This compilation of essays was written over a period of 60 years and spans more than a century of South African history from the conquest of land and the discovery of diamonds and gold, to the threats of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The book focuses on the political economy of apartheid, its transformation at the end of the 20th century and the difficult early decades of the early 21st century. Francis Wilson asserts that the realities of poverty, unemployment and inequality, which loomed large before, during and after legalised apartheid, are connecting threads throughout this historical epoch.

The essays trace and expand on these trends in agriculture, mining( specifically gold mining), migrant labour, and the peculiar nature of urbanisation that has resulted in slums and squatter camps so prevalent in contemporary South Africa. The past six decades have been extraordinarily turbulent for a country not quite at war. These essays unpack some of the economic forces at play and their impact on the politics and social fabric of the majority of South Africans.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Francis Wilson was an emeritus professor of economics, and a lecturer and researcher at the University of Cape Town from the 1960s. He founded the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unity (Saldru), out of which the DataFirst resource unit grew, directed the Second Carnegie Inquiry into Poverty and Development and organised the Towards Carnegie Conference, on overcoming poverty and inequality, in 2012. He chaired the University of Fort Hare Council during the 1990s as well as the National Water Advisory Council. He wrote widely on the South African political economy including gold mining, farming, the migrant labour system, globalisation, poverty, and history. His books include: Labour in the South African Gold Mines 1911-1969 (1972), Uprooting Poverty: The South African Challenge (1989) (co-authored with Mamphela Ramphele) and, Dinosaurs, Diamonds & Democracy: A short, short history of South Africa (2009).

In this book, Emeritus Professor of Economics Sampie Terreblanche, the author of bestseller The History of Inequality in South Africa 1652- 2002, delves into South Africa’s political economy, unmasking the manoeuvres and backroom strategies of manipulation by American and British companies, in collaboration with the country’s Mineral Energy Complex (MEC) to subdue and defeat the ANC. He traces the evolution of the present day “crisis” facing South Africa by examining the global political and economic context of the 1980s, focusing particularly on the period 1986-1990. Prof Terreblanche, in his unique manner, takes the reader back to the 1650s and traces political-economic developments up to 2012

Terreblanche also evaluates the performance of the ANC-led government since 1994, focusing on South Africa’s affirmative action policies and the rapid Africanisation of the state bureaucracy. The author recounts some of his personal experiences and also exposes secret negotiations and deal-making which occurred behind the scenes, revealing issues which ordinary South Africans would never come to know. The penetrating insights and compelling arguments make the book ‘a must read’ if one wants to unpack the foundations of the ‘crisis’ the country is facing today, understand the politics and economics of South Africa, and find fresh answers.

Author Information:
Professor Solomon Johannes (Sampie) Terreblanche earned his BA, MA and PhD degrees at the University of Stellenbosch. The University of the Free State awarded him a D. Comm. (honoris causa) in 2005. From 1957 to 1964 he lectured at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein. In 1965 he moved as a Senior Lecturer to the University of Stellenbosch and became Professor of Economics in 1968. Since 1996 he has been an Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Stellenbosch. Professor Terreblanche is the author of The history of Inequality in South Africa 1652-2002, a co-publication of KMM Review Publishing Company and UKZN Press.

“I regained optimism after reading this powerful book, because with a voice of Terreblanche’s experience and intolerance for injustice, with renewed awareness about how the Mineral Energy Complex corrupts our economy and environment with revulsion at widespread police brutality, and with growing solidarity for the victims of the Marikana Massacre, surely there must now be a way to undo our liberation party’s world-historic sell-out?”  Patrick Bond