Apartheid's Last Stand

Apartheid's Last Stand is an original study which sets out to demonstrate how and why the apartheid state was neither able to maintain white dominance of the political system nor capable of reforming itself. The book's central argument is that the South African government consciously developed and introduced a programme of limited reforms in accordance with the guiding principles of counter-revolutionary strategy and the so-called 'liberal' vision of apartheid. Rejected by the majority of South Africans, President P.W. Botha nonetheless doggedly pursued state-managed reform through the imposition of stringent security measures to combat dissent at home and isolation abroad. The ensuing stalemate between South African government and the forces of revolution was only overcome with the ousting of military influence in South Africa and the ending of the Cold War. These circumstances laid the foundation for the reconciliation between Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk, giving birth to a new democratic South Africa.

CHRIS ALDEN is Lecturer in International Relations, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa