Item

The ecology of civil society in post-apartheid South Africa.

Mampane, Peter Motwa
Citations
Altmetric:
Abstract
Bunbongkarin (2001) posits that one of the often-raised questions concerning democratization and democratic consolidation is whether elites or the public make and consolidate democracy. While the role of the elites has been well documented in the history of most societies, as the torchbearers of intellectual thought and as the creators of democracy and its institutions, the contribution of civil society as the representative of a significant number of the people, cannot be overlooked. The sector plays an intermediate role between the state and the citizens and as such contributes to good governance. The characteristics of good governance, i.e., state capacity, accountability, responsiveness and transparency, among others, reflect the need for the state and civil society to work together to consolidate democratic institutions. According to Arliff and Sarjoon (undated) civil society has two main functions, namely: precautionary role against the state to balance, reconstruct and democratize it and also to expand liberty and equality in societies. The study provides a background of the historical evolution of civil society organizations in the context of South Africa particularly since the advent of democracy in 1994. An introductory study of literature, both historical and contemporary on the concept of civil society, the evolution of civil society movements in South Africa and other regions of the world, the legislative and regulatory framework that informs civil society are some of the pertinent areas the research looked at. The importance of civil society as a social partner in enabling the state to deliver on its service delivery mandate and in the same vein as a watchdog created to hold government accountable are areas that form a fundamental feature of the study. The study is non empirical in nature, an approach which typically involves reflection, personal observation, and an extensive document study. This type of study is as much valuable for knowledge acquisition as that employing empirical data. Relevant empirical information in this regard was established through non-sampling methods, which can withstand scientific scrutiny. This includes among others, accessing research databases, legislative documents, conference reports and other available data in both print and electronic media. The main objective of his study was to investigate the role and influence of civil society movements since the advent of democracy in South Africa in 1994. Concomitant with this main objective included focus on the following objectives: to contribute to the enhancement of literature and construction and production of new knowledge on civil society movements in the current socio-economic and political milieu, to make a comparative analysis/historical profiling of the role of civil society movements in different phases of the evolution of the state in South Africa, to ascertain whether funding has contributed in improving and enhancing democracy in South Africa and to make findings as to why civil society movements have now mainly changed their focus to the public interest litigation route rather than mass mobilization approach as was mainly the case in the past. The study utilized the case study approach. In case study research, the researcher adopts an approach of selecting a subject which becomes a product of inquiry or the object of the study. The subject selected should be able to assist in providing detailed understanding to the phenomena being studied or alternatively enhance future research or the phenomena in question (Cresswell et al., 2007). The focus was on four civil society organizations which are Equal Education, AfriForum, South African Democratic Teachers Union and the South African Council of Churches. This was done in an attempt to examine their contribution, establish their footprint and make meaning of their contribution to the deepening and consolidation of democracy in South Africa. The study’s main thrust was to analyze civil society and democracy in post-apartheid South Africa and to assess the role, impact and contribution that the sector has made (and continues to make) since the dawn of democracy. This is what the study sought to contribute to the body of knowledge. To that end, the researcher developed a model that is congruent with the study as a form of scholarly contribution on the sector going forward. This model referred to as the State-Civil-society partnership model seeks to highlight the importance of partnerships and collaboration between civil society organizations themselves and among the sector, government, labour and the private sector as important social partners in approaching the challenges faced by the post-apartheid state. Considering that the problems are structural, historical and enmeshed in the entrenched role of South Africa as a global political player which attracts millions of immigrants to these shores, it therefore stands to reason that a multi thronged approach is required in approaching these massive problems. It is in that context that the study developed the partnership model as part of the solution to the challenges and problems confronting the post-apartheid state
Description
Submitted in partial fulfilment for the requirements for the Doctor of Public Affairs Degree in the Department of Public Management Faculty of Humanities at the Tshwane University of Technology.
Date
2023-05-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tshwane University of Technology
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
Citation
Embedded videos