South Africa Undergraduate Dissertation

[Chris90]

Hi everyone

I am a student from the UK who is interested in doing his dissertation (12,000 words) on the post apartheid state in South Africa. I have never done this before so it's all new to me. I would like to focus on the success/failures of the post-apartheid governments in addressing the issue of racial inequality. Could anybody offer me any insight, or point me towards a particular policy which has aimed to redress the balance? One I have looked at so far is the BEE, but can't seem to grasp what it is about at this early stage. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you

[wynn]

I won't offer up any opinion on the subject matter except to say that it is a can of worms you are about to open.

[Chris90]

why is this so? (i'm don't really know much about it yet)

could you possibly offer me any other ideas pointing in a better direction?

thanks

[Chatmaster]

Hi Chris

As said before, you are about to open a can of worms. That noted I am probably about to open that can...

You have several options by writing this dissertation and I can assure you none of them will be pretty. From the UK point of view it will mean you will probably view Apartheid as an inequality of race. From a white South African point of view, Apartheid can be viewed as the failed upliftment of the uneducated to a position of empowerment, for example...

The way you view apartheid will guide you into a direction of viewing the current success and failure of the ANC government. You see, 12,000 words would not be enough to reflect the REAL truth, simply because there are so many opinions, twisted facts and hidden truths.

Further more how do you decide if something was successful if you cannot compare it to the apartheid era? All data during the apartheid era are either now covered with political cream and strawberries or simply not available anymore. Even universities have their own politicized curriculum with non-truths now being "facts". So good luck at taking on this challenge...

I would like to focus on the success/failures of the post-apartheid governments in addressing the issue of racial inequality. Could anybody offer me any insight, or point me towards a particular policy which has aimed to redress the balance? One I have looked at so far is the BEE, but can't seem to grasp what it is about at this early stage. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you

This is my personal opinion, that I have never shared in public, simply because it is still to sensitive to be completely honest about.

BEE is a simple concept designed to build black people in SA through employment and education by the use of SDF. That is until a company reaches the R35mil annual turnover mark, then it contributes to enriching a tiny number of rich black people, and is a complete failure as it was designed to benefit the top ranks of the black leadership in SA. To understand why this happened you need to understand the historical culture of black people and their leadership. The end result is simple, unemployment has been declining since the introduction of BEE. But this is my opinion...

I recommend that you read a few books. Their availability in the UK or anywhere public is questionable.

• Thabo Mbeki: The Dream Deferred by Mark Gevisser
• Talk left, walk right by Patrick Bond
• American Jewish Year Book, 1996., Volume 96 By David Singer
• Thabo Mbeki and the battle for the soul of the ANC By William Mervin Gumede
• Testing Democracy By Neeta Misra-Dexter
• Anatomy of South Africa By Richard Calland
• Rethinking the labour movement in the "new South Africa" By Thomas Bramble, Franco Barchiesi
• The land question in South Africa by Lungisile Ntsebeza, Ruth Hall
• Comrades against apartheid by Stephen Ellis, Tsepo Sechaba
• Conflict transformation and peacebuilding by Bruce W. Dayton, Louis Kriesberg

Also read this http://why-we-are-white-refugees.blo...letter-to.html

Separate development/speech by H.F. Verwoerd on the 7th May 1958.
It should give you a different side...

[robinsonwang]

wow,this is a boring and terible task
what's the standard of your undergraduate papers.
hehe, I have just finished my bachelor degree paper last year, but the most thing we have done is the right form and worth topic. though my english is not good, I wrote a english paper on chinglish with almost 15000words.
I felt very shame one myself now, but good luch to you.

[Chris90]

Hi again,

Thanks for your help. So is it an obscure thing for me to carry out? If possible, could you point me towards any other topics that I could do it on about South Africa? Thanks

[Chatmaster]

A rather big topic in South Africa right now is Job Creation. The different aspects that affect job creation in SA.

Here SA specific factors that can come in play are:

• The role of trade unions like COSATU
• The effect of labor laws on business development in South Africa
• The role of BEE and Affirmative Action
• The role corruption are playing
• The effect of National Credit Act on business development and the average spending power of consumers
• Business development in general
• The poor approach of government on the farming industry

I am sure there are more...
The other parts of job creation is probably common globally.

[Chatmaster]

Just to support my view, you can read this... http://www.southerntimesafrica.com/a..._2020_&id=5119

Please note that this article is written biased and sympathetic to the ANC government so focus on the facts.

I personally do not support the communist party's words here.

The SA Communist Party welcomed the announcement and promised to work with the government and business if they agreed to close the apartheid wage gap, slash executive salaries and bonuses in the public and private sectors and to control prices of essentials such as food and electricity.

The truth is that the wage gaps have been made much larger since the ANC took power and them naming it "apartheid wage gap" is just a political word play tactics to blame apartheid and deny their own accountability.

[flaker]

confusing business

Chatmaster,sir,you are widely read & informed & i am not. but as a layman born in this country i have been witness to the pre & post '93 eras. you have directed this young british lad to to some books-i have never read these nor will i ever read them. i have difficulty in reading books due to concentration span etc.
However,i did click the link you gave and was taken to a letter written by a Jaap Villiers to the Whitehouse. Let us not confuse this young Brit.I was flabbergasted. Was this not the same Villiers & his party the ones that claimed that their race is far "superior" to all other races that exist in S.A. We all know now that that cant be true. Then his party advocated separate but equal development. But we were soon to discover "equal" was not anywhere near as what is defined in this lad's oxford dictionary.And you will no doubt agree that the inequality that is meted by the present powers today is not near to that what existed at the time of Jaap Villiers. Yes i don't know about the employment rates that existed in Verwoerd's days but as a layman i can understand why many more were employed then.. Were gold & diamonds overflowing onto the streets leading Brits to jump onto ships from Southampton bound for Van Riebeck's new world, as they were told the the Johannesburg streets were paved in gold.Now those mines had to be emptied & thus the high employment rate then. .Again from a layman's perspective.They became very emptied and we all know who benefited most.
Chris,this is something quite similar that was probably happening in the industrial north in England.High employment in those textile mills. Nothing ,but nothing is quite right anywhere in this world. high unemployment in India as the Indians were not allowed to weave their own cloth.
And Chatmaster,please forgive me for suggesting to Chris on your behalf that both you & i choose to remain in S.A.despite the crime & inequalities? Why?

[tec0]

Well one can only wonder why so many must pay for the mistakes done in the past. Germany is also scarred by their mistakes as is South Africa to name but a few. If you want to write about something forget about South Africa, Germany the first and second war and dig a bit deeper into English history, or the history of France, and that of the Americans.

Once you had a good long look at the history you will find that the biggest mistakes were made long before you or I ever existed. History is not an isolated event, and the UK is known for their massif public libraries... My suggestion is use them...

[adrianh]

Flaker - I get the feeling that you are not a young man. If you are, I take my hat off to you, if you're not, you prove that with age & experience comes wisdom.

[Chatmaster]

However,i did click the link you gave and was taken to a letter written by a Jaap Villiers to the Whitehouse. Let us not confuse this young Brit.I was flabbergasted.

Hi Flaker

A couple of years ago I went through many questions about the past and the present. I did a lot of research and what I am suggesting to Chris is that he gets a wider perspective on the topic than just the opinion from one side. If you understand the meaning of a dissertation, Chris needs an informed opinion and that is all I intended with my response. You will note that the books I recommended are politically diverse in order to create better platform for his dissertation, so please relax, this is not supposed to be a politically sided topic.

[flaker]

Point taken.

Hi Chatmaster,

Your point noted. My other error,i was referring to a Villiers when in fact when i checked again, i note that it was a letter from a Jaap Marais who was some leader of a political party,the HNP. i don't recognise the authors of the books you recommend except the name of Mbeki.
I would question the wisdom of recommending a study of letters similar to that link, and i would imagine we would have to agree to disagree on this point.

Something very distinct from this topic is a letter i recently read ,written by Tony Blair's sister-in-law (wife's sister) & its been playing in my mind, why i know not & i provide that link hoping you enjoy the read. http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/laur...om-lauren.html

[wynn]

this thread has a bit of information

http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-10-29-sa-and-latin-america-the-danger-of-populist-economics