Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 8, 1993 TAG: 9302080252
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LEHLOHONOLO TLOU
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
SOUTH AFRICA'S POLITICAL TRIBALISM
EVENTS in Bosnia and Somalia have overshadowed some of the most interesting processes in the transition to democracy. One notable example is South Africa.Much of our understanding about South Africa tends to be an oversimplified analysis based on the dichotomy between black and white races. For example, when the media focus on the violence in the townships of South Africa, quite often the phrase "black-on-black violence" is used. Do we ever refer to the struggle between the Catholics and Protestants in the United Kingdom as "white-on-white violence"?
No. In the case of the latter, we often hear the phrase "ethnic cleansing." The situation in South Africa cannot be understood fairly by attributing to violence a racial (i.e. black) overtone. As in Western and Eastern Europe, southern Africa faces real questions about national self-determination and basic human and legal rights.
Since the release of political prisoners such as Nelson Mandela in 1990, there have been many reforms without real political and economic significance for the majority of South Africans. The majority of people still cannot vote - a basic fundamental right that we take for granted. The majority population still does not have equal opportunities to work and to live where they would like. Political and economic infrastructures have yet to change fundamentally in order to give real meaning to the release of political prisoners and to the elimination of apartheid laws.
A government that represents the multiracial society of South Africa constitutes the goal of the majority political parties. However, how that end should be reached has taken on different interpretations. Moreover, charting the path to representative government has been a long, bumpy road with a number of detours.
After the national peace accord of December 1991, more than 20 parties agreed to negotiate a settlement to the apartheid problem through a Convention for a Democratic South Africa, the precondition being that violence must be curbed.
Talks have been stalled since May 1992 due to the level of violence that has claimed thousands of South African lives. The pace of the national talks was slowed further by the Boipatong massacre on June 18, 1992, and the massacre at Bisho on Sept. 7, 1992.
Many of the signatories to the peace accord blame the De Klerk government for not curbing the violence and, in some cases, for promoting it. Indeed, independent investigations have exposed the government's hand in organized "death squads," weapons and security forces fueling violence in the country. The government, on the other hand, has pointed its finger elsewhere.
Much of the progress toward a negotiated settlement or lack thereof has been oversimplified by the media to a discussion about disagreements between Mandela of the African National Congress and De Klerk of the National Party government. Such analyses fail to realize two issues: (a) that violence has been a major factor; and (b) that South Africa cannot reach a stable peace if the negotiating table is a "table for two" instead of a banquet table for all major players.
While the ANC and the National Party government are major actors in the transition to democracy in South Africa, they are by no means the sole participants. Other important groups include the ultra-right white Conservative Party, the liberal and mainly white Democratic Party, the Zulu-based Inkatha Freedom Party and the radical-left black Pan-Africanist Congress.
Each of these parties, and others, is currently involved in pushing forward the stalled negotiations for a transition to democracy. The negotiations are set to resume this month. One of the priorities among all parties is the question of a transitional government: when it should take place and for how long it should be in place. The purpose of the interim government would be to draw up a new constitution for a new South Africa.
The ANC, Democratic Party and Pan-Africanist Congress are interested in a multiracial election for an interim government by the end of 1993. They advocate an interim government that would be in place between six to 18 months.
However, Inkatha and the National Party propose elections by March 1994, and they suggest a more gradual process. At one point, they suggested that the transitional government be in place for as long as 10 years.
Generally, the former group proposes a new constitution based on a unitary system with a central government, and the latter advances a divide-and-rule tactic based on a federated system of seven provinces.
The positions for the transition to democracy in Africa consist of loose ideological connections between politically diverse groups. They cannot be reduced to simply a division between black and white.
Lehlohonolo Tlou is assistant professor of political science at Virginia Tech.
Editor's note: A free seminar on "The Future of South Africa" will be held Feb. 16 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the Squires Student Center at Virginia Tech. It will feature representatives of major groups in South Africa. Registration deadline is Friday. More information: (703) 231-5182.