ABSTRACT

This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The analysis presented in the book has shown that the transition to a post-apartheid state in South Africa should be understood in the context of the nature of the post-independence state in Africa. In other words, the analysis of the post-apartheid state requires theories (of the state) that recognize the nature of the state at hand. The book shows the pathways of post-apartheid transformation and provides the link between various threads of national reconstruction and shows how these are contested on the ground. In South Africa, the approach to nation-building has been to seek unity in diversity in a shared state. For the moment, that approach has brought stability to a hitherto deeply divided society. The mechanisms for addressing the legacy of apartheid, though, could revive divisions in that society.