Skip to main content
Log in

Abstract

Under apartheid, there were an ever-increasing number of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) concerned about challenging the South African state and furthering a nonracial democratic society. In the 1990s, with the transition to an African National Congress-led democratic government, these organizations underwent profound changes. This article describes the key dynamics of this process, outlines the challenges currently confronting the new NGO sector, and concludes that the prospects for progressive NGO work in dealing with the poor and marginalized are constrained by the prevailing neoliberal economic climate.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Advisory Committee (1997). Structural Relationships between Government and Civil Society Organisations, Report prepared for the Deputy President, Thabo Mbeki, South Africa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashley, B., and Andrews, M. (1998, June 28). Warning: Handle with extreme caution. Reconstruct (supplement to The Sunday Independent [Johannesburg]), No. 17.

  • Bernstein, A. (1994). NGO's and a democratic South Africa. Development and Democracy, 7, 55-66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Budlender, G. (1993). Overview: The legal and fiscal environment of voluntary organisations in South Africa. In A. M. Micon and B. Lindsnaes (eds.), The Role of Voluntary Organisations in Emerging Democracies: Experience and Strategies in Eastern and Central Europe and in South Africa, Danish Centre for Human Rights and Institute of International Education, New York, 85-91.

    Google Scholar 

  • CASE (Community Agency for Social Enquiry) (1996). Tango in the Dark: Government and Voluntary Sector Partnerships in the New South Africa, Johannesburg.

  • Clayton, A. (ed.), (1996). NGOs, Civil Society and the State: Building Democracy in Transitional Societies, INTRAC, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Currin, B. (1993). Summing up: Civil society organisations in emerging democracies. In A. M. Micon and B. Lindsnaes (eds.), The Role of Voluntary Organisations in Emerging Democracies: Experience and Strategies in Eastern and Central Europe and in South Africa, Danish Centre for Human Rights and Institute of International Education, New York, 165-170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habib, A. (1997a). From pluralism to corporatism: South Africa's labour relations in transition. Politikon, 24(1), 57-75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habib, A. (1997b). South Africa—the rainbow nation and prospects for consolidating democracy. African Journal of Political Science, 2(1), 15-26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habib, A., and Owusu-Ampomah, K. (1997). Report on the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (Idasa). Report prepared for the International Study of Peace Organizations—South Africa.

  • Hamber, B., Mofokeng, T., and Simpson, G. (1997, November 10). Evaluating the role and function of civil society in a changing South Africa: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a case study. Paper presented at The Role of Southern Civil Organisations in the Promotion of Peace seminar, Catholic Institute for International Relations, London.

  • Hellmann, E. (1979). Fifty years of the South African Institute of Race Relations. In E. Hellmann and H. Lever (eds.), Conflict and Progress: Fifty Years of Race Relations in South Africa, Macmillan, Johannesburg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaster, R., and Jaster, S. (1993). South Africa's Other Whites: Voices for Change, Macmillan, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kane-Berman, J. (1996). Leave well alone: The role of NGOs in the process of democratization. In H. Kotzé (ed.), Consolidating Democracy: What Role for Civil Society in South Africa? University of Stellenbosch and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.

  • Korten, D. C. (1987). Third generation NGO strategies: A key to people-centred development. World Development, 15, 145-159.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kraak, G. (1995). An INTERFUND briefing on development, education and training in South Africa in 1994/5. Development Update, Johannesburg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kraak, G. (1996). An INTERFUND briefing on development and the voluntary sector in South Africa in 1995/96. Development Update, Johannesburg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lazerson, J. (1994). Against the Tide: Whites in the Struggle Against Apartheid, Westview, Boulder, Colorado.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, R., and Buntman, F. (1989). The Future of the NonProfit Voluntary Sector in South Africa, Research Report No. 5, Centre for Policy Studies, Johannesburg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mandela, N. (1996). Message from President Mandela on the occasion of NGO week, 2–6 December, Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mandela, N. (1997). Political Report of the President, Nelson Mandela, to the 50th National Conference of the African National Congress, Mafikeng, 16 December.

  • Marais, H. (1998). South Africa, Limits to Change: The Political Economy of Transformation, Zed, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marks, S. (1998). Social change, order and stability in the new South Africa. In F. H. Toase and E. J. Yorke (eds.), The New South Africa: Prospects for Domestic and International Security, Macmillan, London, 17-36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naidoo, K. (1997). South African NGOs: The Path Ahead, CIIR, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petras, J. (1997). Imperialism and NGOs in Latin America, Monthly Review, 49(7), 10-27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pilger, J. (1998). Apartheid Did Not Die. British television documentary.

  • Price, M. (1995). Some reflections on the changing role of progressive policy groups in South Africa: Experiences from the Centre of Health Policy. Transformation, 27, 24-34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Southall, R., and Wood, G. (1998). Political party funding in Southern Africa. In P. Burnell and A. Ware (eds.), Funding Democratization, Manchester University Press, Manchester, 202-228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spink, K. (1991). Black Sash: The Beginning of a Bridge for South Africa, Methuen, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, R., Egan, A., Habib, A., Cock, J., Lekwane, A., and Shaw, M. (1998, July 8–11). Final report: International study of peace organizations—South Africa. Presented to the 3rd International Conference of the International Society for Third Sector Research, University of Geneva.

  • Taylor, R., Cock, J., and Habib, A. (1999). Projecting peace in apartheid South Africa. Peace & Change, 24(1), 1-14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turok, B. (1996). Why are NGOs struggling? Mail & Guardian [Johannesburg], Nov. 29–Dec, 5.

  • Walters, S. (1993). Continuity and change in community organisations: Trends in Greater Cape Town from 1989 to 1991. CORE Working Paper No. 1, University of the Western Cape.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Habib, A., Taylor, R. South Africa: Anti-Apartheid NGOs in Transition. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 10, 73–82 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021495821397

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021495821397

Navigation