The economic and political context of the growth of the progressive federal party in South Africa, 1959–1978

Abstract

Much recent academic study of contemporary capitalism in South Africa has concentrated on the relations between different sectors of capital, and on the nature of the South African state. In general, the state has been assumed to act in the interests of capitalists as a class but to reflect the relative dominance of particular sections of capital at different points in time. It has been accepted that different white political parties express the aspirations of different alliances of capitalists and that the electoral success of particular parties has resulted both in and from changes in the power of some sections of capital relative to others. Few detailed studies have been made, however, of the relationship between the policies of political parties and the interests of associated capitalists. McEachern, in a brief paper published recently1, highlights a similar gap in work published on British capitaiism. An understanding of the relationships between white political parties and capital, and of the role of the South African parliamentary system is essential to an understanding of the system as a whole. In this paper an attempt is made to reach a preliminary understanding of the relationships between one white political party and capital in the context of wider changes in the system of social relations. It is hoped that this will be merely the first step on the path to a better understanding of the overall role of the parliamentary system and of parliamentary parties in South Africa, and hence of capitalism in that country.