Dissecting the South African miracle: African parallels

Abstract

This article analyses the establishment of an inclusive liberal‐democracy in South Africa. It contends that the representation of the South African transition as a miracle rests on two common myths: the myth of non‐racialism and the myth of the South Africa model. It is argued that the 1994 elections revealed an electorate polarized on racial lines and that the notion of the transfer of power in South Africa as unique is overdrawn. It points out that there are striking parallels between the transformation of South Africa and other cases in Africa where there was a transfer of power from a white minority to the African majority, most notably those of Kenya, Zimbabwe and Namibia.