Introduction

Introduction

Institutional design versus social forces - this is the theme for this collection of articles on the transition of the Republic of South Africa (RSA) from the era of apartheid to a democratic constitutional state. The dismantling of the old regime and the coming of a new one in South Africa is an archetypal case of negotiated transition of a regime. What is unique for the RSA is the strong emphasis upon constitutional mechanisms, i.e. for getting the constitutional rules right and the setting up of institutions for the implementation of a large variety of constitutional provisions. This is the reason why this collection devotes much attention to the new albeit interim constitution of the RSA.

Nevertheless, the South African system transition has involved more than merely redesigning institutions. What made the process highly uncertain, involving the occurrence of large-scale political violence, was that it was driven by deep-seated cleavages between various groups. They are groups with a history of animosities dating back almost to the arrival of the first Europeans in 1652, when the recently appointed commander of the Cape, Jan van Riebeeck, arrived from Holland. The social forces mobilized by the key elites were so strong that they at times threatened the entire process of negotiating a system transition, especially so during the weeks just prior to the country's first fully democratic elections at the end of April 1994.

The critical question for the future of the RSA is whether the new institutions so carefully designed match the driving social forces in a highly divided society. What is place is only a temporary constitution, which includes unsettled issues between the major players and the chief social groups. The process of constitution-making is still under way, with the hope that a ‘final’ constitution will be in place from 1999.

The RSA leaves the transition phase and enters the consolidation stage with several highly divisive issues unresolved, in particular the question of the nature of the state itself: whether there is to be a unitary or a federal framework for the RSA.

The prospects of a successful consolidation phase depend upon the willingness of the key players to reach agreement on constitutional matters. But, to a large extent, they also reflect the development of the economy and its capacity to counteract poverty and unemployment. There can be little doubt that these factors exacerbate the frequent occurrences of political violence as well as violent crime in South Africa. After a period of tranquillity following the 1994 election, the occurrence of political violence and crime has returned to very high levels, especially in the province of KwaZulu-Natal where conditions may be likened to a low-intensity civil war.

The population of South Africa may be classified according to race or according to ethnic community as defined mainly by language. Table 1 shows the racial distribution.

The population of South Africa has increased sharply over the past decade and is expected to continue to grow to over 60 million people by 2010. The rapid population growth among blacks has changed the numerical proportions between the four races in South Africa. At the same time South Africa has received a large number of illegal immigrants; the exact number is not known. The official migration statistics show a slight net gain for the early 1990s as the number of immigrants has outnumbered the number of emigrants. Several of the latter were highly skilled, giving rise to a debate about the occurrence of brain drain in South Africa.

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