Beresford, AR orcid.org/0000-0001-9283-2987 (2015) Power, patronage, and gatekeeper politics in South Africa. African Affairs, 114 (455). pp. 226-248. ISSN 0001-9909
Abstract
This article examines the rise of gatekeeper politics within the ANC, drawing on an analysis of ANC discussion documents, key informant interviews with senior party officials, and interviews and observations from the ANC's centenary policy conference. On the basis of this material, I identify the symptoms and consequences of gatekeeper politics, including the growth of patronage networks, crony capitalism, and bitter factional struggles within the party. Rather than resembling some uniquely “African” form of political aberration and breakdown, gatekeeper politics should be viewed within a broader spectrum of patronage politics evident elsewhere in the world, because it is intrinsically bound up with the development of capitalism. Political leaders who occupy positions of authority in the party or public service act as gatekeepers by regulating access to the resources and opportunities that they control. A volatile politics of inclusion and exclusion emerges and provokes bitter factional struggles within the ANC as rival elites compete for power. The rise of gatekeeper politics undermines both the organizational integrity of the ANC and its capacity to deliver on its electoral mandate. It can also depoliticize social injustice in post-apartheid South Africa by co-opting popular struggles over access to resources that might otherwise challenge the political status quo.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal African Society. All rights reserved This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in African Affairs following peer review. The version of record is available Beresford, AR (2015) Power, patronage, and gatekeeper politics in South Africa. African Affairs, 114 (455). 226 - 248 online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adu083 |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law (Leeds) > School of Politics & International Studies (POLIS) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 27 Mar 2015 12:53 |
Last Modified: | 12 Apr 2021 15:49 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adu083 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1093/afraf/adu083 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:83777 |