The Elite Transition: From Apartheid to Neoliberalism in South Africa

by Patrick Bond

A truly international study of the many flavours of democracy, concentrating on electoral systems, and the structures making up the systems of parliamentary democracies

Genres: Africa, Economics, History, South Africa, Nonfiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published June 30, 1996

About the author

Patrick Bond is a professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and director of its Centre for Civil Society since 2004. He received his PhD from the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering at Johns Hopkins University in 1993. In his work he focuses on political economy, NGO work and global justice movements in various countries.

Reviews

[Sara Salem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing book that traces how the ANC went from being a leftist organization to the vanguard of neoliberalism in South Africa, putting in place a new form of apartheid: class apartheid. He ends with an afterword written in 2014 where he talks about the Marikana Massacre, but ends on a positive note when he speaks about the growing leftist forces in the country. Indeed I have to say that South Africa probably has the strongest leftist movement in any developing country in Africa and the Middle East today.

Patrick Bond is as funny as he is brilliant and I really didn't want this book to end. Can't wait to read more from him.

[Wessel van Rensburg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Those looking for a smoking gun will be disappointed.

Elite Transition is more of a collection of anecdotes and descriptions about the ANC's slide into neoliberalism than an explanation of why. Hence words like 'surprise' appearing no less than 23 times and 'shocking' 13 times in the text. Even 'inexplicable' features three times.

The premise many people take from the book is that there was continuity between the apartheid regime and the current one, in terms of policy. That the previous regime's elites pacted with the ANC's leaders, who together became part of a new elite that's looking after elite interests. Bond hints at this constantly but never quite delivers substantial evidence for his claims.

Bond fails to explain to his readers the nature of apartheid and Afrikaner Nationalism and misses therefor in his book's first version many telltale signs that the new regime is a very different beast from apartheid - and even of the more liberal version of late apartheid. (Can you imagine the Nationalists letting Anglo American move their primary stock market listing offshore for example?)

He fails to explain why in an earlier era the Afrikaner Nationalists could form a class alliance and effectively use the state in grand projects and mobilise capital to the benefit of poor Afrikaners, while the ANC seems to unconcerned with its poor contituency - except for short platitudes about Afrikaans "ambition" and ANC "shrinkage and frightened withering from market interventions".

It's notable that the final addendum to the book takes on a different tone. The author had more data showing the Gini coefficient had risen since 1994, that tax rates are lower now on individuals and companies and that social spending is lower as a percentage of GDP and so forth.

Unfortunately for Bond his last addendum came before Piketty's "Capital". Piketty published new data Bond no doubt would find fascinating. That is that the share of wealth of South Africa's 1% fell significantly from 1948 when the National Party took control to 1993 when they lost power, and then rose dramatically again as the ANC swept into power.

Elite Transition is not a page turner, it's prone to sloganeering and a bit tawdry at times yet it is still a valuable resource, hence I give it 3 stars.

[Eren Buğlalılar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kitap uzun yıllar Güney Afrika'da devrim yapmak için mücadele eden ANC isimli silahli örgütün, nasıl olup da 1990'dan sonra emperyalist politikaları uygulayan, yozlaşmış bir düzen partisine dönüştüğünü anlatıyor.

Konuyu çok iyi ele aldığı yerler var. Ancak daha ziyade politika belgeleri, konferans notları, basın açıklamaları gibi kaynaklardan besleniyor. Yani ANC'deki yıllara yayılan dönüşüm pek görülmüyor. 90-92 yılları önemli ama bu yıllarda nasıl gizli görüşmeler yapıldığı, kime hangi tavizler verildiği pek yok. ANC'nin yaşadığı dönüşümü kitlesine nasıl aşama aşama kabul ettirdiğini de görmüyoruz.

Yani başlıktaki "transition" biraz zayıf kalmış. Buna rağmen, Hein Marais'in kitabıyla birlikte en kapsamlı çalışmalardan biri.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

just read this for a Soli study group in NYC - a VERY extensive analysis of the establishment of neoliberal ideological hegemony at the top ranks of the ANC and democratic movement. more descriptive, though, than explanatory. Plenty internal analysis of various gov't plans and policy documents; not much about social forces and the on-the-ground class struggle during the transition.