![Sample our Social Sciences journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/110822/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Social-Sciences.jpg"})
Abstract
In the aftermath of the transition, and with the uneven progression of the liberal democratic project in contemporary South Africa, the profile of Afrikaner capital elites in the key mining and financial sectors has remained prominent. Yet the contribution of these actors, whether as a distinct fraction of capital or as individuals, to the post-apartheid economy is not fully understood. Even whilst they have reformed their local presence and reconstructed their economic power, these strategies are strongly related to the nature of the global and African National Congress (ANC)-led projects of neo-liberalism, and are not necessarily indicative of a persistent or renewed Afrikaner capital bloc. This article seeks to add to the debate on social and economic transformation among Afrikaans speakers in South Africa by examining these shifting patterns of state-capital relations against the context of both the institutional and material legacy of apartheid, and contemporary global restructuring. It emphasises the importance of this context in explaining today what is happening with Afrikaner capital elites, and to what extent they maintain their former influence and success in the post-apartheid and global economies.
Acknowledgements
My thanks to the guest editor of this cluster, Thomas Blaser; the African Studies editor-in-charge of the cluster, Bridget Kenny; and the anonymous referees for their assistance in fine-tuning this article.
Notes
Interview by the author with Sampie Terreblanche, 4 August 2006.
Largely as a consequence of NP policies, Afrikaner control of private industry rose from 6 per cent in 1948 to 21 per cent in 1975. If the state corporations are included, industrial output under control of Afrikaans speakers was calculated to have risen to 45 per cent of the total by 1975 (O'Meara Citation1996:80).
This progression has been most marked given the decline of English and black capital, and the dramatic rise in foreign ownership of the JSE. Nonetheless, it is difficult to make an assessment based on these figures and due to recent trends including unbundling; it is now harder to provide a definitive figure for Afrikaner control of market capitalisation. (Personal communication to the author from Robin McGregor (Who Owns Whom), 29 September 2005).
Personal communications to the author from Andrew McGregor (Who Owns Whom), 8 and 13 April 2011.
More recently, the conservative FW de Klerk Foundation estimated that white South Africans own or control 32.5 per cent of the economy – 7.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) through the JSE and another 25 per cent through their ownership of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) (27 June 2012), http://www.fwdeklerk.org/cgi-bin/giga.cgi?cmd=cause_dir_news_item&cause_id=2137&news)id = 115192&cat_id = 1596
Mail & Guardian 31 March 2003.
Financial Mail 23 January 2009.
Total investment overseas amounted to R652,53-billion at the end of December 2002 according to the South African Reserve Bank, almost double the figure of R333,17-billion at the end of 1998. At the end of 2002, South Africa held most of its foreign assets in Britain, amounting to R223,99-billion or 34.3 per cent of the total, followed by assets in the rest of Europe at R203,84-billion or 31.2 per cent. The US was next in line with R124,56-billion or 19.1 per cent of the total. About 4.6 per cent or R30,01-billion was invested in Africa, comprising a 300 per cent increase during 1997–2001.
Mail & Guardian 11 February 2011.
Financial Mail 7 April 2000.
Sunday Times 13 June 1999.
Business Day 28 March 2006; Mail & Guardian 13 November 2006.
Business Day 6 April 2009.
Interview by the author with Jacob de Villiers, 21 August 2002.
Speech by the ANC President Zuma at a meeting with Afrikaner business and professionals, 26 March 2009. See http://www.polity.org.za/article/anc-zuma-speech-by-the-anc-president-at-a-meeting-with-afrikaner-professionals-and-business-26032009-2009-03-26 for a full text of this speech.
Business Day 28 February 2007.
Financial Mail 15 December 2006.