Tài liệu Empowerment through Economic Transformation pdf

Gerard Hagg has been involved in research on community development and community arts since joining the Human Sciences Research CouncilHSRC in 1986, after 12 years of teaching at the Uni

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List of Tables ix

List of Figures xii

List of Maps xii

List of Contributors xiii

Preface and Acknowledgement xxi

Acronyms xxiii

Chapter 1 Empowerment and Transformation in South Africa 1

Meshack M Khosa Chapter 2 South Africa and Globalisation 21

Oumar Bouare Chapter 3 Globalisation, Economic Crisis and South African Vulnerabilities 75

Patrick Bond Chapter 4 Post-Apartheid South Africa: An Overview of International Economic Relations (1994-1999) 107

Logan Rangasamy Chapter 5 Interest Group Participation and Democratisation: The Role of the National Economic Development and Labour Council 137

Gregory F Houston

Empowerment through Economic Transformation

Chapter 6 Towards an Institutional Framework for

Managing Agricultural Export Trade Promotion 175

Meshack M Khosa

Chapter 7 First Employment Experiences of Graduates 213

Percy Moleke

Chapter 8 Poverty Alleviation, Employment Creation and

Sustainable Livelihoods in South Africa 229

Asghar Adelzadeh, Cynthia Alvillar and Charles Mather

Chapter 9 Tracking South Africa’s Spatial Development

Initiatives 249

Christian M Rogerson

Chapter 10 Towards a Framework for Rural SMME

Development in South Africa 271

Christian M Rogerson

Chapter 11 The Politics of Water Management: The Case

of the Orange River Development Project 299

Tony Emmett and Gerard Hagg

Chapter 12 Drought and Floods in Post-Apartheid

South Africa 329

Patrick Bond and Greg Ruiters

Chapter 13 Public Appraisal of Social and Economic

Chapter 14 Public-Private Partnerships, Public Infrastructure

Investment and Prospects for Economic Growth in South Africa 409

Tjiamogale Eric Manchidi and Andrew Merrifield

Chapter 15 Rethinking Gender, Empowerment and

Empowerment through Economic Transformation

List of Tables

4.1 SA trade ranked according to total trade, exports

and imports (1998) 111

4.2 SA trade ranked according to trade blocks 114

4.3 South Africa’s trade with the EU and the SADC Rm 115

4.4 SA exports to the EU and SADC 117

4.5 Investment flows into SA (1994-1999) 124

4.6 Sector profile of foreign investment (1994—end of June 1999) 125

7.1 Immediate employment by population group and field of study 216

7.2 Duration of unemployment before finding a job for those who did not secure immediate employment 217

7.3 Employer sector 218

7.4 Extent to which degree helped to secure employment 220

7.5 Value of degree to present employment 221

7.6 Perceived applicability of educational level for first job 222

7.7 Extent to which first job correspond ed with occupational expectations held while studying 225

13.1 “There is a lot of talk about what the government’s priorities should be for the next 10 years Which impor-tant priority would you consider the most imporimpor-tant?” 378

13.2 “Since the general election of 1994, how would you say the delivery of the following services has changed in the area where you live, if at all?” 381

Empowerment through Economic Transformation

13.3 “Since the general election of 1994, how would you say

the delivery of [running water] has changed in the area where you live, if at all?” (Total population) 383

13.4 “Since the general election of 1994, how would you say

the delivery of [running water] has changed in the area where you live, if at all?” (Population group) 384

13.5 Comparing perceptions of improvement in the provision

of running water, by province 386

13.6 “Since the general election of 1994, how would you say

the delivery of [electricity] has changed in the area where you live, if at all?” (Total population) 387

13.7 “Since the general election of 1994, how would you say

the delivery of [electricity] has changed in the area where you live, if at all?” (Population group) 388

13.8 Comparing perceptions of improvement in the provision

of electricity by province in December 1998 and November 1999 389

13.9 “Since the general election of 1994, how would you say

the delivery of [affordable housing] has changed in the area where you live, if at all?” (Total popultion) 390

13.10 “Since the general election of 1994, how would you say

the delivery of [affordable housing] has changed in the area where you live, if at all?” (Population group) 391

13.11 Perceptions of improvement in affordable housing, by

province 392

13.12 “Since the general election of 1994, how would you say

the delivery of [health care] has changed in the area where you live, if at all?” 393

13.13 Perceptions of health care by population group 394

List of Tables

13.14 Comparing perceptions of health care improvement

in December 1998 and November 1999, by province 395

13.15 “Since the general election of 1994, how would you

say [tarred roads and street drainage] have changed

in the area where you live, if at all?” (Total population) 396

13.16 “Since the general election of 1994, how would you say

[tarred roads and street drainage] have changed in thearea where you live, if at all?” (Population group) 397

13.17 “Since the general election of 1994, how would you say

[water-borne sewage disposal] has changed in the areawhere you live, if at all?” (Total population) 397

13.18 “Since the general election of 1994, how would you say

[water-borne sewage disposal] had changed in the areawhere you live, if at all?” (Population group) 398

13.19 “Since the general election of 1994, how would you

say the delivery of [public transport] has changed

in the area where you live, if at all?” (Total population) 399

13.20 “Since the general election of 1994, how would you say

the delivery of [public transport] has changed in thearea where you live, if at all?” (Population group) 400

13.21 Comparing perceptions of improvement in the provision

of public transport, by province 400

13.22 “Since the general election of 1994, how would you say

[waste removal] has changed in the area where you live,

if at all?” (Total population) 401

13.23 “Since the general election of 1994, how would you say

[waste removal] has changed in the area where you live,

if at all?” (Population group) 402

13.24 “Since the general election of 1994, how would you say

[police services] have changed in the area where youlive, if at all?” (Total population) 402

Empowerment through Economic Transformation

13.25 “Since the general election of 1994, how would you say

[police services] have changed in the area where you

live, if at all?” (Population group) 403

13.26 Comparing perceptions of improvement in th e delivery of local police services, by province 404

13.27 “Since the general election of 1994, how would you say [education services] have changed in the area where you live, if at all?” (November 1999) 405

14.1 SA infrastructure backlog 411

14.2 Common types of infrastructure PPPs 415

14.3 Alternative structures of BOT-type projects 415

List of Figures 7.1 Sources of career guidance 223

7.2 Satisfaction with source of career guidance 224

14.1 Public sector borrowing requirements (% of GDP) 412

14.2 Modes of PPPs and levels of private sector involvement 416

List of Maps Chapter 9 Location of Spatial Development Initiatives 250

Chapter 10 Location of rural SMME case studies 281

Towards a Framework for Rural SMME …

Empowerment through Economic Transformation

Africa’s internationally competitive industries” (Department of Trade and Industry, n.d.)

As a result of the importance attached to the SDI programme and to the high profile of its activities in contemporary South Africa, it is not surprising that SDIs have spawned a host of recent writings The existing literature on SDIs includes works that focus on generic issues (Elliffe & Manning, 1996;

List of Contributors

Asghar Adelzadeh is currently a research director at the National Institute for Economic Policy (NIEP), Johannesburg, where he specialises in macro-economic theory and policy, macro -economic modelling, inter-national economics, economic development, and international trade law Adelzadeh obtained a B.A from the New School for Social Research He also studied at the State University of New York, and the University of Massachusetts, Boston In 1994, he obtained a grant from the New S choolfor Social Research to support his work at the NIEP in Johannesburg

He was previously appointed at the universities of the Witwatersrand and California (Santa Cruz and Berkeley) and at the New School for Social Research (New York) He has publishe d widely, and his publica-

tions on the South African economy include, amongst others, Poverty

reduction: Situation analysis on employment creation and sustainable livelihoods in South Africa (1998), Economic structures in Southern Africa and the role of South Africa (1998) and From the RDP to GEAR: The gradual embracing of neo-liberalism in economic policy (1997) His

expertise is required at international conferences and he was also invited to give testimony at the hearing on the White Paper for the Parlia mentaryStanding Committee on the Reconstruction and Development Programme

in Cape Town during 1994

Cynthia Alvillar is an economist and labour lawyer from the United States She has practised law in San Francisco Ms Alvillar has extensive experience of South Africa’s labour market Ms Alvillar served as general counsel and head of the legal division of the National Union of Mine Workers She is currently director of research for labour market policy at the Department of Labour where she has been extensi vely involved in all aspects of labour market policy for the South African government

Empowerment through Economic Transformation

Patrick Bond is associate professor of economic policy at the University

of the Witwatersrand Graduate School of Public and Development Management, which he joined in 1997, and is also volunteer research associate of Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC) He has also worked at the National Institute for Economic Policy, taught at Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health in Baltimore, and served the civic movement as a researcher at the Johannesburg NGO Placant from 1990 to 1994 He has authored or edited several South African government policy documents since 1994, and has written

numerous books and articles, including Cities of gold, townships of coal:

South Africa’s new urban crisis, Elite transition: From apartheid to liberalism, and Uneven Zimbabwe: A study of finance, development and underdevelopment.

neo-Oumar Bouare holds a Ph.D in mathematics from Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris, a Ph.D in economics from the New School University in New York and a master’s degree in economics and in philosophy from the Sorbonne in Paris Dr Bouare was awarded the National Scholarship of Sciences by the Ministry of National Education of Mali to prepare for his Ph.D in mathematics in Paris He is also the recipient of the Dean’s Fellowship, the Best Dissertation Award and the Best Teacher Award of the New School University Dr Bouare is the author of the new international trade theory of comparative profit advantage He has taught mathematics at Lycee Pasteur and Lycee Marcel Roby in Paris, where he prepared high school students to enter the Grandes Ecoles in France He has also taught mathematics and economics

-at the New School University, New York University, Long Island University at C.W Post Campus and St John’s University in the United States In South Africa, Dr Bouare has taught mathematical economics at the University of Pretoria, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences He was appointed chief research specialist at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in Pretoria in 1998 and is currently acting research director of the Group: Economic and Social Analysis at the HSRC

List of Contributors

Tony Emmett is a senior research specialist in the Programme for PublicPolicy Analysis of the Group: Democracy and Governance of the HumanSciences Research Council (HSRC) During the past 16 years he has been

an HSRC researcher and research manager for a broad range of multidisciplinary projects in the fields of devel opment, health and policy studies He has also worked as a lecturer at the University of South Africa and the University of Natal (Durban), and has lectured part time at the University of the Witwatersrand Prior to his academic and research career, he worked as a journalist specialising in African affairs He has participated in and headed a large number of research projects and pro -grammes relating to health promotion, community participation in health and development projects, water supply and sanitation services, squatting and informal settlement, rural and agricultural issues, urban management, community development, small business development, disability research, sustainable development, crime and injury prevention etc In 1992 he was

awarded the HSRC’s first Council’s Award for Multidisciplinary Research.

He has served as a member of the Steering Committee for Safe Rural Water Supply and Waste Disposal, the Standing Committee for Water Supply and Sanitation (SCOWSAS), the Essential National Health Res earch (ENHR) Workgroup for the Science Councils, and the HIV/AIDS and STD Programme Research Funding Committee His recent publications include

two books, Popular resistance and the roots of nationalism in Namibia (1999), and Behind the mask: Getting to grips with crime and violence in

South Africa (2000), edited with A Butchart

Gerard Hagg has been involved in research on community development and community arts since joining the Human Sciences Research Council(HSRC) in 1986, after 12 years of teaching at the University of South Africa and the University of the Orange Free State Major participatory research projects in which he was involved, sometimes as project leader, were the following: hostel upgrading in central Gauteng (1990-91), land reform innorth eastern Gauteng (1994), the production of guidelines for the manage-ment of community participation in health and welfare service delivery (1995-97), the development of community arts centres and multi -purpose

Empowerment through Economic Transformation

community centres (MPCCs), including two conferences on MPCCs 99), the upgrading of Mandela Village informal settlement (1992 -94) and the cost-effective implementation of sustainable community water supply by Mvula Trust (1997-2000) In addition he has been involved in the manage-ment and practice of community development projects in the Katlehong Art Centre (1986-98) and the ArtsforAll Community Arts Project in Pretoria (1987-99), and has been on the boards of directors of several community-based organisations He has written several reports on hostel upgrading, land reform, community arts and community participation, as well as articles on socio-economic development, community participation, community arts centres and multi-purpose community centres

(1986-Gregory F Houston is a research specialist at the Human Sciences Research

Council (HSRC) He has a Ph.D in political science and is the author of The

national liberation struggle: A case study of the United Democratic Front, 1983-1987 He is currently working on a book on public participati on in

various planning, legislative and policy-making processes in South Africa The focus here is on the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac), the legislative processes of provincial legislatures, the budgetary formulation process of the national Department of Finance, and the Integrated Development Planning (IDP) process of the Pretoria City Council Dr Houston previously lectured in the Political Studies Department

of the University of Transkei His research interests include theoret ical and empirical studies of the South African state, democratic consolidation in South Africa, issues of identity and race, and public participation in political processes He has published a number of book chapters and journal articles in these areas and has written a number of unpublished HSRC research reports

Meshack M Khosa who holds a doctorate from Oxford University is a

leading social scientist, research expert and strategist with international experience He has expertise in both theo retical, social science and policy research and has published findings in both national and international scholarly and popular journals Dr Khosa was appointed member of the strategic team of the Presidential Review Commission in 1996/97 He has

List of Contributors

written over 50 articles and chapters in books on transport, the taxi industry, regional planning, industrial forestry, infrastructure, social transformation, transformation of the higher education sector, and land

reform in South Africa In addition, he has co-edited An RDP policy audit,

Regionalism in the new South Africa, and Democracy and governance review, edited Infrastructure mandate for change 1994 -1999, and Empowerment through service delivery Dr Khosa is also a co-drafter of

the White Paper entitled Public works towards the 21 st century A member

of the Institute for British Geographers, Association of American Geographers, Society for South African Geographers, and the South African Sociological Association, he previously worked at the University

of Natal and the University of Cambridge Between 1996 and 1998 Dr Khosa was director of the Centre for Africa Research Transformation Dr Khosa was appointed research director in Group: Democracy and Govern -ance of the Human Sciences Research Council in April 1998, and has been acting executive director since March 2000 He is also an honorary research fellow in Geography at the University of the Witwatersrand

Tjiamogale Eric Manchidi is a director of APOPS (Assets Procurement and Operating Partnership Systems), a publi c-private partnership (PPP) programme in the national Department of Public Works His responsi -bilities include development and implementation of the APOPS policy He has acted as the chief negotiator on behalf of the departments of Public Works and Correctional Services in the procurement of the first two PPP prison projects in South Africa Prior to joining the public service he worked as a business development consultant, project manager and site engineer in various private sector companies

He holds a B.Sc (Building) and an M.Sc (Building Management) from the University of the Witwatersrand His recent research focuses on the creation of an environment for private investment in public infra -structure

Empowerment through Economic Transformation

Charles Mather is a lecturer in the Geography Department at the University of the Witwatersrand He completed a Ph.D in geography at Queens University, Canada, on aspects of agrarian transformation in rural South Africa during apartheid Since then his research has focused on contemporary aspects of agrarian change, highlighting the changing labour regimes on commercial farms, the restructuring of South African exports markets under a new marketing regime, and the impact of liberalisation on

South African agriculture His most recent publications inclu de ‘The

farmer prefers us’: Mozambican farmworkers in the Mpumalanga low veld, a report published by the Southern African Migration Project

-(Migration Policy Series 16), and “Agro-commodity chains, market power and territory: Re-regulating South African citrus exports in the 1990s”,

published in Geoforum (vol 30, 1999)

Andrew Merrifield was a project leader in the Division of Building and Construction Technology He initiated the Construction Industry Perform -ance Improvement Initiative at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) He has acted as a policy analyst for the Department of Public Works and the Department of Finance and is currently working for the Co-ordination and Implementation Unit, Office of the Executive Deputy-President He was convenor of the strategic team for the Presi -dential Review Commission (PRC) on the Transformation of the Public

Service and was the main author of Chapter 6 Information management,

systems and technology in the Public Service in the PRC report He was

primary author of the green and white papers, Creating an enabling

environment for reconstruction, growth and development in the con struction industry, as well as other papers on construction industry

-development, job creation and the use of public-private partnerships in infrastructure delivery for Public Works He was project leader for the MTEF Review: Infrastructure Investment for Finance He has also written policy for the Local Government and Planning Project, the National Housing Forum and other non-governmental organisations Merrifield was recently appointment as chief director at the reconfigured Department of Public Enterprises of the national government

List of Contributors

Miranda Miles is a lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand, specialising in migration and gender She holds an M.A from Queens University at Kingston, Canada, and a Ph.D from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Her research interests include the socio-economic aspects of post-colonial female migration in Swaziland a ndSwazi women’s livelihood strategies and roles in domestic work and in housing

Percy Moleke holds a B.A Ed from Vista University, and a B.A Honours in economics from the University of the Witwatersrand Moleke

is currently a holder of a Nelson Mandela Economics Scholarship and enrolled for a master’s degree at Georgia State University in the United States Prior to being awarded the prestigious scholarship, she was a researcher in the labour market analysis unit at the Human Sciences Research Council Her fields of interest are higher education and the

labour market She is co-author of a report, First employment experiences

of graduates, published by the HSRC.

Logan Rangasamy works as an economist with the European Union (EU) delegation in South Africa Prior to his joining the EU he was lecturer in economics at the University of Durban-Westville and a research fellow at Wolfson College at the University of Cambridge He holds post -graduatedegrees from the universities of Duban-Westville and London His research interests span international trade and finance, development economics and sustainable development

Christian M Rogerson is professor of human geography at the Univer

-sity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg His research focuses on issues o flocal economic development, small enterprise development and urban and regional change He is the author of over 180 published articles on aspects

of economic development in Southern Africa, including two co -edited

volumes, South Africa’s informal economy and Geography in a changing

Empowerment through Economic Transformation

Greg Ruiters is a lecturer in political studies at the University of the Witwatersrand He is currently a Ph.D candidate at Johns Hopkins University (USA) His research interests are urban politics and social movements He is currently investigating water transnationals and muni -cipal privatisation in South Africa

Preface and Acknowledgements

This book, Empowerment Through Economic Transformation, is the third

in a series of volumes that arose as part of a research programme to understand the state of transformation in South Africa The first two

volumes, Infrastructure Mandates for Change and Empowerment Through

Service Delivery, which were published in 2000, received a critical recep

-tion and review

Empowerment Through Economic Transformation explores in detail

the theoretical concepts around empowerment and tran sformation While not exhaustive, the book largely focuses on the prospects of empowerment through the transformation of the South African economy Through some

16 chapters written by over 15 authors drawn from a wide range of fields such as infrastructure development, public-private partnerships, spatial development corridors, South African labour market strategies, and gender and empowerment, the book argues that although at policy level there appears to be progress towards empowerment, the adoption of t he Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) strategy has come to substan -tially undermine some of the radical proposals contained in the Recon-struction and Development Programme (RDP), which was aimed at funda -mental transformation

The conclusion in this book is that there have been far-reachingchanges in the political and policy-making spheres However, the outcome

of these changes is unevenly spread The daunting task of redressing past inequality is currently being undermined by the legacy of th e past, massive unemployment, lack of co-ordination between policies and programmes, and limited human and technical capacity The negative consequences of globalisation have been added to the complex web of current challenges.One of the critical aspects about this book is the pool of authors who hail from academia, government, research organisations and vibrant social movements The authors all brought a rich tapestry of expertise, expe -rience and insight, which makes this contribution a valuable collect ion for students of politics, economics, geography, development studies, policy analysis, sociology and political science

Empowerment through E conomic Transformation

The chapters in this book were written between 1998 and 2000 and I

am indebted to several reviewers whose input enabled the authors to revise their chapters I am indebted to Professor Michael Watts, director of Inter -national Development Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, whose hospitality and debates contributed to shaping this book I would also like to thank Philippe Gervais-Lambony who organised several work-shops in Paris where some of the papers were presented

I am also grateful to my colleagues at the Group Democracy and Governance of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) whose vibrant intellectual discussions have shaped my writing over the past three years Heartfelt thanks are extended to Dr Yvonne Muthien and Professor Ben Magubane for their valuable support and intellectual stimulation since

I joined the HSRC as research director in 1998 Muthien and Magubane were part of the editorial team and they also commented on various chapters included in this book

I would like to thank the academics, researchers, activists and policy makers in South Africa, England and France who generously shared information and insights towards producing this book Special apprecia -tion is also due to all contributors to this book for their thought -provokingand insightful chapters Special thanks to Ina Stahmer, Martie Boesenberg, Berta Wheeler, Annemarie Booyens and Maris e Swardt for their sterling editorial and technical assistance In addition, I thank Bashni Harry and Adelina Capasso for their super administrative support in the process of finalising this book This book is dedicated to all those who have contri -buted, and continue to make a contribution, to creating a new society in South Africa To my wife Roseline Ntshingila -Khosa: Thank you for your understanding and support over the years

AFL-CIO American Federation of Labour/Congress of Industrial

Organisations

APOPS Asset procurement and operating partnerships systems

ARC-IAE ARC-Institute for Agricultural Engineering

CSIR Council for Scientific and Industrial Research

DACST Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology

Empowerment through Economic Transformation

FABCOS Foundation for African Business and Consumer

Services

FEDSAL Federation of South African Labour Unions

FEDUSA Federation of Unions of South Africa

FORCE Federation of Organisations Representing Civil

Employees

ICFTU International Confederation of Free Trade Unions

MITI Ministry of International Trade and Industry

NEHAWU National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union

NOTPECO Northern Transvaal People’s Civic Organisation

NUMSA National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa

Empowerment through Economic Transformation

PEBCO Port Elizabeth Black Civic Organisation

PSLSD Project for Statistics on Living Standards and

Develop-ment

SACTWU South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union

SANGOCO South African Non-Governmental Organisation

Coalition

SEIFSA Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of South

Africa

Chapter 1 Empowerment and Transformation in

South Africa

The combination of abject poverty at the one end, and a com fortable affluence at the other, compo unded by the fact that this describes a black-white divide and most acutely, a black female against a white male disparity, constitutes an explosive mixture which must be addressed if we are to guarantee stability for our country (Thabo Mbeki, President, in his address to the National Council of Provinces, Cape Town, 10 November 1998)

-Introduction

The quotation above captures succinctly the persistence of the legacy of colonial and apartheid structural inequality along gender, race and class lines, and as such calls for urgent public action to address it Delivered at a special debate on nation building and reconstruction organised by the National Council of Provinces, Mbeki’s speech as a whole mirrors current debates on the impact of South Africa’s transformation on the lives of those who were disenfranchised in general, and the poor in particular The debates centre on the extent to which states, markets and civil society can empower the poor and reduce inequality in the context of the rapid global integration of finance and markets The persistence of poverty and inequality is largely a result of major structural problems, the mo st signifi-cant of which is the country’s key micro- and macro-economic attributes,

* Grateful thanks are extended to Professor Michael Watts, director of the Institute of International Studies, University of California, Berkeley, who contributed to this chapter.

Empowerment through Economic Transformation

serious backlogs in investment in human resources and social services, and the structure and operation of the labour market

The political negotiations, which led to the first democratic election

in April 1994, have been variously acclaimed as a “breakthrough”, a

“miracle of the 20th century”, and an “important landmark” in the history

of South Africa The “breakthrough” was characterised by a formal end to white minority political rule, the adoption of a broadly progressive consti -tution, and conscious efforts on the part of the new government to improve the access of the poor to health, education, water and housing, thus empowering them However, the poor are still largely powerless This book therefore takes a critical look at empowerment to provide a window through which the contradiction between structural inequality and democracy can be unpacked

This (the first) chapter constitutes four sections Drawi ng from a large body of literature on empowerment, the first section critically assesses the concept “empowerment” The argument is that the dominant theoretical interpretations of empowerment impose limits and pander to the whim of neo-liberals (Bond, 2000) In fact, “empowerment” has become a buzz -word, which means everything and nothing The second section highlights key aspects of transformation in South Africa The third section identifies discourses on transformation in South Africa Depending on their parti-cular premises, the dominant interpretations of transformation focus on the power and limits of civil society, states and markets in empowering the poor and transforming societies The fourth section presents a set of tenta -tive propositions to assess the usefulness of social democracy in empower -ment

Towards a theoretical framework

In order to unpack the social and political transition in South Africa it is important to understand the dynamics of political regimes un dergoingtransformation; possibilities and limits of deepening democratic govern-ance; and questions of economic justice within the context of processes that exclude the poor from opportunities

Empowerment and Transformation in South Africa

Empowerment

Empowerment has come to mean different things to different people According to Pranab Bardhan, economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, even though the concept may have some progressive

or radical origins, it has now come to be co-opted by the right wing largely

to dislocate and displace the initial progressive connotations Bardhan cites, for example, the creation of the Ministry for Empowerment in India

by the right-wing party Even the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have come not only to adopt this new nomenclature, but also to use it consistently in the 1990s

John Friedmann (1992) has been one of the first scholars to provide a

theoretical foundation for the concept In his book, Empowerment: The

politics of alternative development, Friedmann (1992, p 31) defines

He also critically appraises the theoretical foundation of “empowerment”,

by distinguishing between social, political and psychological ment

empower-Social empowerment, argues Friedmann (1992; 1996), is about access

to certain bases of household reproduction, such as supportive life space, surplus time, knowledge and skills, social organisation, social networks, instruments of work and livelihood, and financial resources For Friedmann, poverty is a “state of disempowerment ”, as “poor households lack the social power to improve the condition of their lives”

Political empowerment is about access of individuals and household members to the process by which decisions, particularly those affecting their own future, are made Friedmann (1996) does not see political empowerment as the power to vote only, but also the power of voice and

Empowerment through Economic Transformation

Psychological empowerment is about the individual’s sense of potency, which is largely a result of successful action in th e social and political domains (Friedmann, 1992; 1996)

Friedmann (1996) further claims that traditional development models aim or lead to a direct improvement in the conditions of the poor, especially those in rural areas An empowerment approach, in co ntrast,places the emphasis on autonomy in the decision making of territorially organised communities, local self-reliance and experiential social learning (Friedmann, 1992; 1996) This view is supported by advocates of decen-tralisation, devolution and local control of resources and decision making (Bardhan, 1997) From this perspective, the starting point of empowerment

is the locality; empowerment, as such, is seen as a process, which origi nates from below and within a specific territory Friedmann’s ar gument is that empowerment cannot be guided by governing elites, but can and should be supported by them Greater faith is placed in civil society organisations and the state is viewed with suspicion:

-The time when people looked hopefully to the state to resolvetheir problems has passed They have learned that the state is neither all-powerful nor greatly concerned with their life situations (Friedmann, 1992, p 139.)

According to Friedmann (1992; 1996), empowerment seeks a change in the existing national strategies through a politics of inclusive democ racy,appropriate economic growth, gender equality, and sustainability or intergenerational equity However, he is quick to point out that this approach accepts the existing system of global capitalist acc umulation.Friedmann (1992, p 14) recognises that recent convulsive changes in the organisation of capitalism “have resulted in the virtual exclusion of vast numbers of the world’s poor from effective economic and political participation” As only a tiny proportion of people participate in capital accumulation, while the majority participate only marginally, Friedmann (1992, p 13) suggests that the aim of empowerment is to:

… humanize a system that has shut them out, and to accomplish this through forms of everyday resistance and political struggle

Empowerment and Transformation in South Africa

that insists on the rights of the excluded population as human beings, as citizens, and as persons intent on realizing their loving and creative powers within Its central objective is their inclusion in a restructured system that does not make them redundant

However, empowerment as conceptualised by Friedmann has been criticised as “encapsulated within a highly restricted system of power, unable to break through to the alternative development it seeks” Criti csfurther reject the neo-liberal interpretation of empowerment as incapable

of resolving the “Third World Catastrophe”, which is characterised by creasing poverty and inequality, unserviceable debt, monetary collapse andcapital flight, the rise of parallel markets, degeneration of the public sec -tor, environmental decay, rising lawlessness, revolution and secession in some countries Shutt (1998), in his critical analysis of the failure of global capitalism, contends that empowerment does not adequately challenge neo-liberalism, which coincides in several countries with the “emascula -tion of the state” (Shutt, 1998, p 229) and a “financial holocaust” (Shutt,

in-1998, p 230)

Although celebrated by Friedmann, local action is severely strained by global economic forces and structures of unequal wealth Moreover, the constraints on the poor are structural in that the power relations that sustain capitalist production also keep the poor disem -powered In fact, in the concl usion of his book, Friedmann admits that “… when we enter the terrain of practice, the conceptual purity of an alter -native development [an empowerment approach] must be abandoned” (Friedmann, 1992, p 158) To move beyond survival, dominant relations

con-of power in society should change and this requires something far beyond increase in access to bases of social power as espoused by Friedmann (1992; 1996)

Ultimately, therefore, Friedmann’s theoretical framework raises more questions than answers The limits of the concept “empowerment” and of its lauded meanings call for new ways of conceptualising and theorising about empowerment This requires an understanding of globalisation,

Empowerment through Economic Transformation

increasing inequality, increasing debt, structural adjustment programmes and processes of democratisation

Theorising transition

A large body of literature theorises about the nature, direction and consequences of political and economic transitions The earlier debates focus on the interplay between political and economic factors, partypolitics or lack of it, social and economic implications of regime change, privatisation and the decreasing role of civil society during a transition period (Regulaska, 1998; Smith & Pickles, 1998) More recent foci of transition debates are the local dimensions of transition, and gender dimensions of transitional politics (Meurs, 1998; Regulaska, 1998) Evi -dence in Central and Eastern Europe suggests that transformation is offer-ing very different opportunities to different gr oups of people Some indivi-duals quickly and easily achieve a better quality of life, while others find themselves struggling to find employment (Meurs, 1998) Indeed, econo -mic collapse, an onslaught on labour, social and political disorientation, and abject poverty are juxtaposed to prosperity (Smith & Pickles, 1998)

In their analysis of economic and political transformations in East and Central Europe, Smith and Pickles (1998) argue that transition is not an unproblematic implementation of a set of policies involving economic liberalisation and marketisation alongside democratisation They further argue that transition is not a one-way process of change from one eco-nomic system to another Rather, transition constitutes a complex re-working of old social relations in the light of processes characteristic of contemporary history Smith and Pickles (1998) contend that transition can

be thought of as a series of techniques of transformation involving marketisation of economic relati ons, privatisation of property or assets, and democratisation of political life Each seeks to de-monopolise the power of the state over the economy and civil society

According to Smith and Pickles (1998), theorising transition revolves around the following central issues: first, a set of questions on how political economies in transitions are regulated; second, an exploration of ways in which political economic transition is both evolutionary and path-

Empowerment and Transformation in South Africa

dependent, in that it is based upon institutionalised forms of learning as well as struggles over pathways that emerge out of the intersection of the old and the new; third, a concern that particular trajectories of political economic development result from the ways in which social networks and social relations are moulded and institutionalised in new forms, which requires an understanding of ways in which uneven development reworks sub-national space economies (Smith & Pickles, 1998), as is the case in Eastern and Central Europe, where marginalised regional economies are increasingly left behind in the capitalist restructuring as enterprises decline and plant closures pave the way for the emergence of regions of mass unemployment (Smith & Pickles, 1998); fourth, an exploration of the changing geographies of transition and a reworking of the scales of power

in a transitional context; and fifth, an examination of the limits and con tested nature of democratisation (Smith & Pickles, 1998) Although these five issues were developed within t he context of Eastern and Central Europe, they are important as they counter a simplistic interpretation of transition

-The generalisation of these propositions to South Africa should be plored This will have to be done through an analysis of concrete processes and case studies In a recent article on political transitions in Africa, Michael Bratton and Nicolas van de Walle (1994) suggest that the nature

ex-of pre-existing regimes shapes the dynamics and outcomes ex-of political transitions They further suggest that literature on political transitions has focused excessively on the contingent interactions of key political actors and underestimated the formative impact of political transitions Bratton and Van de Walle outline five important pr opositions on the nature of political transitions First, they propose that political transitions from neo-patrimonial regimes originate due to social protection from below and not

so much through initiatives of the elite Second, neo-patrimonial elites disintegrate as a result of the fight for access to patronage The state elite disintegrates due to self-interest and not ideology (Bratton & Van de Walle, 1994, p 464) Third, elite political pacts are unlikely in neo -patri-monial regimes Fourth, in neo-patrimonial regimes, political transitions are struggles to establish legal rules Fifth, during transitions from neo -patrimonial regimes, middle-class elements align with the opposition

Empowerment through Economic Transformation

As the concept “transition” implies two polar regimes —that of authoritarianism and that of democracy—it fails to capture the complex and shifting nature of politics and processes One way to capture this complexity is to examine party-electoral politics, and new attempts at governing the dense mix of public expectations, private interests, bureau-cracy and economic constraints (Von Mettenheim & Malloy, 1998) This will require an understanding of governance as an important pillar of empowerment

Even after introducing new corrective policy measures in South Africa, discrimination and poverty continue to exist In fact, this was central to Thabo Mbeki’s assertion in his speech to the National Council of Provinces quoted above Aylwin (1998) poses a question very pertinent for the assessment of democracy and transition in South Africa: What use is freedom to the citizen if it does not include the ability to influence important economic decisions? Aylwin (1998) correctly suggests that small but powerful multi-national financial groups make important econo-mic decisions that often result in disempowerment, dislocation and increased poverty for marginalised people Put differently, what are the prospects of democracy in poor countries in the South as they en counterand contend with the dynamic and contradictory process of globalisation?

Theorising transformation in South Africa

There are three broad interpretations of the political and economic transformation in South Africa These interpretations are informed by different conceptualisations of the nature of empowerment and transfor -mation Although they show overlaps, they are discussed separately here

to tease out the debate on empowerment

Neo-liberal interpretation

According to the neo-liberal interpretation, the new democratic state had

no choice but to accept a series of historic compromises —neo-liberalpolicies that favoured big business, foreign investors, deregulation, privatisation and, at best, a “trickle” to the majori ty who were effectively

Empowerment and Transformation in South Africa

shut out of the economy (Mattison, 1998; Pilger, 1998) From the perspec tive of the neo-liberalist, decentralisation or empowerment is a way of reducing the role of the state, and getting rid of the interventionist and over-extended regulatory and predatory state (Bardhan, 1997)

-This view is largely evident within the organised white business sector in South Africa The Democratic Alliance and the Inkatha Freedom Party also espouse various shades of neo-liberalism, though with different emphasis According to Robert Price, professor of political sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, by 1990 the African National Congressleadership realised that the redis tribution of wealth was tantamount to equalisation of poverty The World Bank and other multilateral agencies impressed upon them that the transfer of wealth was no longer feasible What unites the neo-liberalists is their reliance on markets and the private sector to empower the poor They believe that more power should

be transferred away from the state and given to the private sector and the markets This shifting of power is seen as one way of empowering the market to offer opportunities to the poor However, neo -liberalism has come under intense attack from various constituencies, especially the organised trade union movement and civil society organisations

From the neo-liberal perspective, empowerment, too, involves tralisation, that is, withdrawal of the state from areas of social life and from the economy, especially from labour market regulation However, the poverty of this analysis has now been revealed even in advanced capitalist societies where inequality has increased, poverty has not disappeared and livelihoods have been severely limited by global forces

decen-In contrast to the neo-liberal view of the state as a hindrance, Peter Evans (1995) argues that not all states are predatory, ruthlessly extracting and providing nothing of value in return For example, Korea has a developmental state that promotes industrial transformation, and in Braziland India the state is in between, sometimes helping, sometimes hindering (Evans, 1995)

The adoption of the Growth, Employment and Redistribution(GEAR) strategy as a macro-economic framework for South Africa in June 1996 is seen as marking an important shift to neo -liberalism This

Empowerment through Economic Transformation

shift has been largely opposed by some activists to the left within the African National Congress, the South African Communist Party, the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African National Civics Organisation These organisations see the adoption of GEAR a s the highjacking of the “national democratic revolution” They contend that instead of empowering the poor, GEAR would increase inequality, and could worsen gender and racial marginalisation This view is supported by evidence in Latin America and Africa where neo-liberal programmes tended to universally cut labour and other groups out of policy processes and hand them a substantial bill for short-term austerity, which actions often provoke confrontation (Von Mettenheim & Malloy, 1998 )

Radical democratic interpretation

While retaining a critique of capitalist inequalities, the radical democratic interpretation does not attribute social domination exclusively to capitalist relations of production or class divisions Instead, it identi fies class exploi-tation as one of several forms of social, economic, political or cultural domination The radical democratic discourse seeks to transform capitalist development with struggles against patriarchy, racial, gender and ethnic discrimination, environmental degradation, and other forms of exploitation and subjugation As such, the primary focus of political initia tive is seen as

a shift from the state to civil society The radical democratic option is represented by a series of policy packages introduced in the South African parliament, such as the Employment Equity Act , the Skills Development Act and the establishment of the National Economic Development and Labour Council

Whereas the radical democratic interpretation maintains a vision of grassroots empowerment and radical social transformation, it finds it diffi -cult to translate its vision into alternative political and economic institu -tions at the national level (Roberts, 1997, p 316) Where this has been attempted, the benefits to the poor have been unevenly shared Cases in Latin America appear insightful In some respects, the radical democratic interpretation has some similarities with the empowerment a pproach as defined by Friedmann (1996)

Empowerment and Transformation in South Africa

Social democratic interpretation

From the social democratic perspective, transformation in South Africa is seen as a platform where dominant class interests are played out From this perspective, the present juncture is another platform for political and economic struggles to shape the nature and character of the post -apartheidsociety and state For the proponents of the social democratic interpre -tation the issue is whether the interests of the “bour geoisie” will eventually give way to the interests of the working class and its allies The social democratic interpretation claims that there is an attempt to create a South Africa that is conducive to massive capital accumulation through privatisa -tion of state assets and the adoption of neo-liberal policies, which will disempower the poor Thus privatisation could be countered by a strategy for meeting the basic needs of the poor through a strong state, which strategy is supported by the labour movement

Blade Ndzimande, Secretary General of the South African nist Party, rejects a neutral or regulatory state, and advocates for a national democratic and development state with the capacity to intervene in order

Commu-to achieve the goals of the Reconstruction and Development Programme However, the political objectives of the social democratic proponents are primarily to transform the left from being an oppositional force into a serious and viable governing alternative within the framework of plural -istic democracy, and to use state power as an instrument for social and economic reform In fact, with a few protestations, there is consensus that the

… National Democratic Revolution does not aim to re -shapeproperty relations in the most fundamental way of creating a classless society where there are no exploiters and exploited It does not seek to eliminate capital or capitalism However, by definition, the National Democratic Revolution must see the de-racialisation of ownership, accumulation and allocation of capital; and it should do this in a manner that benefits the poor (African National Congress, October 1998.)

Empowerment through Economic Transformation

Evidence in Latin America (Roberts, 1997) suggests that the social democratic option sacrifices radical change on the altar of political realism, moderating its objectives and ideals in order to ameliorate opposi -tion and enhance its viability as a governing alternative This is also evident in an important discussion document prepared by the African National Congress, South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions The alliance acknowledges the state’s limits

in resolving contradictions within society:

… the creation of this new society will not eliminate the basic antagonism between capital and labour Neither will it eradicate the disparate and sometimes contradictory interests … the task

of the National Democratic Revolution is to eliminate the basic causes of the national grievance wherever and whatever form they manifest themselves, and to manage the multitude of contradictions within society in the interests of this objective (African National Congress, October 1998.)

Usefulness of the social democratic interpretation

After analysing the implementation of left-wing policies in Chile and Peru

in the 1980s, Roberts (1997) concludes that the social democratic option may be more feasible than other alternatives as it has the potential to garner multi-class political support and neutralise business opposition However, there are at least two structural constraints to social democracy.The first structural constraint is the internalisation of economic com -petition and capital markets As such, international capital accumulation inherently contradicts the process by which social democratic forms of class compromise are constructed domestically (Roberts, 1997) Increased international capital flows worsen the structural dependence of the state on capital, modify the power balance between labour and capital, and thus complicate or skew efforts to institutionalise class compromise within the domestic policy Evidence in Latin America further indicates that econo-mic pressure can “suffocate the plans of reformist governments that trans-gress international norms” (Roberts, 1997, p 318) Where social demo -

Empowerment and Transformation in South Africa

cratic parties do have electoral success, contradictions are highly likely to emerge between their electoral and economic coalitions, given the con -flicting interests at stake (Roberts, 1997, p 335) Roberts concludes that

… social democratic strategies do not promise a direct and immediate solution to poverty and inequality … At best, they offer gradual, tentative and partial solutions, falling far short of more radical demands for social transformation and popular empowerment (Roberts, 1997, pp 335-337.)

Writing about a similar context, Von Mettenheim and Malloy (1998) propose that new types of liberal-democratic governance will be required

to meet the dual tasks of building democratic institutions and resolving economic crises They argue that

[i]f executives continue to pursue technocratic solutions to political problems, not only will democracy and representation

be gutted, but ineffectiveness will also continue to pervade new civilian governments (Von Mettenheim & Malloy, 1998, p 16.)

The attempt by the social democracy advocates to impose some discipline

on the market is doomed to fail Prospects for success appear limited as

“states can create industries, but not as they choose” (Evans, 1995) This point is apposite within the debates around the macro -economic frame-work in South Africa

The second structural constraint to social democracy is the relative weakness of organised labour and the social fragmentation of the popular sector However, although this may be true in some Latin -Americancountries, evidence in South Africa suggests otherwise Even though the labour movement is not united, it is not fragmented Often alliances with inthe labour movement are established when there are common issues that labour could address more appropriately when in accord The case of civil society is different The departure of several leaders of civil society organisations to the new democratic g overnment and new state agencies, and dwindling international financial assistance to civil society have worsened structural problems facing civil society in South Africa

Empowerment through Economic Transformation

Social democracy calls for a state with strong capacity to intervene in the economy when there is market failure In the words of Blade Ndzimande, nothing short of this would succeed in empowering the poor

in South Africa:

There is no example in this century of a developing country, or even developed countries for that matter, emerging from the ruins of war, economic collapse or colonialism, achieving economic revival led by the capitalist market Instead, such revivals have been led by a state-driven industrial strategy

Peter Evans, professor of sociology at the University of California,Berkeley, has explored the role of the state in industrial transformation Evans concludes that industrial transformation is possible and states do make a difference However, the character of state institutions helps deter-mine whether and how countries change their policies in the international division of labour Nonetheless, the limits and potential of states have been demonstrated in the industrial transformation of countries s uch as Korea,India and Brazil (Evans, 1995) Evans likens states to midwives, capable

of building industry by assisting in the emergence of new social groups and interests According to him, “[s]tates can make th eir territories attractive, but they cannot dictate the structure of global production networks” (Evans, 1997, p 66), that is, “states can make industries but not

as they choose” (Evans, 1995, pp 246 -256) This conclusion challenges several assumptions on the role of the state in social transformation in South Africa

Structure of the book

In Chapter 1, Meshack Khosa presents theoretical approaches to empower ment and transformation, three of which are important to under standingSouth Africa’s transformation The first is the neo-liberal perspective,which appears to be part of the mainstream perspective The second is the radical democratic perspective, the vision of which is difficult to trans lateinto an alternative political and economic programme The third pers-

Empowerment and Transformation in South Africa

pective is the social democratic perspective, which sees transformation as

a platform where dominant class interests are played out

Chapter 2, authored by Oumar Bouare, gives an exposition of the characteristics of post-apartheid civil society and the post-apartheid econ-omy Against this background, Bouare discusses the effects of globalisa -tion on the South African civil society and economy, considers the effects

of a hands-off and a hands-on economic policy, and argues that South Africa should find an alternative source of revenue by building the basis of its manufacturing industries before its natural resources, which are the mainstay of its export revenues, are depleted

Patrick Bond argues in Chapter 3 that South Africa’s economic, socio-cultural and policy environment has been enormously influenced by global economic processes and institutions Bond further argues that globalisation often contradicts equitable development towards redressing massive disparities of the past

In Chapter 4, Logan Rangasamy reviews South Africa’s heid international economic relations The chapter sug gests that while trade and investment relations have strengthened in South Africa’s favour, numerous challenges still have to be overcome to ensure further progress.The role of the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) in enhancing democratic participation is analysed by Gregory Houston in Chapter 5 He highlights some of the challenges facing it, and concludes that NEDLAC has had mixed success in generating policies that are in the general public interest

post-apart-Meshack Khosa presents the findings of an assessment of institutional arrangements for international trade in general and agricultural trade in particular in Chapter 6 He concludes that co-ordinated, integrated agricul-tural trade promotion is lacking in South Africa and argues that the perception that agriculture is a Cinderella sector within the Department of Trade and Industry needs to be addressed

In Chapter 7, Asghar Adelzadeh, Cynthia Alvillar and Charles Matherargue that a strategic programme for poverty eradication and full employ-ment requires a thorough understanding of the major characteristics of poverty and the factors that contribute to sustainable liv elihoods The