South Africa's transition to democracy and democratic consolidation: A reflection on socio‐economic challenges

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1713
• Published date: 01 November 2018
• Author: Tshepo Masipa
• Date: 01 November 2018

ACADEMIC PAPER

South Africa's transition to democracy and democratic

consolidation: A reflection on socio‐economic challenges

Tshepo Masipa

University of Limpopo, Sovenga, South Africa

Correspondence

Tshepo Masipa, University of Limpopo, Private

bag x1106, Sovenga 0727, South Africa.

Email: masipatshepo@gmail.com

This article uses South Africa as a case of study to reflect on socio‐economic

transformation challenges confronting the country within the context of democratic

consolidation. It argues that although the 1994 democratic project has made consid-

erable strides to enhance the well‐being of the society, socio‐economic challenges of

unemployment, poverty, and inequalities still persists in the contemporary South

Africa—hence South Africa's governing party mantra of radical socio‐economic trans-

formation. Citizens often demonstrate their discontent through acts of civil disobedi-

ence: protests. The last decade has increasingly pockmarked South Africa as a theater

of social unrests. The article argues that this is the manifestation of democratic

distemper rather than consolidation. In other words, democratic consolidation in

South Africa should not, as many do, be understood merely as conceptual fiat but

rather as a precondition towards alleviating the socio‐economic challenges

confronting the nation. If this does not happen, democratic distemper is spawned.

The manifestation of this is civil unrest. A democratic project ought to be about, also

more importantly, enhancing the economic opportunities of the citizens. This should

result in creating jobs and reducing inequalities. For this to happen, socio‐economic

policies should be restructured in a way interrelated with the economic policy. This

is important to advance the well‐being of the society.

1|INTRODUCTION

The end of colonialism and apartheid in various parts of the world

has led scholars to direct their attention and energies to concepts

such democratic transition and democratic consolidation. They have

increasingly become more pronounced and prominent since the

advent of democracy in most African states, including South Africa.

As Przeworski (1991) explains, the nature of the transition determines

the democratic success or failure of a nation. Munck and Leff (1997)

make a very important point, related to this. They say that the degree

and mode of transition from apartheid to democracy explains the type

of a democratic society the country will inherit and its ability to con-

solidate such democracy. Wieczorek (2012) identifies factors such as

poverty, inequality, and crime as indicators to determine whether

the country's state of democracy, including the extent of its consolida-

tion or distemper. In South Africa, the Constitution of the Republic of

South Africa underscores the significance of healing the divisions of

the past and establishing a society based on democratic values, social

justice, and fundamental human rights. The Constitution laids a foun-

dation for the establishment of the fundamental principles of democ-

racy. However, the extent to which such principles are achieved

remains a contested subject. The Constitution of the Republic of

South Africa is one of the most celebrated in the world because it

underscores the importance of democratic principles that protects

among others, human rights, citizenship, and public participation (Con-

stitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996).

The notion “radical”socio‐economic transformation owes its rise

in the political and social landscape as a result of a rise in

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This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided

the original work is properly cited.

© 2018 The Author. Journal of Public Affairs published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Received: 5 March 2018 Accepted: 14 March 2018

DOI: 10.1002/pa.1713

J Public Affairs. 2018;18:e1713.

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1713

wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa 1of6