Marburg, Germany - Course Descriptions - South African Power Structures

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The seminar will give an in-depth look into the South African reality of who really wields the power in the country. Before we examine the power relations in South Africa we have to figure out what kind of power definition we use and how it is being discussed in the academic discourse. In general, we can find different power levels: political, social, economic, cultural and international levels.

On the political level it is very interesting to look at the African National Congress, which has a two-thirds majority of all votes in national and provincial elections. There are many questions that can be raised:

• Is it a small black elite around the president Thabo Mbeki, or the tribe of the Xhosa, who wields the power?
• How much influence do the alliance partners Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party (SACP) have, who form the government together with the ANC, but can, apparently, never contribute their viewpoints?
• Which role does the opposition play, or is, maybe, the media the real opposition?
• How much do corporations and companies or their white bosses have to say, when, for example, it comes to privatization?
• Is there a new black elite, or are the people of Asian origin more influential?
• What can civil organizations and issue-based social movements like the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee (SECC) or the churches do?

On the international level we will focus on the influence of other countries and international organizations. And, lastly, we also want to examine what different kind of power men and women have in the South African society.  In the end, we would like to be able to draw a kind of power map for South Africa.

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