| | In ROAPE 50 (Africa in a New World Order) William G Martin examined a number of possible directions of change in southern Africa following majority rule in South Africa, ranging from 'regional restabilisation' through 'regional break-up and peripheralisation' to 'neo-regionalism alternatives' (sic). While he usefully brings out the complexities of economic and political relationships in the region a lack of clarity in his conceptualisation has, in my opinion, led to a conclusion that is over-optimistic in its prospects for what he calls 'anti-systemic' regional alliances. What many observers tend to overlook, with the decline of apartheid and because of its poor performance in recent years, is the success of capitalism in South Africa: that is, the successful transformation of labour into a proletariat; the successful monopolisation of production capital; and successful subordination, notwithstanding the existence of competing fractions, of the state to the needs, in a generic sense, of capital. The latter in particular, means that any discussion on the role of South Africa in the region must also be premised on an understanding of the relationship between capital and the state, both as it has evolved and as it is likely to alter under majority rule. Likewise the discussion of regional alternatives must take account of the nature of class formation and its expression within the various nation states of southern Africa, and of the different forms which class struggle is taking throughout the region and of capital's response. |
