SOUTH
AFRICA: The Transition Continues
Wayne
D. Toombs
South Africa’s population is 43,586,097 (census was taken in October 1996). The population’s racial make-up is 75.2% black, 13.6% white, 8.6% Colored and 2.6% Indian. South Africans represent a rich array of ethnic backgrounds but the idea of ethnicity became highly explosive during the apartheid era, when the government used it for political and racial purposes. Government officials imposed fairly rigid ethnic or tribal categories on a fluid social reality, giving each black African tribal label, or identity, within a single racial classification. Apartheid doctrines taught that each black population would eventually achieve maturity as a nation, just as the Afrikaner (white) people, in their view, had done.Therefore, officials sometimes referred to the largest African ethnic groups as nations.
There are 11 official languages, including Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu. The government established language areas for each of the ethnic groups and during the 1950’s and 1960’s assigned them separate residential areas according to perceived ethnic identity.In the 1970’s and 1980’s some of these language areas became self-governing homelands, although these independent homelands were not recognized as separate nations by any country other than South Africa, the people assigned there were officially "noncitizens" of South Africans.
The percentage of religion observed
by the people is 68% Christian (includes most whites and Coloreds, about
60% of blacks and about 40% of Indians), 2% Muslim, 1.5% Hindu (60% of
Indians), indigenous beliefs and 28.5% animist.
In 1795, the British occupied the Cape as a strategic base, controlling the sea route to the East.A crucial new element was evangelicalism, brought to the Cape by Protestant missionaries. The evangelicals believed in the liberating effect of "free" labor and in the "civilizing mission" of British imperialism. They were convinced that indigenous people could be fully assimilated into European Christian culture, once the shackles of oppression had been removed.
One result was Ordinance 50 of 1828, which guaranteed equal civil rights for "people of colour" within the colony and freed them from legal discrimination.At the same time, a powerful anti-slavery movement in Britain promoted a series of ameliorative measures, imposed on the colonies in the 1820s, and the proclamation of emancipation, which came into force in 1834.
For the ex-slaves, as for the Khoisan servants, the reality of freedom was very different from the promise. As the wage-based economy developed, they remained a dispossessed and exploited element in the population, with little opportunity to escape their servile lot.Increasingly, they were lumped together as the "coloured" people, a group which included the descendants of mixed unions, and a substantial Muslim minority who became known as the "Cape Malays" (misleadingly, as they mostly came from the Indonesian archipelago).The "coloured" people were discriminated against, on account of their working-class status as well as their racial identity. Among the poor, especially in and around Cape Town, there continued to be a great deal of racial mixing and intermarriage throughout the 1800s. In 1820, several thousand British settlers, who were swept up by a scheme to relieve Britain of its unemployed, were placed in the eastern Cape frontier zone as a buffer against the Xhosa chiefdoms.
Meanwhile large numbers of the original colonists, the Boers, were greatly extending white settlement beyond the Cape's borders to the north in the movement that became known as the Great Trek.Alienated by British liberalism, and with their economic enterprise usurped by British settlers, several thousand Boers from the interior districts, accompanied by a number of Khoisan servants, began a series of migrations northwards in the mid-1830s.The Voortrekkers (as the Dutch were later called) coalesced in two landlocked republics, the South African Republic (Transvaal) and the Orange Free State.There, the principles of racially exclusive citizenship were absolute, despite the trekkers' reliance on black labor. With limited coercive power, the Boer communities had to establish relations and develop alliances with some black chiefdoms to neutralize those who obstructed their intrusion or who posed a threat to their security.The size of the black population left no room for the assimilationist vision of race domination embraced in the Cape.
After the Boer War, during 1907 and 1908, the former Boer republics were granted self-government but, crucially, with a whites only franchise.Black interests were sacrificed in the interest of white nation-building across the language divide.The National Convention drew up a constitution and four colonies became an independent dominion called the Union of South Africa in 1910.
http://www.worldrover.com/history/south_africa_history.html
The Policy of Apartheid
Government policy in the Union of
South Africa did not develop in isolation, but against the backdrop of
black political initiatives. Segregation and apartheid assumed their shape,
in part, as a response to Africans' increasing participation in the country's
economic life and their assertion of political rights.
Despite the Government's efforts to shore up traditionalism and to retribalize them, black people became more fully integrated into the urban and industrial society of 20th-century South Africa than happened elsewhere on the continent.The African National Congress (ANC), founded in 1912, became the most important organization drawing together traditional authorities and the educated èlite in common causes.
The Government also regularized the job color bar, reserving skilled work for whites and denying African workers the right to organize.Legislation entrenched urban segregation and controlled African mobility by means of pass laws. The pass laws were intended to enmesh Africans in a web of coercion designed to force them into labor and to keep them there under conditions and at wage levels that suited white employers, and to deny them any bargaining power.In these and other ways, the foundations of apartheid were laid by successive governments representing the compromises hammered out by the National Convention of 1908-1909 to effect the union of English and Afrikaans-speaking whites.
The National Party with its ideology of apartheid that brought an even more rigorous and authoritarian approach than the segregationist policies of previous governments, won the general election.In most respects, apartheid was a continuation, in more systematic and brutal form, of the segregationist policies of previous governments.In virtually every sphere, from housing to education to health care, central government took control over black people's lives with a view to reinforcing their allotted role as 'temporary sojourners', welcome in 'white' South Africa solely to serve the needs of the employers of labor.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1948apartheid1.html
The End of Apartheid
The year 1976 marked the beginning of a sustained anti-apartheid revolt. In June, the pupils of Soweto rose up against apartheid education. Youth activism became the single most effective arm of the politics of resistance in the 1980s.
The Government embarked on a series of reforms, an early example being the recognition of black trade unions to stabilize labor. In 1983, the Constitution was reformed to allow the coloured and Indian minorities limited participation in separate and subordinate Houses of Parliament.In 1986, the pass laws were scrapped.
After a long, bumpy negotiation process, marked by much opportunistic violence from the right wing and its surrogates and in some instances sanctioned by elements of the State, South Africa held its first democratic election in April 1994 under an Interim Constitution.The ANC emerged with a 62% majority. The country's first nonracial elections resulted in the installation of Nelson Mandela as President on May 10, 1994. To view Mandela site see http://www.anc.org.za/people/mandela/.html
A significant milestone of democratization during the five-year period of the Mandela presidency was the exemplary constitution-making process, which delivered a document that is the envy of the democratic world.
Creation
of the New Government
The South African Constitution
The interim constitution--The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1993 (Act 200 0f 1993) was ratified on December 22, 1993, and implemented on April 27, 1994.http://www.parliament.gov.za/acts/1993/constit0.html
It provides a framework for governing for five years, while a new constitution, to be implemented by 1999, was drafted by the Constitutional Assembly.To this extent, the process of drafting the Constitution involved many South Africans in the largest public participation program ever carried out in South Africa. After nearly two years of intensive consultations, political parties represented in the Constitutional Assembly negotiated the formulations contained in this text, which are an integration of ideas from ordinary citizens, civil society and political parties represented in and outside of the Constitutional Assembly.This Constitution therefore represents the collective wisdom of the South African people and has been arrived at by general agreement.The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act 108 of 1996) http://www.parliament.gov.za/acts/1996/saconst.html
, was approved by the Constitutional Court on 4 December 1996 and took effect on 4 February 1997.The Constitution is the supreme law of the land.No other law or government action can supersede the provisions of the Constitution.South Africa's Constitution is one of the most progressive in the world, and enjoys high acclaim internationally.See other Constitutional sites at;
http://www.parliament.gov.za/particip/constit.htm
http://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/law/sf00000_.html
http://www.polity.org.za/govdocs/legislation/1993/sched4.html
The Preamble to the Constitution states that the aims of the Constitution are to
·heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights
·improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person
·lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law
·build
a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as
a sovereign State in the family of nations.
We, the people of South Africa,
Recognise the injustices of our past;
Honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land;
Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and
Believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.
We therefore, through our freely elected representatives, adopt this Constitution as the supreme law of the Republic so as to ­
Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights;
Lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law;
Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person; and
Build a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of nations.
May God protect our people.
Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika. Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso.
God seën Suid-Afrika. God bless South Africa.
Mudzimu fhatutshedza Afurika. Hosi katekisa Afrika.
The present constitution guarantees freedom of speech, the press, assembly, association, and religion, in addition to the freedom to travel and the right live where one chooses and the protection of minority rights. http://www.polity.org.za/govdocs/constitution/saconst02.html
ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT
The organization of the South African
government is constituted as national, provincial and local spheres, which
are distinctive, interdependent and interrelated. The powers of the law-makers
(legislative authorities), governments (executive authorities) and courts
(judicial authorities) are separate from one another.
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The legislature of South Africa is a bicameral parliamentary system consisting of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) (note-following the implementation of the new constitution on 3 February 1997 the former Senate was disbanded and replaced by the NCOP with essentially no change in membership and party affiliations, although the new institution’s responsibilities have been changed somewhat by the new constitution).
Parliament is the legislative authority of South Africa and has the power to make laws for the country in accordance with the Constitution. Since the establishment of the new Parliament in 1994, a number of steps have been taken to make it more accessible. This has been done to make the institution more accountable, as well as to motivate and facilitate public participation in the legislative processes. One of these steps is the website (http://www.parliament.gov.za/), which encourages comments and feedback from the public.
-National
Assembly
-
The
President
The President is the Head of State and leads the Cabinet. He or she is elected by the National Assembly from among its members, and leads the country in the interest of national unity, in accordance with the Constitution and the law.The President of South Africa is Mr Thabo Mbeki. See http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/safrican.elections
The president's primary responsibilities are to uphold, to defend, and to respect the constitution; to appoint cabinet members; to convene cabinet meetings; to refer bills back to the legislators or forward them to the Constitutional Court when constitutionality is in question; to summon the National Assembly for urgent matters; to appoint commissions of inquiry; to appoint ambassadors; and to accredit foreign diplomats. Click for profiles on President Mbeki at http://www.gov.za/profiles/mbeki.htm
The
Cabinet
The Courts
The Judicial authority of South Africa is vested in the courts and constitutional development.·The Constitutional Court is the highest court in the land.It deals exclusively with constitutional matters.The high court is composed of a President, a Deputy President and nine other judges who are appointed by the country’s President.It is provided in the Constitution that at least four members of the Constitutional Court must be have been judges at the time they were appoint to the Court and be a South African Citizen.
·The Supreme Court of Appeal is the highest court for all other matters.The Court has jurisdiction to hear and determine an appeal against any decision of a High Court.This court is composed of the Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justice and the judges of appeal.
·There are the High Courts with at least one located in each province.Each court has jurisdiction over that province.The courts determine matters that are too serious for lower courts to make appropriate judgments or impose the penalty.Their jurisdiction in penal judgments is unlimited.
·There are specialized state courts such as courts dealing with sexual offenses, municipal courts which is the enforces city by-laws, courts for the prosecution of tax crimes, and family courts (divorce courts, maintenance court, children’s court and family violence court).
·There also, regional courts, magistrate’s courts and local circuit division court.
·When a person is charged with any offense committed in any district or regional division may be tried either by the court of that district or regional district he may be tried by the court of that district or the regional court.
·A magistrate’s court has jurisdiction over all offenses except treason, murder and rape.
·The regional court has jurisdiction over all offenses except treason.
·High may try all crimes.
http://www.gov.za/yearbook/2001/justice.html#Court
and other legal
Legal Profession
The legal profession is divided into two branches—advocates and attorneys.·*Advocates – organized into Bar Associations or societies in each seat of High Court divisions, can appear in any court.
·*Attorneys – may be heard in all lower courts and can acquire the right to appear in the superior courts.If an attorney wishes to go before the High Court he is required to apply to the registrar of a provincial division of the High Court.Attorney would, also, be able to appear before the Constitutional Court.
·Although each province has its own requirements, to enter the legal profession an applicant must have a four-year LLB degree (or the equivalent) from an accredited program offered by one of the nation’s universities (to see an example the legal curriculum offered by a university see http://www.unisa.ac.za/faculty/law/depts.html)followed by a two-year trainee period (clerkship) with a law firm or other recognized employer (law clinic, public defender, etc) and finally passing a professional exam.An alternative is the candidate must have satisfied certain degree requirements proscribed in the Attorneys Amendment Act, 1993.He is exempted from clerkship, however, the candidate must have at least five years appropriate legal experience.Click on http://www.lawsoc.co.za/
There are state law advisors, which give legal advice to Ministers, government departments and provincial administrators, as well as a number of statutory bodies.In addition, they draft Bills and assist Ministers concerned with passing Bills through Parliament.
The Justice College trains legal staff, including autonomous professions, such as magistrates and prosecutors.
There is no site that fully describes the training requirements to become certified as an advocate or attorney.You must look to the requirements from each university.
Other On-line sources for South Africa
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Country_Specific/S_Africa.html
http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/zatoc.html
http://assu.stanford.edu/speakers/bios/deklerk.html