Since 1994, the democratic government in South Africa has worked hard at improving the lives of the black majority, yet close to half the population lives in poverty, jobs are scarce, and the country is more unequal than ever. For millions, the colour of a person's skin still decides their destiny. In its wide-ranging, incisive and provocative analysis, South Africa Pushed to the Limit shows that although the legacies of apartheid and colonialism weigh heavy, many of the strategic choices made since the early 1990s have compounded those handicaps. The economy remains dominated by a handful of large conglomerates that are now entwined in the circuitry of the global economy. The government, meanwhile, has squandered crucial leverage in a series of miscalculations and errors. The social costs have been punishing. Marais explains why those choices were made, where they went awry, and why South Africa's vaunted formations of the left – old and new – have failed to prevent or alter them.

Building on his acclaimed book Limits to Change, Marais examines South Africa's most pressing issues – from the real reasons behind President Jacob Zuma's rise and the purging of his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, and how the African National Congress reproduces its power, to a devastating critique of the country's continuing AIDS crisis, its economic path and its approach to the rights and entitlements of citizens. South Africa Pushed to the Limit presents a riveting, benchmark analysis of the incomplete journey beyond apartheid

Fifteen years after becoming a multiracial democracy, South Africa arguably is the most unequal society on earth. The lofty hopes that greeted the end of apartheid now seem dwarfed by rampant poverty and unemployment, political feuding and the scourge of deadly disease.

By critically surveying South Africa’s route to liberation and the balance of forces that has shaped the past 15 years, this book provides a benchmark critical analysis of the long journey beyond apartheid.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 1: The making of a polarised society

 

Chapter 2: Saving the system

 

Chapter 3: Contours of the transition

 

Chapter 4: Sticking to the rules: the evolution of post-apartheid

 

Chapter 5: All dressed up: the economy in the twenty-first century
 
Chapter 6: The world of work

 

Chapter 7: Poverty and inequality in the post-apartheid years

 

Chapter 8: The social protection system

 

Chapter 9: AIDS and TB: like ‘waiting for a tidal wave to hit’
 
Chapter 10: False starts: the health and education systems

 

Chapter 11: A South African developmental state?

 

Chapter 12: Last man standing: the Mbeki-Zuma battle

 

Chapter 13: Power, consent and the ANC

 

Chapter 14: Left behind: Challenge and protest

 

 

 

* Students and academics in the fields of sociology, politics, African studies, economics, public health, and history
* Parliamentarians
* Policymakers
* Political journalists
* Anyone interested in current affairs

The most distinctive and far-ranging analysis yet of South Africa's journey beyond apartheid, of the limits blocking change, and ways in which they can be side stepped.

Writer and journalist Hein Marais is the author of South Africa: Limits to Change – The political economy of transition (published in editions), To the Edge: AIDS policy in South Africa, and numerous essays and articles, in South Africa and abroad, on the transition from apartheid, and on the AIDS epidemic. He is former deputy editor of Work in Progress magazine and former chief writer for the Joint UN Programme on AIDS.

 

“An extraordinary achievement. This is, by a considerable margin, the best book yet on the political economy of South Africa. Marais combines an unrivalled knowledge of the literature with a prose style that is accessible, moving and witty. I know of very few authors who can discuss such complex issues while telling a story and engaging the reader.”  John Sender, Emeritus Professor of Economics, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and Fellow of Wolfson College, University of Cambridge.

 “SOUTH AFRICA PUSHED TO THE LIMIT will become a classic. I doubt whether anyone can match Marais’ grasp of where South Africa is at today.”  Bill Freund, Professor of Economic History, University of KwaZulu-Natal; author of THE MAKING OF CONTEMPORARY AFRICA.

 “Combining powerful analysis with a wealth of documentation, SOUTH AFRICA PUSHED TO THE LIMIT provides by far the best overview of political, economic and social change in post-apartheid South Africa. Essential reading for anyone trying to understand one of the great social experiments of our time.”  Gillian Hart, Professor of Geography and Chair of Development Studies at the University of California at Berkeley; author of DISABLING GLOBALIZATION: Places of power in post-apartheid South Africa.

 

 

"South Africa—The Left Must Launch a Counteroffensive" Review by Helena Sheehan

 

"Long Journey Ahead", review by Sean Jacobs

 

"The State of The State" by Shaun de Waal