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South Africa: Is a Political Settlement Possible?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

V.I. Tikhomirov*
Affiliation:
Institute for African Studies, USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow
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Extract

Modification of the system of apartheid which started in the late 1970s initially in “pure economic” fields gradually led to the necessity of revising the very foundations of the political structure in the RSA. The reforms provided fresh impetus for the democratic movement in the country and, in the final analysis, it did not slow down, but, on the contrary, stepped up the decay of the system of apartheid. Demarcation of the interests of social groups of the white population and the government’s attempts to reform apartheid brought about the irreversible phenomena of crisis in the camp of supporters of the regime. Many white leaders are facing a dilemma: either bend further efforts to preserve the material well-being of their community at the price of the policy which has no future either socially or politically, or try to reach a peaceful settlement of the conflict at the price of their privileged position.

Type
Focus: U.S. and U.S.S.R. Perspectives on African Policy
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1988 

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