Explore the vast range of titles available.

At the heart of South Africa's 'miracle' transition from intractable ethno-racial conflict to democracy was an improvised nation born out of war weariness, hope, idealism and calculated pragmatism on the part of the elites who negotiated the compromise settlement. In the absence of any of the conventional bonds of national consciousness, the improvised nation was fixed on the civic identity and national citizenship envisaged in the new constitution. In the twentieth anniversary year of the country's democracy, South Africa reviews the progress of nation-building in post-apartheid South Africa, assesses how well the improvised nation has been embedded in a shared life for South Africans and offers a prognosis for its future. It draws up a socio-economic profile of the population which is the raw material of nation-building. It measures the contributions of the polity and the constitution, religion and values, as well as sport and the media, to building a sense of national citizenship. The book explains the abrupt discontinuity between the contributions of Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki to nation-building and goes on to note the changing focus from reconciliation between black and white to include a concern for social cohesion in a society beset by violent crime, corruption and citizen deviance and dissidence. South Africa reconsiders the short, intense life cycle of Afrikaner nationalism and portrays the ambiguous relationships between African nationalism, non-racialism, civic nationalism and 'African tradition' in the ideology and practice of the African National Congress. In doing so, it provides a comprehensive analysis of a crucial aspect of South Africa's first twenty years of democracy, as well as exploring intriguing questions for the student of nationalism.

This latest volume in the series is a book on nation-building in post-apartheid South Africa.

Post-1994 democratic South Africa continues to introduce and roll out substantive transformative housing policies deliberately to foster inclusive nation-building by redressing the past apartheid housing segregation, discrimination and injustices. Interestingly, the parliament of South Africa has taken a giant step by ensuring that most of the progressive post-1994 transformative policies have been fully legislated and hence enforceable. Methodologically, the paper utilised literature review research approach by intensively relying on contemporary germane scholarly works, case law and statutes, etc. mainly generated and retrieved from the Google Scholar search engine. The information retrieved was heavily reviewed, interpreted and used to address the problem of South Africa’s well-structured policies which have not effectively translated into implementation and delivery because of poor management, resulting in a gap between policy and action. Tied to this is that the reality physically on the ground shows that pre-apartheid anti-nation-building continues to be the modus operandi where majority blacks still live in the squalor, informal settlements, townships and shacks. There is still no substantive diversity in the housing sector; hence, the post-1994 ideal of nation-building still is a mirage.

This article represents a review of divergent theoretical discourses and secondary research on the South African nation and how it should be viewed and governed. It focused on various theoretical perspectives on the concepts of “nation” and “national identification”. Different views on the necessity of the formation of an overarching national identity — a key principle in nation-building theory and practices — were considered. More specifically, attention was paid to the problematic nature of national identification in diverse societies. The paper also considered the theory and practices of nation-building, the legacy of nation-building in Africa, various faces of South African nation-building and potential consequences for societal diversity. It equally reviewed nation-building discourses that focus attention on citizens’ social identities and secondary research on patterns of social identification in post-apartheid South Africa. It recommended that preference should be given to acknowledging the diversity and complexity of the South African nation. Thus, instead of following controversial nation-building strategies, policies to acknowledge and accommodate diverse forms of social identification should be implemented. Such strategies could stand a better chance of fostering enduring social cohesion, peace and harmony.

This paper examines the implications of party politics, political communication and voting behaviour for South Africa’s nation-building. The paper argues that the country’s nation-building is partly dependent on the internal politics of political parties, political communication and voting behaviour. In contemporary South Africa, the youth have played a significant role in party politics and political communication. Their participation in party politics has shaped voting patterns and behaviour in the country. Given the new political landscape, the youth became prominent among the various political parties. Amongst them was Mr Julius Malema, who formed his own political party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), after being expelled from the African National Congress (ANC). Despite the EFF’s growth not being as significant as its leader would have hoped for, the EFF is slowly chipping away at votes from other political parties, mostly from the ANC. They have also pulled at the heartstrings of voters who were found to have a strong presence among the students of Higher Education Institutions and youth of the country. This paper, therefore, argues that the youth have a strong role to play in South Africa’s nation-building quest. Utilising the qualitative method that was sourced through desktop reviews, it examines the role of the youth in party politics and nation- building. It finds that the active participation of youth in party politics and prompt political communication is significantly connected to nation-building. It concludes that the nation-building quest of South Africa can better be achieved through active youth participation in party politics.

It is evident, and subject to many within the social, political and scholarly circle debates, that after 29 years of democracy, South Africa's marginalised population continues to be prone to immense setbacks. These setbacks concern their quest for socio-economic growth prospects such as employment opportunities, service delivery, and increasing inequality divide between the haves and the have-nots. Over the last few years, a community-based development approach has been what most third sectors, such as civil society, have advocated stimulating community development further. However, there is a solid need to interrogate this viewpoint and it is a nexus to South Africa's marginalised population, particularly in the context of a community-based needs approach. By applying a qualitative methodology supplemented by secondary data, this article outlined the need for a more nuanced outlook on diverse approaches that can be taken to stimulate a more concrete community-based needs approach in the South African context. This article aimed at providing a South African viewpoint on the marginalised population and some development challenges witnessed in the country post-1994. Indeed, apartheid played a significant role in South Africa's developmental status quo. The paper further explained the nexus of community-based development and nation-building. Importantly, it concluded that the voices and needs of communities, in most cases, are not always considered when undertaking policy formulation and are further buoyed by government officials to consider this.

Interculturalism and national identity are crucial elements of South African nation-building, as they both collectively establish a common public culture and enable meaningful participation in the development of a just and democratic nation. To build a nation of national identity, the citizens must indicate inclusivity, regardless of cultural, racial or social background. This study examined the extent to which Nelson Mandela's speeches reflected South Africa’s nation-building objectives. Critical discourse analysis was adopted to analyse the Inaugural Speech and State of the Nation Address by the late President Nelson Mandela. To uncover the underlying ideology in the speeches, a general textual description of the speeches was made in terms of lexicon and syntax. The results indicated that the text represents three distinct discourses, each with unique linguistic characteristics, in an endeavour to build a national identity, a sense of national cohesiveness, and social relationships between the president and his constituents. The critical discourse analysis of the study revealed that nation-building and national identity construction were reflected in the speeches. The speeches did function as a tool for nation-building, as they outlined the steps taken by the South African government to pursue an inclusive and comprehensive strategy to achieve nation-building. The study concluded that public speeches remain a powerful tool to inform and persuade a group of people in an age dominated by digital communication.

British colonial rule in South Africa in the first instance and the subsequent apartheid regime harmed nation-building with repercussions on good governance, citizenship, and overall development of the country. These negative impacts manifest in the form of high levels of citizen inequality, increased crime rates, poverty, unemployment, corruption, poor service delivery which questions the essence of the state. The origin of the South African state, its perverse character, and future trajectory were interrogated in this paper using qualitative and quantitative research approaches. The findings show South Africa is tending towards state failure unless measures are taken to stem this pivot. One way forward is the creation of a political system that will enable the state and citizens to renegotiate a more inclusive social contract.

Purpose This study aims to explore the contribution of Enactus sustainability initiatives to youth empowerment and community development, thus analysing how South African higher education institutions can increase student involvement in Enactus projects across all faculties. Design/methodology/approach Using a systematic literature review approach, the authors searched the Web of Science database for 47 relevant studies, which were found and filtered using the search parameters, and then 33 articles that are strictly relevant to the main topic were chosen as the final corpus. Findings The authors found that Enactus facilitates community progress through transformative innovations and students gain valuable skills that increase their employability regardless of their field of study. Research limitations/implications The focus of this study is confined to scholarly evidence acquired from peer-reviewed journals, hence empirical studies could be conducted by using literature from books, theses, bulletins, government white papers and gazettes. Practical implications These findings highlight several merits of Enactus skill-based training such as learning-by-doing, learning from failures and learning from entrepreneurs. Social implications The study findings offer compelling evidence that student transformational innovations could facilitate sustainable development within communities. Originality/value Despite the crucial contribution of Enactus projects to nation-building worldwide, literature on this phenomenon in the context of South Africa is limited.

Coalition governance in South Africa is adjudged as an opportunity for nation-building and social compact, which intends to jettison the apartheid legacy of racial and social separation. Coalition governance in South Africa quintessentially demonstrates a maturing nation-building project whereby political parties embrace a cohesive spirit for democratic governance and citizenship representation. However, the lack of consensus about a developmental posture to drive nation-building in South Africa put different political parties on antithetical dissimulations that undermine effective coalition governance in both national and local governmental spheres. An era of dominant party hegemony is approaching its final demise, which challenges political parties to build workable and collaborative consensus toward leading South Africa out of its current developmental stagnation. The study examines the challenges and opportunities of coalition governance in South Africa. The objective of the paper is to understand how coalition building can be a leverage for Nation building in the context of South African political structure. A qualitative study is undertaken by analyzing strategic and policy documents of political parties and journal articles to examine challenges and opportunities for coalition governance in South Africa. The thematic content analysis examines emerging patterns from primary and secondary documentary sources to generate relevant themes that influence and guide conceptualization, challenges, and opportunities for coalition governance in South Africa. Findings revealed that a major challenge for coalition governance in South Africa is political brinkmanship by political parties who negotiate in bad faith, demanding more concessions than votes garnered from election results, which demonstrates political immaturity. However, a positive aspect of coalition governance might be for parties to formalize binding coalition agreements that can serve as conflict management mechanisms that can compel parties to demonstrate reciprocal accountability during governance.