Getting to CODESA: an analysis on why multiparty negotiations in South Africa began, 1984-1991

This dissertation examines the pre-negotiation stage of the negotiation process in South Africa leading to the first plenary session of the Convention for a Democratic of South Africa on 20 December 1991. The pre-negotiation stage was that period in the South African conflict when negotiated solutions were considered, and negotiation towards a political settlement was adopted as an option by the major parties, namely the National Party South African government and the African National Congress. The central question this dissertation asks is why did the South African multiparty negotiations begin? This question is important; De Klerk's seminal address to the Tricameral Parliament on 2 February 1990, and the subsequent release of Nelson Mandela on 11 February 1990, is often considered as the beginning of the negotiation process in South Africa. This however is not true. Negotiations did take place before this date and they were crucial in shaping the path towards multiparty negotiations. The important question therefore is what prepared the ground for 2 February 1990, and the resulting political process that l ed to multiparty negotiations. The dissertation thus has two sub-questions: (1) why negotiations in South Africa occurred at all; and (2) why the South African government ended up negotiating with the ANC. To answer these questions, the dissertation will use I. William Zartman's theory of ripeness as a guide, and Brian Tomlin's five-staged model of prenegotiation as an analytical framework. In this respect, the dissertation is a theoretical singlecase study. The dissertation argues that multiparty negotiations in South Africa began because the South African government and the African National Congress reached a shared understanding that the South African conflict could be solved through a negotiated solution, produced a commitment to a negotiated solution, and in the process, overcame the problem of preconditions as a barrier to the opening of multiparty negotiations.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Political Studies

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Author dc:creator

• Jolobe, Zwelethu

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Seegers, Annette

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8797

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/8797