Contemporary South Africa (review)

Anthony Butler sets himself a stern challenge: to provide an accessible and broad introduction to South Africa. Contemporary South Africa is billed as a reader-friendly volume, befitting the Contemporary States and Society series. Signposted through a rapid historical overview, the text then introduces South Africa as a ‘Rainbow Nation’ and from this description enters into a number of the challenges facing the state today. These are then developed more in chapters dealing with the economy, social policy, and government and politics. A consideration of South African culture and social issues rather surprisingly precedes a discussion of South Africa’s international relations.

In aiming for a readable volume the work succeeds, although the breadth of the material covered leaves little space for the development of detailed analysis and insight. From the outset a lack of engagement with many critical issues, and the cursory mention made of many others, is apparent. For a book which considers the political and social situation of South Africa, it is surprising that there is no problematization of the use of racial identifiers within the text. Butler does mention race and ethnicity in the ‘new’ South Africa, but only in passing. HIV/AIDS, housing, affirmative action and black economic empowerment, xenophobia, migration, education, unemployment and accountability all appear on the roll-call of contemporary issues without being examined in a detailed discussion. In the case of HIV/AIDS, there are sporadic acknowledgements of the pandemic, but never a concerted engagement with it. A brief mention is made of gender violence and of gendered migration patterns, but the obvious connection of these with the spread of HIV/AIDS is not made. Again, the important links between xenophobia, migration, economic development and health care provision and HIV/AIDS are absent.

When he gives himself the opportunity to develop some analysis, Butler does make a number of prescient observations. The emergence of a quasi-Africanist element within the ANC is intimated in the book, and in 2005 this has become a major political problematic, inflaming tensions about marginalization, service delivery and a lack of accountability at all levels of government. The issue of floor-crossing also remains a pressing concern, as does the apparent emergence of an effective ‘one-party’ state. Overall, his discussion of the political and governance structures of the state comprise the strongest chapter of the book, but again there is a lack of detailed analysis and commentary.

In certain instances Butler’s attempts to relate his chapters to broader discourse, as when he introduces his chapter on culture, read as trite and awkward. This chapter is the weakest in the book, with many worrying oversimplifications. Butler refers to expressions of identity and wealth without any engagement with the rapidly expanding literature on contemporary cultural – especially youth – identity in South Africa. While other texts provide overviews of South Africa, these tend to focus more upon specific areas: Deegan on politics or Christopher on geography. Butler’s work bridges these more contained texts, offering a broad introduction, but sacrificing depth in the process. This work is a useful entry-level text to the political economy of South Africa, providing a balanced approach which acknowledges both the successes and failures that shape the contemporary situation. It succeeds in summarizing a range of literature and spheres of thought, but does not add to existing knowledge. Read in conjunction with more detailed texts, this book would be suited to introductory work on South Africa.