South Africans still face economic hardship after apartheid.