South Africa: Reconstructing an Imperial State

South Africa: Reconstructing an Imperial State

It now seems highly likely that within the near future, some say within the coming year, a new constitution will be inaugurated in South Africa. For any new constitution to gain a semblance of legitimacy either locally or internationally, it will have to look something like a liberal democracy with social welfare ambitions; majority rule within a unified state. There should also be some system built into the constitution for preservation of “minority” rights, perhaps through geographical representation of communities, although there will not be any language in the document that recalls the “group rights” of apartheid. There will probably also be some system of strengthened regional government. Basic property rights of market capitalism will, in all likelihood, be sanctified as well.

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