Gary Cummiskey=20
SOUTH AFRICAN REVIEW 7: The Small Miracle edited by Steve=20 Friedman and Doreen Atkinson (Raven Press, R49,99)=20
THE Small Miracle is a compilation of essays and the sequel=20 to The Long Journey, which traced the story of Codesa I and=20 II. This wide-ranging new volume focuses on events and=20 issues from Codesa to the election, covering such subjects=20 as the mechanics of the Independent Electoral Commission,=20 the Bill of Rights, the new South African National Defence=20 Force, the police, and the role of traditional leaders in=20 the new South Africa.=20
A comprehensive and in-depth volume, The Small Miracle is=20 prefaced by a perceptive analysis of conditions from 1976=20 to Codesa, offering a keen insight into the workings of the=20 PW Botha regime, which was characterised by the adoption of=20 “authoritarian corporatism”. =20
This is a system which allows for a certain amount of=20 representation, choice, and dissent, but operating within a=20 structure which nevertheless regulates all activity within=20 itself — so that any freedom of choice is merely a facade. =20
As this book shows, even with FW de Klerk’s historic speech=20 on February 2 1990, and the subsequent release of Nelson=20 Mandela, the basic tenets of authoritarian corporatism=20 still remained very much in force, with the white minority=20 government still trying to maintain the upper hand. Such a=20 stance, however, led only to such incidents as the=20 embarrassingly miscalculated “dawn swoop” on the Pan=20 Africanist Congress.=20
The Small Miracle also provides a detailed examination of=20 the bloody backdrop of violence which raged through the=20 country during the period of negotiations. When one recalls=20 the horrible loss of human life that occurred on an almost=20 daily basis, it is indeed a small miracle that South Africa=20 did not go the route of Bosnia and Rwanda. =20
Many of the reasons for this happy outcome are discussed in=20 the volume, although, needless to say, the actual causes of=20 the violence are still being investigated and the guilty=20 are yet to be brought to justice. After all, the new South=20 Africa is far from a peaceful utopia. The allegiance of a=20 predominantly white and conservative security force is yet=20 to be tested, and violence, albeit on a smaller scale,=20 still continues.=20
The book also contains a number of more technical details,=20 such as the structure of the Transitional Executive Council=20 and regional government bodies. As a whole, it provides=20 crucial background to many of the finer points that seemed=20 to enhance or delay the negotiation progress, and discusses=20 issues which many were too gripped with frustration or=20 apprehension to analyse rationally at the time.=20
It should be noted, though, that two major socio-economic=20 problems — housing and unemployment, — are barely touched=20 on in this volume, when an examination of these issues=20 would, particularly at present, be both welcome and=20