Elite Transition: From Apartheid to Neoliberalism in South Africa

Elite transition is the first study to offer an analysis of the compromises that have been made, and continue to be made, between the past and present powers in post-apartheid South Africa. Basing his analysis on extensive documentation and original anecdotal information, as well as theoretical insights, the author focuses on how such compromises have come about and assesses the extent to which they can actually lead to meaningful liberation for the mass of South Africans. Bond dissects a range of socio-economic continuities from old to new South Africa, highlighting the reasons for the transition's development failure and drawing on case studies, including social contracts, black economic empowerment, housing, the reconstruction and development programme, World Bank and international financial influence, and corporate power. While mainstream commentators offer little more than naive expectations of neocolonial authoritarianism, bond provides a searching critique of what is happening in South Africa in its first years of democracy and an optimistic account of potentials that still exist for a progressive, grassroots resurgence of the liberation spirit.