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Introduction
The origin of African state in the modern period dates back to the pre-colonial era. African history and modern are totally different, and its contemporary political and economic structures are different. Africa state has failed because of internal corruption, poor governance and hostile external environment, but this can be improved. Southern Africa state is one of the recognized states in Africa.
There are several empirical and socially constructed attributes that can be identified in Southern African region. Most of the contemporary states, in Southern Africa, region share the same colonial and postcolonial history. The region was originally colonized by Portuguese on both coasts, today these are Mozambique and Angola.
The Dutch colonized South Africa. Angola, Mozambique, and Namibia were under the German rule. The other Southern countries were under the imperial British (Gerhart 143). Today the Anglo linguistic, political and economic heritage is a similar feature in most of these countries.
Liberation movements in Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique and Southern Africa resorted to armed struggle to attain independence. The Cold war generated apartheid in South Africa, which campaigned for regional destabilization against neighboring countries, and the effect was felt in all Southern African countries. In this case, were going to discuss the nationalism in South Africa as an institution of democracy and development, as well as an obstacle preventing the achievement of these goals.
South Africa’s nationalist state
South Africa is a country, which is found in the Southern part of Africa. It consists of nine provinces. Its neighbors to the north are Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. To the east its neighbor is Mozambique and Swaziland. Lesotho is surrounded by South African territory.
The country comprises of several ethnic groups and has different cultures and languages. Eleven official languages are recognized by the government of South Africa. Two of these languages originated from Europe, Afrikaans and South African English. All of the ethnic tribes and languages are politically represented in the country’s constitutional democracy.
In South Africa, the head of state is also the head of government, he is known as the dependent president. Majority of South African population is of black African origin. This population is divided into several ethnic groups speaking various Bantu languages. The country has many tribes of European, Asian and racially mixed origins in Africa. According to the World Bank, South Africa is an upper middle, income economy together with Botswana, Gabon and Mauritius.
The country is ranked as the biggest economy in Africa and is the 28th largest economy in the world. Around 25% of the population is unemployed; South Africa was colonized by both British and Boers (Gerhart 123). South Africa was known as Cape Town, and it became a British colony in 1806. In 1820s, the Dutch and the British acquired land in the north and east of South Africa. The Great Britain acquired full control of the Cape of Good Hope in 1795.
It also returned Cape Town to the Dutch in the year 1803. In early 19th century, the Zulu community dominated the country and extended their territory under their leader Shaka the Zulu. In 1830s, the Boers founded the South Africa republic. In 1867 diamond was discovered and gold was discovered in 1884 (Benson 213).
The discovery of these minerals led to the mineral revolution and increased economic growth and immigration. There was a struggle to control these resources between the indigenous people and Europeans, also between the Boers and the British.
During the first Boer war (1880-1881), the Boers revolted against the British encroachments by using guerrilla warfare tactics, which suited the local environment. The British, retaliated with a great number of soldiers, and a new strategy was developed in the second Boer war (1899-1902), and they succeeded.
During the colonial era, racial segregation was not formalized, although some regulations were put in place to govern the activities of the local people. In 1909 union of South Africa was created. This union was dominated by the British Empire. It restricted the black people from owning land in South Africa.
At this time, the indigenous people controlled only 7% of the country. Racial segregation was legally institutionalized by the British, and it was later known as apartheid. The British government identified three racial classes, white, colored and the black. In 1931the union was given independence from the British government.
The South African party and the national party combined to form united party. The national party was elected to power in 1948, and it strengthened the racial segregation. The nationalist government group people into three racial categories and developed rights and restrictions for each.
The few white people controlled the large number of people. The racial segregation was referred to as apartheid. The white minority people in South Africa lived a high standard of life while the black majority people were living in poor condition. In 1961the country became a republic and left the commonwealth. Queen Elizabeth was no longer the head of state, and the last governor general was elected as the president.
The government continued embracing apartheid despite a lot of opposition from people within and outside the country. Some western countries and organizations started boycotting, doing business with South Africa. The government oppressed the apartheid resistance movements and violence became wide spread in South Africa.
The national party government lifted the ban on the African national congress and other political movements in 1991. In 1994, South Africa held its first general election, which Africa National Congress won by a big margin. South Africa rejoined the common wealth in the same year.
Nationalism is a political ideology which means, the identification of a group of people with apolitical entity described in national terms. Nationalism creates national identity. It is a notion that one country is superior to all other states. It can also be described as the return to a national past and sometimes forcing foreigners out of the country. It involves the establishment of an independent sate as a home for an ethnic community.
National flags and national anthems symbolize the identity of a nation. It is related to the modern state and the push for sovereignty. It has become the most influential political and social factors in history. The nationalist state is an institution for bringing democracy and development, although it also hinders achievement of these goals. This is evident as it gives the political leaders an opportunity to manipulate the people of a certain nation.
In South Africa, nationalism started in the 19th century due to the impact of Christian missions and the enactment of a non racial constitution in Cape Town. Mission educated Africans enhance significant influence within Cape politics. By the end of the century, a new African elite group had emerged which was committed to non racial ideologies.
In 20th century, several ideas were developed including a radical expectation that Africans would have to establish their own political power for the reform of society. South Africa experienced the development of moderate African nationalism concerned with non-radical ideas. The development of Cape constitution was intended to improve the social conditions of Africans.
African elites began to emerge such as teachers, ministers of religion, farmers, clerks and editors. Political leaders in South Africa relied on the ideals of the Cape constitution. Today South Africa is an independent state this implies that it is a nationalist state . Nationalism has led to democracy in South Africa. On the hand, it is common that the economic growth rate after 15 years of democracy has led to problems of poverty and Un- employment.
This has resulted to military protests, violent action by both protesters and the police. The government of South Africa believes that the effective state institutions are a central characteristic; this has caused ineffectiveness within South Africa. Nationalism has also led to bureaucracy within the government hospitals and provincial health departments; this is a hindrance to the development of medical facilities. It is a western route to development.
In South Africa, it has led to development of modern infrastructures and other facilities. On the other hand, it asserts the identity of a national culture. Hence nationalism is seen to reject and accept the dominance of western culture. It has led to the establishment of advanced technology in South Africa. On the other hand, the modern technology is demanding. Nationalism in South Africa has led to the formation of a black class, which is a, central policy, and it is a form of racial segregation.
On the other hand, it is a strategy for breaking the domination of whites in South Africa. Employment equity legislation in South Africa encourages the employment of black Africans; this helps the state to use its resources to form black business class. On the hand, failure to involve the whites in the employment program hinders development and democracy. The shortage of skills causes opportunities for upward mobility within the bureaucracy. The upward mobility leads to high turn over among the employees.
The affirmative action in South African public service helps in leaving vacant positions, which there are no suitably qualified blacks, rather than employing qualified white candidates. This idea of nationalism has led to poor performance in the public service which hinders development in South Africa.
Corruption is also very rampant in the government institutions, in South Africa. In post apartheid bureaucracy, incompetent workers are employed on the basis of race. For instance, a female white applied for a job in Chris Hani Baragwaneth Hospital and her appointment was highly rejected by black managers on racial grounds.
It is difficult to find white doctors or nurses willing to work in rural hospitals . This has led to poor health conditions in these hospitals, causing deaths of several patients. Nationalism and skepticism towards the western scientific knowledge has created problems in African countries.
In South Africa, it led to the breakdown of relationship between South African government and the AIDS lobby group. The government of South Africa organized a play sarafina 2 to make people aware of HIV/AIDS; this play was marred with a lot of racist stereotyping. It results to criticism from AIDS activists and opposition parties.
The government leaders became upset and were defensive. This led to disagreement between government leaders such as Health minister Nkosazana Zuma and AIDS activists. This case demonstrated assertiveness in nationalism and dismissing western science. In South Africa, African sovereignty is associated with culture of extreme difference towards political leadership and authority.
For example, when a minister is visiting a hospital, there is a lot of effort to make it presentable; nurses are deployed to ensure that the hospital is in excellent condition. This portrays a different picture from the real situation, which is a problem of nationalism. The National party government was the driving force of Afrikaner nationalization in South Africa; this has been described by similar contradictions to African nationalism, which replaced it.
Many organizations in South Africa have suffered a decline in terms of quality performance. Many public institutions suffer from the problem of under budgeting; this involves understaffing, and increase work loads as well as shortage of equipments and constant system breakdowns. At the end of the financial year, head office officials put pressure on the managers to reduce costs. This leads to wastage of highly paid specialists and expensive equipments are left idle.
Nationalism is a tool of development which requires political will, and determination on the party of the countries political elite. In South Africa’s case, most of the political leaders are selfish, and they manipulate the poor majority. This has put South Africa’s democracy in danger. Since the end of apartheid politics, South Africa has been dominated by African National Congress. The main opposition party to ANC is the Democratic Alliance .
Since independence, the country has had several protests. This is mostly organized by the growing shanty towns in South Africa. The protests are as a result of poor quality leadership. Today, South Africa has a mixed economy which comprises of high poverty rate and low Gross Domestic Product. It has a high rate of unemployment, and it is ranked among top 10 countries in the world with the highest income inequality. The rate of unemployment has worsened since independence, which has hindered the development in South Africa.
The government of South Africa has developed black economic empowerment policies as a tool of nationalism. These policies have received critics from the Development Bank of Southern Africa, as it leads to broad economic disparities. Affirmative action policies have led to increase in black economic development and an establishment of the black middle class . Nationalism has led to state ownership by the political class, which put high barriers to entry in many areas.
The barriers have led to reduction in the development of international trade. It has also led to the establishment of restrictive labor laws, which has significantly contributed to unemployment problems. About 47 percent of South Africans lives below the poverty line . The country has a very wide income gap between the richest citizens and the poorest. It has also a wide gap between per capita GNP and its human development index. These differences hinder the improvement of democracy and economic development in South Africa.
Nationalism has also caused income inequality problem, which is greatly influenced by the country’s apartheid legacy. The differences in income among the people of South Africa are identified along racial lines. Nationalism is directly related to racism and fascism. It is an invention by the political class to win the loyalty of the working class. Nationalist state hinders development in many Southern Africa countries.
Today there is evidence in improving the problems of nationalism in southern African countries. For instance, countries in Southern Africa are currently enhancing political and economic transition. This will lead to improvement of democracy, and enhancement of economic development. South Africa has established democratic constitutions, and respect to the rule of law since acquiring independence in 1994.
Currently Botswana has been categorized as one of the advanced countries in Africa as far as democracy is concerned. Zambia and Malawi made political transition in 1990s from a single part rule to multiparty political system.
Mozambique has made a political transition from three decades of war, which has resulted to a period of reconstruction and economic development. In Angola, the death of the rebel leader Jonas Savimbi in 2002, led to an end to decades of war. This has resulted to economic and political transition in this country. In South Africa per capita gross domestic products has increased since 2002 .
South Africa has also adopted neoliberal economic reform this is known as structural adjustment programs (SAPs). These programs were developed by the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, to enhance economic transformation. The establishment of Southern African Development Community (SADC) has led to economic development of southern African countries.
This is due to improvement of regional trade relations and regional cooperation in areas such as, politics, transport and health. South Africa has the largest economy in Africa; this has helped the country in negotiating international accords to benefit from international trade. Namibia and South Africa are closely related, and this has helped in the improvement of social cultural set up and economic development in these countries.
HIV/AIDS, epidemic is the most significant threat facing southern Africa region. The rapid spread of this epidemic in the region has hindered development progress. It also threatens political stability; however, the governments of these countries are focusing on strategies, to reduce the rapid spread.
In contemporary Southern Africa, women have been involved in political activities, to enhance political development. Southern Africa countries have the highest number of women representatives in national politics in the world. South Africa has developed international relations and political linkages which have led to economic development.
Conclusion
Nationalism is a belief that people belong together because they were born in the same country. It came about in the recent centuries, and it has led to wars. It leads to exploitation of majority poor people by minority national elite. It violates the rights of the minority people. It solidifies the sovereignty of the political class over working and poor people. It originated from Europe and was brought to Africa through colonization.
In Africa, the rich people in the cities started nationalist’s movements. In southern Africa state nationalism is seen as an institution of achieving democracy and economic development. Nationalism is a paradox as it also hinders the achievement of these goals. In South Africa, the black nationalists’ ideology tends to segregate the whites hence negative impacts on economic development.
African political leaders have betrayed people through persuading them with nationalist sentiments to fight and die for their country. Finally, although nationalism in southern Africa state has hindered development, it has also improved democracy in these countries. Southern Africa state is the most dynamic and has the largest economy in the African continent.
Works Cited
Benson, Mary. South Africa:the struggle for a birth right. Pretoria: Funk & Wagnalls, 2002. Print.
Gerhart, Gail. Black politics in South Africa. California: University of California Press, 2006. Print.
Lodge, Tom. Black politics in South Africa. Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 2008. Print.
Welsh, Peter. The rise of African nationalism in South Africa. London: C.Hurst & Co.Publishers, 2000. Print.
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