Browsing by Author "Welsh, David"

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    Die Burger en die Kleurling-stem, 1948-1961
    (1986) Mittner, M J; Welsh, David
    Heelwat is al geskryf oor die kenmerke en gevolge van die Nasionale regering se apartheidsbeleid wat sedert 1948 sy beslag in Suid-Afrika gekry het, veral m.b.t. hoe dit Swartmense raak en steeds raak. In die laaste jare het ook meer publikasies verskyn oor hoe die beleid twee minderheidsgroepe in Suid-Afrika, die Kleurlinge en die Indiers, raak. Min aandag is egter al gegee aan die dryfvere of beweegredes agter die toepassing van die beleid van apartheid en die argumente wat gevoer is om besluitnemers te beinvloed in die besluite wat hulle geneem het. Die Burger het deur die jare 'n reputasie ontwikkel as die Afrikaanse koerant wat eerstens die meeste lewenskragtigheid toon en tweedens 'n vorm van deurdagte kommentaar oor politieke gebeure lewer wat dikwels dieselfde is as die wat in regerings-kringe gehuldig word. In 'n tyd wat min publikasies of instansies apartheid sou verdedig, het Die Burger hand aan hand met die Nasionale regering voortgegaan om dit te doen, maar terselfdertyd kriewelrigheid oor sekere aspekte van die beleid in meerdere of mindere mate openbaar. Desondanks sy verdediging van apartheid, het die koerant in die vyftiger- en sestigerjare die reputasie ontwikkel as 'n meer gematigde of 'verligte' ondersteuner van die Nasionale regering en ook daarin geslaag om wereldwyd hoog aangeskrewe te word in joernalistieke kringe. Die verwydering van die Kleurlingkiesers van die gemeenskaplike lys in die vyftigerjare word algemeen beoordeel as 'n negatiewe daad wat die Nasionale saak skade aangedoen het - 'n mening wat ook al in hoe Nasionale kringe geopper is. Om 'n goeie insig in die problematiek van die tyd te kry, is dit belangrik om ook die menings te bepaal van die koerant wat waarskynlik 'n reuse-rol gespeel het om die besluitnemers te beinvloed in die besluite wat hulle oor die Kleurlingstem en die konstitusionele stryd van die vyftigerjare geneem het. Die dryfvere of logika (indien enige) agter die Nasionale optrede kan 'n groot rol speel vir 'n beter verstandhouding van die era. Apartheid word vandag feitlik universieel veroordeel weens 'n verskeidenheid van redes wat reeds goed gedokumenteer is. Min aandag is egter al gegee aan wat mense beweeg het om die beleid toe te pas en dit steeds op 'n afgewaterde wyse toe te pas. Die kommentaar en optrede van Die Burger gee 'n goeie insig in wat die dryfvere was agter die verwydering van die Kleurlingkiesers van die gemeenskaplike lys. Dit blyk bv. dat die optrede nie net gemotiveer is deur naakte rassisme nie, maar dat faktore soos Nasionalisme en 'n bedreigings-persepsie 'n ewe groot rol gespeel het. Met hierdie werkstuk is dan hoofsaaklik gepoog om 'n lyn te probeer trek en die logika (indien enige) te probeer vasstel tussen Die Burger se propagering van die verwydering van die Kleurlinge van die gemeenskaplike lys in 1956 (In effek 'n vermindering van regte) tot die beroep vier jaar later op die Nasionale regering vir die oorweging van 'n beleld van reg-streekse verteenwoordiging van Kleurlinge deur Kleurlinge in die Parlement (In effek 'n vergroting van politieke regte). Dit is gedoen teen die agtergrond van N.P. Van Wyk Louw se denke, wat veral die destydse redakteur van Die Burger, mmr. P.J. Cillie, grootliks beinvloed het, dat kritiek deur lede van 'n klein en bedreigde volk op optrede van die leiers van die klein volk vanuit die lojale binnekring gedoen moet word.
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    Hyperextension injury of the cervical spine with central cord syndrome
    (2013) Thompson, Crispin; Welsh, David
    Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.
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    Local government policy in South Africa 1980-1989 (with specific reference to the Western Cape) : devolution, delegation, deconcentration or centralisation?
    (1991) Cameron, Robert; Welsh, David; Bekker, Simon
    This thesis is an examination of the National Party's policy of decentralisation of powers to local authorities in the 1980s. The thesis concentrates primarily on urban local government and its objectives are: 1. To trace the evolution of the south African state's policy of devolution of powers to local authorities in the 1980s; 2. To examine critically the main features of new local government legislation in this period, with particular reference to the devolution of powers policy; 3. To apply a normative framework for analysis, which can help serve as a heuristic device, in determining the extent of decentralisation that has occurred, to selected local authorities in the western Cape. The primary sources of research material that were consulted were Hansard, Acts of parliament, government commissions and gazettes, year books, provincial debates, ordinances, gazettes, circulars and local authorities' minutes and publications. Approximately 50 qualitative interviews were also conducted. The framework of analysis utilised certain indices, namely personnel, access, functions, party politics, finance and hierarchical relations, to measure the extent of decentralisation that has occurred in three local authorities in the Western Cape. This framework helped determine that limited devolution of powers had occurred. There were four major reasons for the reluctance of the National Party to devolve extensive powers to local authorities. First and foremost, reform policy was made in an elitist, top-down manner by a small group of reformers in order to ensure that the government could share power without losing control. The corollary of this centralised policy-making was the tendency of centr.al and provincial authorities not to devolve extensive powers to local authorities. Secondly, there was the viewpoint of the central government that the local government development process had to be controlled from the top because of the lack of sufficient skills, experience and finance at local level. Thirdly, the need for macro-economic financial control was· also a brake on the devolution process. Fourthly, the government believed that, in a unitary state, central government should always have a relative degree of control over local authorities' activities.
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    Political liberalism in South Africa in the 1980s and the formation of the Democratic Party
    (1994) Hughes, Tim, 1959-; Welsh, David
    Bibliography: leaves 369-384.
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    The protection of minority rights: a comparative survey with special reference to South Africa's constitutional options
    (1988) Van Rooyen, Johann; Welsh, David; Collins, Peter
    The purpose of this dissertation is firstly to define and analyse the concept of minority rights and to place it in perspective in relation to surrounding concepts such as communalism, ethnicity, groups and individualism. This is done through a critical discussion of various theoretical perspectives relating to the subject matter. Comparisons are drawn between the policies of various plural societies aimed at accommodating their ethnic diversity, either constitutionally or through methods that lack legitimacy. This is followed by a discussion and evaluation of consociational democracy and federalism as possible solutions to the problems created by ethnicity and minorities in a plural society. Having made the hypothesis that democracy is best served in a multi-ethnic society by a system that emphasizes group rights in addition to individual rights and which accepts the notion of government through consensus, the emphasis then moves to the particular nature of the South African minority question. The policies of the various actors on the South African political scene towards minority rights are analysed critically. Attention is given to factors which may influence group formation in a system emphasizing voluntary association, such as race, ethnicity, class and ideology. There is also a discussion of the nature of the rights which minorities may claim and emphasis is placed on the requirement that minorities should be able to levy strategic influence without disrupting the society as a whole. Finally, this dissertation deals with the question of which constitutional alternatives offer the most promising solution to the problems caused by South Africa's cultural diversity. Although a political system emphasizing individual rights might come closest to the liberal ideal and may be suitable to an ethnically homogeneous country, the violent history of plural societies where group rights have been neglected, indicate the need for a pluralist solution in South Africa. While there is a strong tendency among Blacks to view the concept of minority rights as yet another Apartheid ploy to maintain White domination and privileges, the purpose of this paper has been to prove that minority rights is a universal concept and is not a creation of Apartheid, although the National Party has managed to almost irreversibly taint it. Yet, in a system of group formation through voluntary association, the concept of minority rights can serve as a powerful tool to help facilitate a negotiated settlement towards a predominantly Slack government based on consensus. A true power-sharing consensus-orientated constitution has been found in Lijphart's notion of a consociational democracy and the view is taken that the Natal-KwaZulu Indaba's constitutional proposals is an example of such a constitution.
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    South African foreign policy in Africa
    (1972) Guelke, Adrian; Welsh, David
    In order to take account of the radical change in South Africa's international and continental environment, I have divided this thesis under two headings; policy towards colonial Africa (broadly, the period 1910 - 1959) and secondly, policy towards independent Africa (1960 - ). The division is by no means an absolute one. South Africa first began to feel the pressures of decolonization soon after the end of the Second World War. These took a variety of forms; for example, India's attacks on South Africa's racial policy and the United Nations' refusal to countenance the incorporation of South West Africa into the Union. They were echoed internally by growing militancy on the part of the African National Congress in the 1950's. Similarly after 1960, by which time most of the countries of Africa had achieved independence, the remnants of colonialism remained important to South African foreign policy. Firstly, the continuing existence of the Portuguese empire has carried the colonial order into the 1970's. Secondly, the former colonial powers have continued to exercise considerable influence on their ex-colonies. In particular, France's neo-colonial hold on many of her former colonies has assumed special importance in the context of South African initiatives towards francophone Africa.
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    A study of South Africa's National Party perceptions of United States foreign policy in the 1980's with particular reference to sanctions
    (1992) Hunsaker, Christine; Welsh, David
    This dissertation seeks to represent, as clearly as it is possible, South Africa's National Party perceptions on United States foreign policy in the 1980s. The primary area of focus is the policy switch from constructive engagement to punitive sanctions in the mid-1980s and the circumstances to which they have given rise. The following is a brief summary and the contents of the dissertation. The dissertation will give a complete and formal statement in chapter two on U.S. foreign policy toward South Africa since approximately World War Two. The dissertation will provide a clear definition and understanding of economic sanctions in chapter three and touch on the current on-going sanctions debate in South Africa. The core of the dissertation is displayed in chapter four which is a presentation the of field data collected from personal interviews with a third of the National Party caucus. This displays the National Party's perceptions on U.S. foreign policy. Following, chapter five presents alternative views to those held by the NP on the same issues discussed in chapter four. The final chapter makes an attempt at some conclusions based on the data presented in the dissertation. This study is important because it maintains that the data and questions presented in this dissertation offer interview material that has been little studied in the past, thus the findings have the virtue of freshness and uniqueness.
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    White labour and the 'social democratic' movement in the Transvaal; the South African Labour Party, the South African Trades and Labour Council and their trade union affiliates, 1930 - 1954
    (1982) Touyz, Brian Martin; Welsh, David
    The first quarter or so of the present century witnessed violent struggles between white workers and the South African state, and the entrenchment of the job colour bar in the mining industry. The Industrial Conciliation Act of 1924 is generally considered to have dampened the militancy of the white workers by institutionalising the trade unions within a statutory collective bargaining system. The South African Labour Party served as the junior partner in the famous 'pact' coalition government from 1924. The South African Labour Party split in 1928 and the Party and the white labour movement in general appeared to move off the front stage of the political arena. A considerable amount of literature has appeared on the white labour movement during the first three decades of the present century. Many authors virtually ignore the white labour movement when analysing the establishment of the present-day National Party (an Afrikaner nationalist party) in 1934 and its eventual victory in the 1948 general election. Yet the white labour movement constituted a major battleground in the Afrikaner nationalists' endeavours to mobilise the Afrikaner workers behind their banner.
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    White politics and the Garment Workers' Union, 1930 - 1953
    (1979) Touyz, Brian Martin; Welsh, David
    The years after 1930 witnessed the emergence of the present-day National Party and its eventual victory in the 1948 general election. However, little literature has appeared on the white labour movement, the Labour Party and the trade union activities of the Afrikaner nationalists during the period. The Garment Workers' Union was a Witwatersrand-based trade union with a dominant Afrikaner membership. The thesis examines the Garment Workers' Union's political history between 1930 and 1953. The case study was designed to contribute to an understanding of the Afrikaner worker and the trade union movement.
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    The white rightwing in South African politics : a descriptive study of its roots : an assessment of its strength, and an elucidation of its territorial policies and political strategies, 1969-1991
    (1992) Van Rooyen, Johann; Welsh, David
    To understand the intricacies of white rightwing politics in South Africa, an in-depth analysis of the roots, strength, policies and strategies of a very small but potentially potent sector of South Africa's diverse population is required. The aim of this dissertation is to provide an objective analysis of interlinking issues associated with the rightwing, the gathering and logical presentation of empirical data, the critical discussion of theories relating to ethnicity, and the provision of a framework in which to evaluate further developments in the sphere of rightwing politics. The thesis is concerned with an assessment of the white rightwing movement as a potentially disruptive element within the process of transformation to a democratic dispensation in South Africa. It argues that Afrikaner ethno-nationalism is the driving force of the rightwing, and discusses this phenomenon in the context of its historical roots, its class base, and its ethnic component. The thesis relies on the theoretical framework of Horowitz, which suggests that the rightwing should be analyzed in terms of a collective drive for power, which in turn could be used to confirm the social status of the Afrikaner ethnic group. It is argued that in the rightwing view, the best way to confirm Afrikaner social status and to protect the group from domination by other ethnic groups and races, is through self-determination. To achieve this goal, the rightwing has placed heavy emphasis on territorial aspects and has structured its territorial demands on the basis of achieving ethnic homogeneity in the Afrikaner 'fatherland'.