Federalism and the Transformation of the South African State

The possibility of federalism in South Africa has been strongly – and violently – contested. As one of the key platforms of the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and of various right-wing Afrikaner parties as well as the liberal Democratic Party, it formed a nexus for a variety of moral and political dilemmas in the recent negotiations process. ¹ The final outcome of the negotiated transitional Constitution is, I would suggest, a protofederalist state, with strong internal dynamics likely to promote, rather than undermine, a federal form of government.