Economic Justice Initiative

Project Proposal

June 2008 – June 2010

Economic Justice and Nation-Building in South Africa

1. Motivation

The transition from apartheid to democracy from 1994 onward laid the basis for a new era in which all South Africans would be equal under a common Constitution. The first democratic government, under Nelson Mandela, was characterized by nation-building strategies of racial reconciliation, inclusion, reconstruction and development. The vision was to build a de-racialized, unified South African nation through the liberation of previously dispossessed people from political and economic oppression. The administration’s rhetoric espoused a South Africa that was home to all – Mandela himself often partook in public acts of reconciliation. “Rainbowism,” however, had its weaknesses. Whilst it focused strongly on the nation it ignored the imperative to build a social-democratic state as a priority. This led to an oversimplified public debate on nation building that failed to make connections between “culture and capital, identity and economics, and law and justice’ (Maharaj, in Maharaj, G 1999:7).

In 1994 there was general optimism about the future. Fourteen years later, the outlook is less optimistic, even forbidding. Unemployment and poverty, crime and disease, and energy shortages and corruption are pervasive. Levels of social cohesion are low and South African society is increasingly divided by seemingly unbridgeable economic inequality. The economy has thrived with sustained levels of growth but the fruits of this growth are uneven especially since it has not translated into increasing levels of employment (Southall, in . Black Economic Empowerment has enabled an emerging black elite while white people are generally doing better than before 1994. The working class has been affected by weakening trade unions and falling real wages and the unemployed survive through small incomes in the informal sector or state-assisted grants. Any progress towards a more equitable society would require a common vision as well as compromises across and between classes. It would appear that these conditions were closer to the political situation in 1994 than it is today.

Given the persistence of economic inequalities, and the fact that it will perpetuate racial and class difference, is it even possible at all to develop a sense of nationhood? A fundamental shift towards a more equitable and unified society would only be possible through balanced economic development, a vibrant public sphere and feelings of solidarity (Koelble, in Chidester et al 2003:143). But such economic development is in turn located within specific regional contexts. “Every community in South Africa has concerns unique to their particular history and circumstance” (James and Caliguire, in James, et al 1996:137). In the Western Cape, for example, many coloured people continue to feel marginalized on the grounds of their “ethnicity” and low economic status. Nation-building is thus a complex process and entails “a whole range of political identities and projects that compete for recognition from the state” (Maharaj, in Maharaj, G 1999:6). This project looks at the challenges that unequal access to resources and assets pose for nation-building in South Africa as we head towards the election of a new government in 2009. We seek to constructively contribute to defining the issues that the new government will face and seek to help identifying points of intervention that will build social cohesion and the integrity of successful nation-building in South Africa. The recent experience of Kenya, where long-standing grievances about economic inequality arranged along lines of ethnicity remained unresolved and unincorporated into a national agenda for development, is a compelling reason to ask of South Africa to be honest about the challenge we face: Can we successfully build on Nelson Mandela’s legacy of crafting the politics of nation-building and Thabo Mbeki’s legacy of crafting the economics of nation-building? This project is to create opportunities where we can think about how we do it and do it well.

2. Scope

The scope is national. The focus is on the underclasses, the marginalized, on people who believe that they are being ignored. A national series of fifteen social dialogue sessions called Difficult Dialogues will be held over two years. Two pilot community based dialogues – in Kew Town and Paarl – have already been held. An academic conference, Nation Building after 2009, will have a national focus and will look at issues of economic inequality and nation-building and specifically as it affects the working and under-class in urban and rural areas.

As a result of our location and background, we would like to examine aspects of the Western Cape history of race and class by supporting the writing of a popular journalistically styled social history of the grape, modeled after the social histories of cod, olive, potato and wine. It is an innovative neutral product-based point of entry into the historical lives of people who were – and are – involved in all aspects of the grape industry – wine, table grapes, raisins. The book will be about all of the people involved in all aspects of the grape, wine and raisin industries at the centre of which stood the people that came to be known as ‘coloured’ people. It is about land, labour and agriculture.

3.Methodology

3.1 Twenty leading academics will be commissioned to produce state of the art papers on economic inequality and nation-building in South Africa. They will present the papers at a conference that will be held at the University of the Free State (UFS) during 2009. The UFS campus was selected to help them successfully integrate a divided campus. Professor Frederick Fourie, Vice-Chancellor of the university, has already accepted to host the conference there. An editor will be appointed to produce a monograph from the conference proceedings.

3.2 The Difficult Dialogue Series will take place at universities and where appropriate, town hall settings, across South Africa. Particular towns and cities where problems seem acute will be identified. This will enable ordinary people and other participants in the social, economic and political landscape of the country to deliberate on the present state of their communities and develop ways to engender common purpose and future prosperity and security for all. The dialogues are grounded in a belief in the necessity of regular face-to-face deliberation amongst citizens; the relative absence of this in our democracy detracts from its vitality. The approach to the dialogues is based on the established experiences reported in the international literature on social cohesion of the last decade. Facilitators will ensure a safe and open environment for discussion and will convene the process in such a way that dialogues become productive events. Editors will be commissioned to write and publish the local stories regarding the social dialogues in their local papers. Two dialogues have been held, in Kewtown, Cape Town, and in Paarl. In Cape Town, Dr Mamphela Ramphele, Dr Neville Alexander and Professor Kader Asmal have agreed to present university based Difficult Dialogues. We plan community-based dialogues for Citrusdal, Springbok, George, Port Elizabeth, Kimberley-Bloemfontein and Johannesburg. For the community-based dialogues, Die Burger is our media partner.

3.3 A professional writer has been commissioned to write the Social history of the Grape. The book will be written in the genre of similar works that have emerged recently. The social history of the olive which is a history of the peoples of the Mediterranean and the social history of cod which is a history of Boston are two such examples. By looking at the social history of the grape, we advocate the use of a different language to talk about a people honestly but without stereotype and without the exclusionary power of labels.

3.4 Interns will be appointed and supervised to undertake the collection of various kinds of data through fieldwork and oral testimonies, principally by participating in the preparatory and background work to the Difficult Dialogues. They will complete research and writing assignments. They will be mentored by suitably qualified individuals.

5. Outcomes

5.1 Monograph: The Social History of the Grape.

An experienced journalist, Jeanne Viall, will write a book about the people - since grapes were first introduced to South Africa - who have inhabited the world in which table or wine grapes were produced. We are particularly interested in how the lives of the working and underclasses were shaped by the world of grapes, i.e. the lives of black, coloured and white communities. We are interested in how assets – of land in particular – were accumulated and how it is that certain families became involved in the wine business. We think that writing the social history of grapes will tell the story of the world of class and colour in an innovative way.

5.2 Edited Monograph: an edited collection based on the proceedings of the conference Nation-Building after 2009.

The monograph will contain 20 essays by leading thinkers on the politics, economics, cultural, security and regional dimensions of nation-building and social cohesion in South Africa. Confirmed contributors are: Haaron Bhorat (University of Cape Town), Robin Cohen (Oxford), Stanley Greenberg (Greenberg Research), Heribert Adam (Simon Fraser University), Hermann Giliomee, Jonathan Leape (London School of Economics), Kader Asmal, Neville Alexander (University of Cape Town), David Sanders (University of the Western Cape), Andries du Toit (University of the Western Cape), Steven Friedman (Institute for Democracy in SA), Adam Habib (University of Johannesburg) and Xolela Mangcu (Platform for Public Deliberation, WITS University). The list of contributors is not conclusive and will be expanded over time.

5.3 Social Dialogue Sessions: Difficult Dialogues

A series of fifteen dialogues will be held over a two year period. Target areas include the West Coast, the Karoo, the Eastern Cape, Kwazulu-Natal, Gauteng and other areas. The sessions will raise awareness about the issues of economic justice and nation-building.

5.5 Newspaper Editorial:

Editors of local newspapers will be involved by supporting local journalists in writing copy about issues of economic justice and social cohesion in the target areas, to raise awareness and to keep burning issues in the public domain.

The Project Leaders:

Jakes Gerwel is Chancellor of Rhodes University, Honorary Professor of Humanities at the University of the Western Cape and Honorary Professor at the University of Pretoria. He is also the Chairman of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the Mandela Rhodes Foundation and a range of companies including Brimstone Investments and South African Airways.

Wilmot James is Chief Executive of the Africa Genome Education Institute, Honorary Professor in the Division of Human Genetics, University of Cape Town and Honorary Professor of Sociology at the University of Pretoria. He is also Chairman of the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, Director of Sanlam, Media24 and the Grape Co of Paarl, and Trustee of the Cape Times Bursary Trust and Ford Foundation of New York.

Bibliography:

1. Buhlungu, Sakhela, John Daniel, Roger Southall, Jessica Lutchman (eds): State of the Nation: South Africa 2007. HSRC Press 2007

2. Chidester, David; Dexter, Phillip; James, Wilmot (eds): What hold us together: social cohesion in South Africa. Cape Town: HSRC Press 2003

3. Naidoo, Ravi: Poverty alleviation through social dialogue: The role of trade unions in South Africa. Prepared for the Bureau of Workers’ Activities of the International Labour Organisation, 2001

4. James, Wilmot; Caliguire, Daria; Cullinan, Kerry (eds): Now that we are free: Coloured Communities in a Democratic South Africa. Lynne Rienner Publishers 1996

5. Maharaj, Gitanjali (ed): Between Unity and Diversity. David Philip Publishers 1999