One decade forward, two decades back

In the early 1990s, South Africa was the poster child for the revitalisation of democracy. The relatively peaceful end to formal apartheid led to a progressive and popular ANC government. Buttressed by a pathbreaking Constitution, the government seemed committed to the redistribution of power and resources and the building of a nonracial and nonsexist democracy. Twenty-five years later, the project of democracy is imperiled. The ideological framework of non-racialism that held together the ideals of egalitarianism is challenged by new forms of populist race talk. The government is barely able to deliver a range of basic services to citizens amid the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. This talk addresses some of the institutional and political dilemmas of contemporary South Africa, and considers how a capable state might be built under conditions of deep mistrust and inequality.