Negotiating Change in South Africa
S07
Mac Maharaj
At the end of the 20th century there was optimism that conflicts within and between countries may increasingly be resolved by dialogue and negotiations. One of the factors giving rise to such hopes was South Africa’s negotiated transition from apartheid to democracy. In this course we look at how South Africa trapped itself in a vicious circle of violence; the conditions that enabled it to break out of this; the limits to the use of violence in the struggle for freedom; and the question of ends and means. We look at how South Africa overcame some of the obstacles in the path of negotiations. We end by asking whether optimism at the turn of the millennium was misplaced.