Occasional Paper

Whither South Africa?

“Southern Africa has today arrived at the crossroads, and whatever might
have been the issues that united or divided its peoples in the past, the choice
which confronts them today is clear; it is -between the institution of a free
enterprise economy, an open society and a democratic polity, on the one hand
and a centrally administered economy, a monolithic society and a totalitarian
polity on the other hand.It is the theme of this paper that in a highly diversified and segmented society such as ours, a democratic polity can be developed and maintained only
on a decentralised, federal and consociational basis. Decentralisation and
federalism tend in practice to go together as do unitary and centralised states.”