ABSTRACT
This discussion of the politics of minorities, race and opposition suggests that there is a fault-line that cuts through attempts to construct a South African nationalism in the post-transition period. Minorities are not defined in terms of race. Instead culture, tradition, religion and language are used to identify different groups in the society who all have equal status. This conflicts with the conception of minorities in the realm of politics where electorally-determined smaller parties do not have the same status as the majority party. More importantly, democratic minorities are excluded from participating in the governing of the country thereby preventing minority interests from registering an impact on national policy. It is possible, using ideas present in Hegel’s political philosophy and the theory of rational choice, to reconcile the politics of ‘cultural’ and ‘political’ minorities. This means that opposition in the context of South Africa should not take an adversarial form. Instead, both the majority and minority parties can benefit by adopting a co-operative rather than a conflictual mode of political conduct.
