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Item Open Access Book review(Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2008) Wessels, AndréItem Open Access The South African National Defence Force, 1994-2009: a historical perspective.(Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2010) Wessels, AndréOn 27 April the new South African National Defence Force (SANDF) was established, comprising of the old South African Defence Force, plus the defence forces of the TBVC countries, the military wings of the African National Congress and Pan-Africanist Congress, as well as certain KwaZulu-Natal Self-protection Forces. Proceeding from the assumption that any country undeniably needs a well-trained, well-equipped and disciplined defence force, it is the purpose of this article to provide a review of the history of the SANDF in the first 15 years of its existence (i.e. 1994-2009), and to critically analyse the developments in the SANDF during those years. The track record of the SANDF in the years 1994 to 2009 is evaluated, with special reference to integration, affirmative action and transformation in general. The SANDF’s order of battle in 2009 is compared with its 1994 order of battle; and the problems/challenges faced by the SANDF in the course of 15 years are discussed, including the controversial arms deal, the impact that HIV/AIDS has had on the SANDF, rationalisation, problems with regard to discipline, and the SANDF’s role in peace-keeping operations.Item Open Access Regime transition in South Africa - liberation oligarchical tendencies?(Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2010) Duvenhage, André; Venter, JanThe important question now is Where is the second transition (in other words the post-Polokwane epoch) taking South Africa? Is the country moving away from polyarchy and approaching “a type of hegemony” as part of a larger regime transition to a possible oligarchy? The terra incognita of 2010 and further has to be explored urgently. With this in view a deductive theoretical model will indicate the direction of the second regime transition. Central concepts and structures to be included in this part of the article are complex systems, parties and party systems, as well as neopatrimonialism. The theoretical model will secondly be applied to the post-Polokwane South Africa.Item Open Access Co-operative governance and good governance: reality or myth?(Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2010) Coetzee, TaniaSerious questions are being asked concerning the manifestation of instability in society. The phenomena of maladministration, corruption, unrest, protests, failure in leadership, and the results of protest marches and poor service delivery, make one believe that the value, functioning and contribution of co-operative governance and intergovernmental relations is a myth. When public protests and instability are analysed, the main issue found at the heart of the problem concerns co-operation, implementation and co-ordination between the various spheres of government. Co-operation is needed to ensure satisfactory service delivery. The question can be asked if there is a direct relationship between poor service delivery, public protests and co-operative governance and good governance. Firstly the conceptual and constitutional framework of co-operative governance and intergovernmental relations will be discussed. In the following section the problems and challenges facing good governance will be analysed. Aspects pertaining to structural tension, policy choices, responsibility, accountability and implications of problems with good governance will be assessed. The manifestation of practical situations will be viewed against the background of co-operative governance.Item Open Access The reformational legacy within political theory(Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2010) Strauss, DaniePolitical theory in the West continued to suffer from the disturbing one-sidedness of atomistic (individualistic) and holistic (universalistic) orientations precluding a proper understanding of the nature of a differentiated society and the place of the state as a public legal institution within it. In this contribution attention is asked for the theoretical legacy within which Prof. Daan Wessels pursued his teaching, research and public performances. Traditional theories of the state never succeeded in delimiting the competency of the state because they did not proceed from an understanding of the sphere-sovereignty of the jural aspect of reality that serves as the guiding or qualifying function of the state as a public legal institution, having its foundation within the cultural-historical aspect of reality.Item Open Access South Africa's constitutional development: a matter of Machiavelli's Prince and Hobbes' Leviathan rather than Montesquieu's Spirit of the laws?(Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2010) Labuschagne, PieterThe democratisation and constitutional development of South Africa from a dominant parliament to a new constitutional order with a supreme constitution, was a significant development in the country’s constitutional development. However, the adoption of a supreme constitution is not necessarily an indication that a country has been fully democratised. In this article it is suggested that the level of a country’s democracy could also be measured by identifying the source or object of authority that enjoys the broadest legitimacy in society. This source or object of legitimacy will give an indication of the level of a state’s political and democratic maturity and consolidation. In an effort to measure South Africa’s level of democratic maturity and consolidation a theoretical framework was developed in the article that was based on the assumptions of Ken Wilber and Max Weber. The article points out that it is very important for further political development and democratic maturity in a state that the source or object of authority should be located on the second tier that consists of legal-rational rules. However, it seems that the majority of support in South Africa is based on the first tier, which predominately exists of a pre-rational level that focuses on traditional and charismatic authorities.Item Open Access Die omstandighede en aanleidende faktore in die “herontplooiing” van die eerste Vrystaatse premier, Mosioua Lekota (1994-1996)(Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2010) Moll, Johan CThe ANC’s National Policy Conference resolved on 29 June 2007 that the premiers of the provinces would in future no longer be appointed by the President but by the Provincial Executive Committees, the National Executive Committee thereafter approving or rejecting the recommendation. One of the inducements that has led the ANC to change its policy in this regard was the grim experience in the Free State when the offices of ANC provincial leader and Premier did not coincide, causing so much strife and dissension, that the national leadership was forced to intervene repeatedly, which in the end resulted in the drastic decision of “redeploying” the Premier and various other Free State ANC leaders. This is an analysis of the conflicting views of the Free State Premier and provincial party leaders regarding the nature and underlying rationale of their respective positions of authority which also bring into central focus the terms of the constitution versus the authority of the party. The framework within which these issues are analysed is the dictatorial views within the ANC regarding the relationship of constitutional and party political interests versus white views on the inviolability of the constitution.Item Open Access The trajectory of land reform in Zimbabwe: post-independence era 1980-2000(Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2010) Nyawo-Shava, V. Z.; Barnard, S. L.There is a general consensus that land reform in post settler colonies fits like a glove. Since extensive land alienation occurred in Zimbabwe, which resulted in the occupation of larger, more fertile, arable healthy pieces of land by minority whites and occupation of the unproductive, crowded, marginal and deteriorating lands by blacks, independence has given the land question a new force. Going through available literature on Zimbabwe’s land reform progress, there is the impression that, during the liberation struggle, the land question was more of a political issue than anything else. It was about fighting exploitative governmental agrarian policies, fighting for ancestral land, fighting for the power with which land ownership came. With the advent of independence, the land question, as Moyo opines, has been popularized within the “growth with equity” parameters set out by the new regime allowing for a significant amount of land redistribution.3 Thus, through reading library sources and literature in private collections, as well as carrying out interviews, this article seeks to demonstrate the essentiality and centrality of the land question in post independence Zimbabwe. Also to register that the land question presently has grown bigger and wider to entail, among other things, land redistribution, solutions to promote rural development of communal lands, political stability of a nation as well as the economics that goes with land utilization, land tenure, grazing schemes, population control, restitution, gender issues and the list goes on.Item Open Access Wensdenkery? Die inburgering van demokratiese militêre waardes in die SA Nasionale Weermag(Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2010) Fourie, DeonWhen the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) was established in 1994 the Minister of Defence perceived a need for its members to be subjected to close civilian control and for the armed forces to be educated to observe the rule of law and to be inculcated with the spirit of democratic civil military relations. This article is an account of the foundations of the teaching of Civic Education in the SANDF as a means of regulating civil-military relations by developing soldiers’ knowledge of their democratic rights and duties under the law. A description is given of the process of developing syllabi and substantive teaching material that emphasises the democratic features of military professionalism and civil military relations together with an explanation of the successes and failures experienced. The author concludes that the introduction of the Code of Conduct for Uniformed Personnel and providing instruction to a substantial number of middle rank officers and other ranks were a significant success. However, the failure to influence subsequent ministers, the heads of the services and the Defence Secretariat as well as the abolition of the supervisory Civic Education Evaluation and Advisory Board have seriously weakened the institutionalisation of Civic Education in the SANDF.Item Open Access Continuity and change: an evaluation of the democracy-foreign policy nexus in post-apartheid South Africa(Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2010) Hudson, HeidiIf foreign policy is viewed as an “intermestic” arena where the external meets the internal, then it becomes possible to see how internal domestic factors drive foreign policy making. In this context the democracy-foreign policy nexus and the role of governmental and non-governmental foreign policy actors help to reconcile ideals and interests and put foreign policy contradictions into perspective. The desirability of democratic participation in foreign policy is taken as a given, but agency has to go beyond representation to include issues of participation and political dialogue. The focus of this article is the democratic deficit of the Mbeki foreign policy (1999-2008), with some reference to the Zuma administration. The way in which foreign policy was personalised under the presidency of Mbeki was instrumental in closing the space for meaningful participation in the foreign policy processes. The article concludes that democratic foreign policy making is impeded by an overall deterioration in the quality of democracy in post-apartheid South Africa. It further contends that there is more continuity than change across the Mbeki and Zuma administrations’ policy orientations (both domestic and foreign) and warns that the challenges which Mbeki faced in terms of democratic consolidation may be exacerbated in the Zuma period if certain demons are not tackled head on.Item Open Access Jacob Zuma's "Zuluness" appeal during the April 2009 elections in South Africa: an attempt to break the IFP's grip on Zulu social and political structures?(Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2010) Twala, ChitjaThe article reflects on the role played by Jacob Zuma as President of the African National Congress (ANC) using his Zuluness to break the Inkatha Freedom Party’s (IFP’s) political control of the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province. The rationale for this venture by Zuma elicited an outcry from the IFP, which for long had used the Zuluness appeal in the province to garner votes during the elections. It is therefore argued that the use of the Zuluness appeal by Zuma and the ANC helped the organization in winning the April 2009 elections in the province. The author negates the widely held simplistic viewpoint that in the KZN province, the ANC was mostly voted into power because its President was a Zulu. Therefore, the article scrutinises arguments for and against the usage of Zuluness as an appeal to galvanize support on behalf of the ANC.Item Open Access Sestig jaar se mynteenmaatreëlswerk in die Suid-Afrikaanse vloot, 1947-2007 (3): op weg na en in die nuwe Suid-Afrika, 1990-2007(Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2010) Wessels, AndréThe year 1990 set in motion a train of political events that led to the Republic of South Africa’s first-ever truly democratic elections in 1994, which, in turn, led to the country’s readmittance to the international community, and the opening up of new diplomatic and other opportunities. In the meantime, the then South African Defence Force underwent a process of rationalisation in the wake of the end of its involvement in the Namibian War of Independence and in the civil war in Angola, and in due course was amalgamated with other military forces to form the new South African National Defence Force. In this, the third and last article of a three-part study of mine-countermeasures (MCM) in the South African Navy during the years 1947 to 2007, a review is given of the work done by the Navy’s MCM vessels from 1990 to 2007; i.e. by the four “River” class minehunters and the last four remaining “Ton” class minesweepers, as well as by the Type 351 minesweepers that replaced the “Tons” in 2001. Special emphasis will be placed on local as well as overseas flag-showing visits, and the importance of MCM for the South African Navy will also be evaluated.Item Open Access Tendencies of a dominant party system in the Free State legislature (1994-2008)(Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2010) Joannou, N. A.; Coetzee, T.Dominant party tendencies exist either when a single party enjoys monopoly of power through the exclusion of other parties, or when the electorate continues to re-elect the same party despite the existence of other political parties. Dominant party systems display various characteristics the tendency to rule for a prolonged period of time; complacency and corruption; competition within the dominant party; a weak and ineffective opposition; and, a blurring of lines between the party and the state. Under the apartheid regime, the National Party dominated the political system. In 1994, through a process of transformation, South Africa held its first democratic election. The African National Congress (ANC) won the election and successive elections, and has since governed by majority. This has led critics to argue that South Africa is becoming a dominant party system. This article discusses dominant party tendencies in the Free State Legislature. In the four elections held since this transformation process of democratisation began, namely 1994, 1999, 2004 and 2009, the ANC dominated the Legislature whilst the opposition remained weak and ineffective, with no viable alternative for the electorate. Despite protests against service delivery and transformation projects, the electorate continued to re-elect the ANC. These tendencies reinforced the pattern of ANC dominance and weak opposition.Item Open Access Vlaandere en Suid-Afrika: Die donker skaduwee van apartheid(Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2010) Terblanche, H. O.In view of their history, the Flemish people always had a greater understanding of the Afrikaner’s striving to preserve their identity. Even during the dark days of apartheid they were quite sympathetic towards the Afrikaner. In this article the anti-apartheid movement in Belgium/Flanders is analysed against the backdrop of the anti-apartheid actions of the United Nations and the sanctions campaign against South Africa. The academic boycott against South Africans will also be reviewed and an overview will be given of the anti-apartheid literature in Belgium/Flanders. The protest actions of the various anti-apartheid organisations will be analysed. In conclusion, the exile mission of the ANC in Brussels is discussed. In the light of their extensive trade relations with South Africa, Belgium did not play a leading role in the anti-apartheid campaign against South Africa.Item Open Access The 23rd African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) conference in Bloemfontein: a Polokwane political hangover?(Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2010) Twala, ChitjaThe ANCYL played a significant role in the history of the ANC, therefore the actions of its members at their 23rd conference in Bloemfontein were disturbing for the ANC. Already in the build-up it was clear that rivalries between factions were rife and before the conference started there had been disruptions. The article highlights the reasons behind the rivalry and the ANC’s leadership’s handling of the situation. The rivalry was not due to ideological differences but to support for personalities. The ANC leaders and ex-ANCYL leaders aired their dissatisfaction with the unruly conduct and the pursuit of political self-advancement. Many members rejected the outcome of the leadership election and the congress was adjourned. The ANC intervened and at a closed session later that month the election of the five officials and the National Executive Commission was maintained. A number of organizational, policy and leadership issues were discussed. The divisions were, however, still apparent. The conference in Bloemfontein was obviously a political hangover of the ANC’s conference at Polokwane.Item Open Access Swart protes versus wit teenstand: die politiek van regse blanke vrese, 1982-1987(Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2010) Du Bruyn, Derek; Wessels, AndréIn this article the interaction between black protest politics and white resistance is discussed by tracing the history of the politics of fear in right-wing quarters in South Africa in the years 1982 to 1987. In 1982 the founding of the Conservative Party (CP) under Dr Andries Treurnicht heralded a new era in white politics in South Africa, and five years later the CP became the official opposition in the white Parliament. In-between there was a referendum in 1983 on the Tricameral Parliament; a new constitution was adopted; there was an increase in the number of acts of terror committed by Umkhonto weSizwe (the armed wing of the African National Congress), and mass action by the United Democratic Front. More and more whites withdrew to the “laager”; their politics became even more reactionary, and their society more militarised. The National Party, the CP and the Herstigte Nasionale Party propaganda exploited white fears, but for different reasons. The politics of fear indeed reigned supreme in these years.Item Open Access Swart protes versus wit teenstand: die politiek van regse blanke vrese, 1982-1987(Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2010) Du Bruyn, Derek; Wessels, AndréIn this article the interaction between black protest politics and white resistance is discussed by tracing the history of the politics of fear in right-wing quarters in South Africa in the years 1982 to 1987. In 1982 the founding of the Conservative Party (CP) under Dr Andries Treurnicht heralded a new era in white politics in South Africa, and five years later the CP became the official opposition in the white Parliament. In-between there was a referendum in 1983 on the Tricameral Parliament; a new constitution was adopted; there was an increase in the number of acts of terror committed by Umkhonto weSizwe (the armed wing of the African National Congress), and mass action by the United Democratic Front. More and more whites withdrew to the “laager”; their politics became even more reactionary, and their society more militarised. The National Party, the CP and the Herstigte Nasionale Party propaganda exploited white fears, but for different reasons. The politics of fear indeed reigned supreme in these years.Item Open Access The controversy surrounding Private Military Companies (PMCs): looking back on executive outcomes(Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2010) Senekal, BurgertAmidst arguments that the nature of war has changed, notably by Kaldor (2006), Keegan (2004), Münkler (2005), and Van Creveld (2008), Private Military Companies (PMCs) have received increasing media and scholarly attention over the past decade. South Africa is no stranger to the media storm evoked by Blackwater USA during the recent conflict in Iraq Executive Outcomes (hereafter referred to as EO) caused a comparable controversy during the 1990s, first through their involvement in Angola after the withdrawal of the SADF, and later through their contract in Sierra Leone. At the time, PMCs were still a relatively new phenomenon, and thus research was scarce and it was difficult to discuss EO properly in the context of PMCs rather than as mercenaries. In the wake of the war in Iraq, the rapid growth of research into the PMC phenomenon has however provided a wealth of information that facilitates a better understanding of EO’s role in the post-Cold War conflict environment. This article aims to discuss EO in this global debate by using recent research into the phenomenon, arguing that Executive Outcomes was part of a global trend in warfare.Item Open Access Die Suid-Afrikaanse kapelaansdiens en die beginsel van 'n regverdige oorlog: die Namibiese Vryheidsoorlog, 1966-1989(Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2010) Bredenkamp, Izette; Wessels, AndréFrom 1966 to 1989, South Africa was involved in the Namibian War of Independence, also known as the Border War or the Bush War. In due course, chaplains of the South African Defence Force were also sent “up north”, or ministered to troops in bases in South Africa. In this article, the controversial issue of the so-called just war principle is discussed in the light of the reasons why the war broke out in South West Africa (Namibia). Interviews with several chaplains who ministered during the war were conducted in an effort to obtain the viewpoint of as many people (representing several religious denominations) as possible, in an effort to ascertain how chaplains viewed the Namibian War of Independence, and to determine the reaction their role elicited at the home front and abroad.Item Open Access Mooki Leepa's rebellion of February to March 1970: a preliminary examination of motives(Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2010) Pule, Neville W.; Thabane, MotlatsiThis article deals with a well-known but largely under-researched event that occurred in Lesotho during the first three months of 1970, an incident in which members of opposition parties under the leadership of a former Deputy Commissioner of Police, Clement Mooki Leepa, occupied a cave, Lehaha-la-Likhomo, and organised themselves into a force determined to resist police arrest. Using the oral testimony of one key participant, court cases, official reports and secondary sources, the article firstly attempts to situate the incident, and Leepa’s involvement in it, in the context of political divisions that characterised the country’s road to independence and, secondly, to reconstruct the events that took place at the cave. The article mainly argues that, accepting without question the assertion that many of the acts of members of opposition parties in 1970 were attempts to topple government, prevents a deeper understanding of the complex and contradictory political and at times personal reasons and motivations of equally complex individuals and groups who participated in these activities. We have used the terms “rebel” or “rebellion” to describe the incident discussed in this paper, but have done so reluctantly because the men and their backers’ plans were nipped in the bud, and never came to anything.