Enabling Environments for Civic Movements and the Dynamics of Democratic Transition - South Africa
| Publisher | Freedom House |
| Publication Date | 10 July 2008 |
| Cite as | Freedom House, Enabling Environments for Civic Movements and the Dynamics of Democratic Transition - South Africa, 10 July 2008, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4912b62f26.html [accessed 4 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Period of democratic transition: 1992–1994
Pro-democracy civic movement: present
In 1948, the Afrikaner-dominated National Party (NP) came to power on a platform of comprehensive, institutionalized racial separation, and in 1961, upon independence from the United Kingdom, the NP continued to govern South Africa under the apartheid system for decades.
In 1990, President F. W. de Klerk decided to release the opposition African National Congress (ANC) leader, Nelson Mandela, after 27 years of imprisonment and begin negotiations with the previously illegal ANC and other opposition parties. These actions were taken largely in response to both domestic and international pressure to do away with white minority rule and the de facto exclusion of the African majority from the political process. A large civic movement led by trade unions, student groups, and the ANC used both violent and nonviolent means to pressure the government. At the second Convention for a Democratic South Africa in 1992, the NP, the ANC, and 17 opposition parties all participated in negotiations aimed at facilitating the transition to a representative democracy. A whites-only referendum in the same year saw 69 percent of voters endorse further negotiations with African parties. Bilateral talks between the government and the ANC began soon after, resulting in a Record of Understanding, signed by de Klerk and Mandela, which mandated the dissolution of the racially based Parliament, the election of a Constituent Assembly to draft and ratify a new constitution, and the formation of a freely elected government. In November 1993, these were codified in a formal accord and interim constitution calling for the holding of universal elections in 1994 and the establishment of a five-year Transitional Government of National Unity.
Despite fervent pro-apartheid protests and significant violence among African political factions, national elections were held in April 1994, resulting in an overwhelming victory for the ANC, the emergence of Mandela as president, and the peaceful establishment of a national unity government.
