The Challenge of Effective Governance in a Democratic South Africa

Introduction

There are many events during the course of a transition which signal the

passage from the old order to the new. In the period immediately following

South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994 these symbols of transition

were everywhere. Yet there is one event which stands out in my memory as

among the most vivid symbols of the enormity of the change which South

Africa has experienced.

On 10 May last year, Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the first

democratically-elected South African president. It was an occasion witnessed

across the globe and attended by many of the world’s leaders. Once Mandela

had been sworn in as president, a squadron of fighter jets of the South African

airforce appeared on the horizon. They flew low over the inauguration

ceremony, trailing jets of coloured smoke behind them. What, you might ask, is

so significant about these aeroplanes? Fly pasts are, after all, common to many

official ceremonies. But on that day, on that occasion, these planes took on a

special meaning. Throughout the dark years of apartheid the National Party

Government would have regular displays of military strength through the

streets of South Africa’s cities. The latest heavy weaponry would be paraded.

G5 cannons and heavy tanks would make huge dents in the tarred streets, while

fighter