After apartheid

Description

The era of white minority rule in South Africa is all but over. Nearly every day, the front pages of newspapers around the world chronicle the amazing transformation of the country and the dismantling of apartheid. These dramatic changes have occurred with bewildering speed; not even the most optimistic observer of South African politics could have predicted that within eighteen months we would see the unbanning of the African National Congress, the release of Nelson Mandela, the repeal of the racial classification laws, and the end of U.S. sanctions. The collapse of apartheid, like the collapse of communism, marks a revolutionary and exhilarating triumph of human rights over oppression. Sebastian Mallaby, the Africa correspondent for The Economist, poses the tough questions that confront South Africa as it leaves apartheid behind.^ Will the country manage to avoid the instability that followed the collapse of white rule elsewhere in Africa? Can rival black liberation movements be reconciled? Will white South Africans be persuaded to remain in the country along with their money and skills? And will black politicians, who for decades have struggled to break down apartheid, prove equal to the challenge of building a new order in its place? Drawing on keen observations of other African nations and on interviews with a wide variety of politicians, township leaders, and businessmen, Mallaby examines the interlocking conflicts that will determine South Africa's future. He discusses the quest for a new constitution, the problem of AIDS, the continuity of tribal tensions, the threat of a violent white backlash, and the possible redistribution of white-owned land.^ He also examines the growing tensions between the country's sophisticated first-world economy and its third-world social structure--and the implications for South Africa's neighbors and for Western investors. Combining colorful anecdotes with a perceptive analysis, After Apartheid is a timely and penetrating look at a country whose potential is as enormous as the problems it faces.

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