From apartheid to democracy in South Africa

Abstract

South Africa’s democratic settlement is generally viewed as a particularly successful transition from authoritarian government. The settlement in 1994 did bring political violence to an end and it established new institutions which have now been in place for nearly two decades. This success was partly the outcome of fortuitous conditions – of good luck, even. But it was also the product of the skills, capacities and predispositions that the main parties in the settlement brought to the negotiations. This paper will explore the developments and processes that helped South African peacemaking. Subsequently it will address political progress since the transition.