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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Great expectations: working conditions in South Africa since the end of apartheid
Authors:Pons-Vignon, NicolasISNI
Anseeuw, WardISNI
Year:2009
Periodical:Journal of Southern African Studies
Volume:35
Issue:4
Pages:883-899
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:working conditions
economic policy
External link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03057070903313236
Abstract:The end of apartheid created great expectations for the majority of South Africans in terms of political, but also social and economic change. Now, 15 years into democracy, many feel that their expectations have not been met, and their frustration is turning violent, as demonstrated by several large-scale strikes since 2006. This article explores these frustrations through the evolutions that have taken place in the workplace - a central locus of exploitation under apartheid - since the late 1980s; it highlights the necessity of an analysis that goes beyond the sole prism of labour market legislation. Drawing on extensive empirical research, it focuses on the evolution of working conditions in three key sectors of the South African economy - mining, forestry and agriculture. It argues that the postapartheid era has witnessed a marked increase in the precariousness of workers' status and situations. Despite formal labour market regulation, processes of externalization have been pervasive, turning previously oppressed wage labourers into poor, casualized workers eking a living in a liberalized economy. South Africa's social and economic policies have decisively contributed to this outcome. The paradox is all the more significant when it is pitted against the high expectations associated with the transition; it epitomizes the difficult restructuring of South African society and the uncertainty surrounding its future. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract, edited]
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