A more democratic South Africa now! Emerging black middle class and democracy in South Africa
©2014
Textbook
137 Pages
Summary
Where does South Africa go? Since the dawn of democracy in 1994, the country has been ruled by the former liberation movement, the African National Congress (ANC). Formerly a beacon of hope for most South Africans, the perception of the party has changed. Striking miners, corruption scandals, alleged restrictions on the freedom of the media and cadre employment pose challenges to the rainbow nation and its democracy. But there is also a lot of hope around the Cape: the liberation of South Africa from apartheid gave way to a new generation of young South Africans – the emerging black middle class. Well-educated and highly motivated to work and achieve, this group of people benefits from the lifted restrictions and new opportunities in post-apartheid South Africa. But will it also contribute to the consolidation and further development of democracy in the country? Research in western nations suggests that the middle class is fostering the development of democracy. But does this relation also hold for the emerging black middle class in South Africa? This study tries to shed some light on this extremely relevant and though neglected issue. It draws a picture of the emerging black middle class’ attitudes towards democracy and assesses how this group relates to democracy.
Excerpt
Table Of Contents
Content
1)
South Africa at the crossroad: continuing the democratic path? ... 7
2)
Theoretical prerequisites: emerging black middle class and democracy ... 9
2.1) Emerging
black
middle class ... 9
2.2) Democracy
... 10
2.3)
Relation between middle class and democracy ... 12
3)
Methodology: A qualitative approach ... 14
3.1) Qualitative
data collection ... 14
3.2) Qualitative
data analysis ... 16
4)
The emerging black middle class in South Africa and democracy ... 18
4.1) Understanding
of
democracy
...
18
4.2)
What kind of relation? ... 22
5)
Conclusion: a promising relation ... 29
Literature ... 31
Appendix 1: Analysis Chart ... 35
Appendix 2: Interview Structure ... 47
Appendix 3: Transcription of interviews and remarks ... 55
7
1)
South Africa at the crossroad: continuing the democratic path?
19 years after the promising democratic change in South Africa, the countries challenges and
disparities remain ubiquitous. The huge majority of black South Africans still lives in poverty,
inequality has grown since the end of apartheid, service delivery is a permanent problem
and democratic institutions are at least partly weak (Holden 2012: 95).
However, the new South Africa is not only signified by the aggravation of disparities. Over
the last years, the emergence of a black middle class became steadily more tangible and is
today a mostly undisputed phenomenon (Schrire 2005: 271; Southall 2004: 539; Everatt
2011: 79). Some research has been conducted especially to determine definition criteria for
and the size of a black middle class (Rivero et al. 2003; Southall 2004; Visagie, Posel 2011;
Phadi, Ceruti 2011). The total middle class in South Africa included 29% black South Africans
in 1994, while until 2011, their share had grown to 49.8% of the total middle class (Holden
2012: 226-227). In absolute numbers, the black middle class made up five million people in
2011 (Visagie, Posel 2011: 8, 17) while South Africa had a total black population of around 41
million people (Statistics SA 2011). Hence, approximately 8.2% of the black population group
belongs to the black middle class.
Although there is research discussing the size of the black middle class in South Africa,
neither exists a comprehensive knowledge about the black middle class' attitudes towards
democracy nor is there a profound analysis to which extent the black middle class may
contribute to democracy (Everatt 2011: 79-80; Southall 2004: 528). In order to narrow these
obvious research gaps, this study asks the following research questions:
1) How does the emerging black middle class in South Africa understand democracy?
And
2) How can the relation between the emerging black middle class and democracy be
assessed or rather does the emerging black middle class in South Africa contribute to
the strengthening of democracy in the country?
While these questions are theoretically rooted in the existing research gap, they also bear a
profound practical relevance. Currently, a discussion is under way regarding the "risk of a
slide into authoritarian rule in South Africa over the next several years" (Ulfelder 2012). This
8
risk is predominantly nurtured by the steadily expanding power of the governing African
National Congress (ANC) which has ruled with huge majorities since the end of apartheid in
1994 (Giliomee et al. 2001: 161-162; Southall 2005: 67, 73).
As generally assumed, the middle class is positively related to the development of democracy
(Lipset 1959: 83; Barro 1999: 171; Lu 2005: 171). These previous findings based on research
in the western world lead to the assumption that also the black middle class in South Africa
could be positively linked to the development of democracy. However, a limited body of
literature feeds into the supposition that the relation between middle class and democracy
in developing countries and particularly South Africa, might not be as merely positive as in
the western world (Giliomee, Simkins 1999a: 3, 45; Schlemmer 1999: 287-288; ibid. 2005:
11).
Therefore, to find out more about this opaque relation is important because of two reasons:
theoretically, the relation between middle class and democracy is insufficiently substantiated
for developing countries such as South Africa and needs further enquiry. Practically, due to
the recent challenges to democracy in South Africa it appears useful to clarify if the emerging
black middle class can be a pillar of democracy.
To answer the arising research questions, this study is composed as follows: the second
chapter regards the concepts of an emerging black middle class and democracy more in
detail. Furthermore, the theoretical background of this study the assumed relation
between middle class and democracy shall be introduced. The third chapter on
methodology illustrates the applicability of a qualitative approach to the research questions
and subsequently turns to the method of data collection and analysis. Following, chapter
four contains the actual analysis to answer the research questions: first, the understanding of
democracy of the emerging black middle class as drawn from the collected qualitative data
shall be illustrated. Second, building on the qualitative data, previous research and
quantitative data, the relation between the emerging black middle class and democracy shall
be assessed. Eventually, chapter five offers a brief conclusion summarizing the core findings
of the study and pointing to remaining uncertainties and areas for further research.
9
2)
Theoretical prerequisites: emerging black middle class and democracy
The concepts of an emerging black middle class and democracy are not clear and need some
specifications. There is already some work available that tries to frame the meaning of the
black middle class in South Africa. These sources are going to be the base for the definition
used within this study.
The meaning of democracy is broad. Hence, the section on democracy is going to explore
some attributes that are part of a general understanding of democracy.
The last section gives an overview on how middle class and democracy have been related to
each other in previous research.
2.1) Emerging black middle class
A first approach of defining the middle class just leaves it to every single individual to
determine his or her middle class status. Lu (2005: 163) describes such a method as a
subjectivist approach: "middle class is identified based on an individual's belief or perception
that he or she belongs to the middle stratum of a certain society" (Lu 2005: 163). Obviously,
such an approach suffers from a certain degree of randomness since it does not outline any
clear a priori definition criteria.
A more "objectivist approach" (Lu 2005: 163-164) tries to frame the middle class through a
set of indicators such as income, education or occupation. At this point, one regards the
middle class as "composed of those who possess a set of certain socio-economic attributes,
which qualitatively distinguish themselves from other social classes" (Lu 2005: 164).
In the context of the developing world, a definition that simply frames the middle class as
"those individuals who occupy the middle strata of income distribution" (Visagie, Posel 2011:
2) would be insufficient. Especially in developing countries such as South Africa, the middle
strata of income might still be quite close to poverty and barely linked to a middle class
standard of living (ibid. 2011: 2). Besides, one could argue that a class is more than just an
income group (Everatt 2011: 80, own emphasis). Thus, in the case of South Africa, it makes
sense to define the middle class as a group of people whose "standard of affluence or
lifestyle would normatively be considered as middle class standard of living" (Visagie, Posel
2011: 5).
10
A middle class standard of living is commonly associated with specific occupational
categories in the field of non-manual employment or "white-collar jobs" (Southall 2004:
522). Thus, this study follows some previous suggestions and defines the middle class
according to occupational groups such as "managers, senior officials, legislators,
professionals, associated professionals, technicians and clerks" (Visagie, Posel 2011: 6).
Obviously, as a prerequisite for such occupations, people have to obtain certain levels of
education.
Hence, this study counts people as members of the middle class if they possess a
university degree and are working in a white-collar profession.
The terms black middle class and African middle class are generally used interchangeably.
What they both have in common is that by definition they exclude the white, coloured and
Indian population of South Africa (Southall 2004: 522-523)
Besides, when the term of an emerging black middle class is used throughout this paper, it
implies a double function. First, it emphasizes the recent growth of a black middle class since
the end of apartheid
.
Second, and this is unique within this study, the term emerging refers
to a younger group of black middle class individuals who mainly grew up after the end of
apartheid. This group did not actively experience apartheid in educational institutions or in
the professional field.
The black middle class in general is still far from being the dominant class within the (black)
population of South Africa. Hence, this is also true for the more specific emerging black
middle class. Despite the black middle class' growth, it only makes up 8.2% of the black
population (Visagie, Posel 2011: 5; Statistics SA 2011). The huge majority of black South
Africans still lives under precarious conditions. Consequently, whatever assessment on the
democratic potential of the emerging black middle class will be made, its influence on
democracy might be limited only through its mere size.
2.2) Democracy
Indispensably, one has to clarify along which dimensions democracy can be understood since
it is an essential concept throughout this study.
The meaning of democracy is not unequivocal because "democracy [...] is rather a complex
11
set of characteristics which may be ranked in many different ways" (Lipset 1959: 73).
Although attributes of democracy might be composed differently, there are some defining
characteristics that are generally used to frame the concept of democracy. The influence of
the population on the award of political offices and decisions through the act of voting is
probably the most essential characteristic of democracy:
"Democracy [...] may be defined as a political system which supplies regular
constitutional opportunities for changing governing officials, and a social
mechanism which permits the largest possible part of the population to
influence major decisions by choosing among contenders for political office."
(Lipset 1960: 45)
Such a procedural definition of democracy as an "electoral democracy" (Munck 2009: 123) is
commonly the base for definitions of democracy. As an advantage, it circumvents the
problems of maximalist approaches (Munck, Verkuilen 2009: 17). Also, most of the studies
regarding the relation between middle class and democracy are using a procedural definition
of democracy based on the right to vote.
But democracy seems to be more than "the process of forming governments through the
free competition among politicians for votes" (Munck 2009: 123). Beyond the political right
to vote, democracy is generally defined as implying certain "political liberties" (Bollen 1991:
6) or "civil liberties" (Lu 2005: 167). These liberties refer to the freedom of expression,
associational autonomy and the universal rule of law (Bollen 1991: 6; Lu 2005: 167). A
democracy that is combining the political right to vote, political liberties and the protection
of minorities is called a liberal democracy (Lu 2005: 167).
Sometimes, the concept of a "social democracy" (Bollen 1991: 8-9) is used to refer to a kind of
democracy that is not only ensuring political rights and liberties but also social rights (Meyer
2009: 271-272). These social rights refer to the entitlement to basic material needs. A social
democracy is also associated with policies that are meant to combat an extreme social
polarization, improve the opportunities of disadvantaged groups in society and eventually,
achieve a certain degree of social inclusion (ibid. 2009: 272).
12
To sum up the introduced approaches, democracy can be understood along a political
dimension (right to vote), a civil rights dimension (freedom of expression, association, rule of
law) and probably even a social dimension (basic material needs, social inclusion).
2.3) Relation between middle class and democracy
Lipset as early as in 1959 made a strong statement on the importance of the level of economic
development, education and religion for the emergence of democracy (Lipset 1959: 72, 75). It
was evident that economic development would only be beneficiary to democracy if it was
linked to the development of a middle class that could moderate conflicts in society (ibid.
1959: 83).
Since then, the sometimes so called "Lipset-hypothesis" (Barro 1999: 159) which sees a middle
class as a prerequisite for democracy has been broadly accepted and confirmed in numerous
studies. More recently, Easterly (2001: 330) emphasized that a middle class may contribute to
more democracy and less political instability. Barro (1999) found a number of variables
positively correlated with democracy. He emphasized most prominently the positive influence
of primary education, a majority protestant population and the middle class (Barro 1999: 170-
175). Eventually, the middle class is regarded as "the driving class for democratization" (Lu
2005: 160) because it is assumed that "middle class individuals think and act democratically"
(ibid. 2005: 160).
Although the positive relation between middle class and democracy gained sound scientific
support, the relation is based primarily on studies referring to western countries. In the case of
South Africa, a positive relation has not yet been validated. Existing research mainly focuses on
defining the size and the growth of the emerging black middle class in South Africa (Rivero et
al. 2003; Southall 2004; Visagie, Posel 2011; Phadi, Ceruti 2011).
As an exception, Schlemmer (2005) tries to shed light on the issue of whether a black middle
class could be beneficiary to a plural democracy in South Africa. He found that the black middle
class is strongly aligned with the ruling ANC and that it is highly supportive of affirmative action,
empowerment policies for the black population and an interventionist state (Schlemmer 2005: 6-
11). Nevertheless, it remains questionable how far Schlemmer's findings relate to an emerging
black middle class as defined in this paper. His assertions just refer to "a core middle class" (ibid.
13
2005: 2) which is more similar to a black elite than an emerging middle class.
Eventually, the relation between middle class and democracy in South Africa remains under-
researched and if one regards the scarce findings available, they hint that the relation might
not work as well as in developed countries, especially if the middle class owes its emergence
to the ruling party: "a middle class which has risen as a result of ruling party patronage does
not play any significant role in broadening and strengthening democracy" (Giliomee, Simkins
1999a: 3). The emergence of the black middle class in South Africa was fostered through the
ruling ANC and stems also from the ANC's empowerment policies and schemes of public
sector employment (Holden 2012: 227). Consequently, some doubts regarding the validity of
the positive relation between the emerging black middle class and democracy in South Africa
might be reasonable.
Due to the emphasis that the depicted previous research put on the relation between the
black middle class and the governing ANC, the paper at hand also focuses on this specific
issue in chapter 4.2. It makes sense to assess the relation of the emerging black middle class
to democracy in regard of its affiliation to the ANC because the ANC's consolidated position
of power is commonly seen as one main obstacle to the deepening of democracy in South
Africa (Southall 2005: 67).
14
3)
Methodology: A qualitative approach
When an area of interest has barely been researched before, qualitative methods are
commonly regarded as helpful in order to achieve a first understanding of the field (Flick
2004: 149; Gerring 2009: 1142). In regard of the first research question, information about
the emerging black middle class' understanding of democracy are barely available. Hence,
due to the lack of previous knowledge a qualitative approach seems to be feasible to answer
the first research question.
But also concerning the second research question, which tries to illuminate the relation
between the emerging black middle class in South Africa and democracy, a qualitative
approach appears useful. A qualitative approach with a small number of cases can also make
a contribution to validate, counterfeit or alternate theories and scientific regularities (Flick
2004: 149; Mayring 2010: 25). The introduced relation between middle class and democracy
is such a scientific regularity and a qualified statement about its validity in the particular case
of South Africa can be gained through a qualitative approach.
Undeniably, this study is confronted with the general problem that significant differences are
to be found between citizens' political attitudes and their actual behaviour (Almond, Verba
1963: 479). Certain political attitudes do not automatically result into the respective
behaviour or actions. Only "if politics becomes intense [...] because of some salient issue"
(ibid. 1963: 483), political attitudes might also result into the respective political behaviour.
Thus, even if this paper found that the emerging black middle class shared certain attitudes
towards the existing shape of democracy in South Africa, it would not automatically imply
that the emerging black middle class would also engage into actions to change the
democratic system and realize its attitudes.
3.1) Qualitative
data
collection
Data material as the foundation for answering the arising research questions was collected
through semi-structured interviews. These interviews are characterized as follows: first, open
questions without fixed answer categories guarantee that the interviewee is able to develop
his or her own unbiased response (Porst 2011: 54). Second, there is some space for flexibility
meaning that the interviewer is able to further inquire in cases of uncertainties or special
interests (Flick 2012: 223). Third, a certain set of guiding questions exists that must be posed
15
to all interviewees. Posing a certain number of questions to all interviewees also contributes
to the sandardization of the method and buttresses the comparability of the interviews (Flick
2012: 174).
The interview structure anticipated previous research and theoretical considerations as
outlined in the second chapter. Moreover, the interview structure includes a section of "issue
oriented questions" (Stake 1995: 65) relating to recent political developments in South
Africa. Unfortunately, there is no space to discuss the composition of questions or categories
in detail.
A core characteristic of qualitative research is that cases are selected according to the
relevance for the research question being under scrutiny (Flick 2012: 175, 159). Thus, the
cases for this study were selected according to an a priori principal. Interviewees only
qualified for an interview if they met the definition criteria of the emerging black middle
class (see chapter 2.1) and could be seen as an ideal type of the defined group.
Consequently, all interviewees were black South Africans who did not actively experience
apartheid in education or profession (none beyond 25 years of age). All of them possessed
an academic degree and worked in a white-collar profession. Most of them also owned a car
and rented an apartment or suburban house which can be seen as a further prove of their
middle class standard of living (Visagie, Posel 2011: 5).
Totally, there are five cases or rather five interviews that were conducted in South Africa,
Johannesburg, in March 2013. Johannesburg as a region was chosen due to its status as the
economic power house of South Africa. It was expected to find individuals meeting the
middle class definition more easily than in generally poorer rural areas. Three of the
interviewees were male and two interviewees were female. The names of the interviewees
were made anonymous and all of them were asked for the permission and agreed to the
recording and the further use of the interviews for this paper.
16
Inevitably, the collection of interview data is confronted with a set of flaws. For this study,
problems might originate especially from the following conditions: first, interviewees might
have answered according to a perceived social expectation (Diekmann 2010: 447). They
could have artificially stressed their positive understanding or relation to democracy because
democracy is generally thought of as an appropriate governmental system. Second, the
interviewer could have biased the responses of the interviewees (Diekmann 2010: 447, 466).
Skin colour still matters in the post-apartheid context of South Africa, and the fact that the
interviewer was white and came from a European country whereas the interviewees were
black South Africans might have also influenced the outcome of the interviews. However,
social science research never operates in a clean laboratory so that it will always remain
difficult to rule out such distorting effects completely.
3.2) Qualitative
data
analysis
Qualitative research sometimes suffers from the not unjustified objection that "apparently
almost anything is still methodologically possible under the label of qualitative research"
(Lüders 2004: 360). Transparency can be one key to overcome the pitfalls of qualitative
methods (ibid. 2004: 360). This paper anticipates the requirement of transparency in various
ways: first, all interviews are made available in the attachment of this paper. Second, an
analysis chart is attached to this paper which shows how single interview passages are linked
to certain categories. Providing this measure of transparency, steps of interpretation become
comprehensible. Third, this study is inspired by the well developed method of qualitative
content analysis (Mayring 2010). Characteristically, qualitative content analysis implies a
systematical and theory driven approach (ibid. 2010: 12-13). Through the second chapter it
has already become palpable that this paper connects to previous research and existing
theoretical knowledge and is hence theoretically embedded.
Specifically, Mayring (2010: 65-66) differentiates between three techniques of interpretation:
summary, explication and structuring. This paper makes use of the second and third
technique. Structuring means to filter certain aspects out of the data material (ibid. 2010: 65,
own emphasis). These certain aspects in the realm of this study are the understandings of
democracy of the emerging black middle class. Thus, the technique of structuring will be
used to answer the first research question.
17
The technique of explication refers to adding additional data to the self-collected data (ibid.
2010: 65, own emphasis). This technique will be used to develop an answer to the second
research question and to assess the relation between the emerging black middle class and
democracy. As additional data this paper will use findings from previous research and some
quantitative data. Quantitative data is used to explicate certain trends and to substantiate or
to relativize the qualitative findings. Since there is no quantitative data that is directly
referring to the middle class as an independent variable, this paper uses education as a proxy
variable that can be linked to the middle class. According to the chosen definition within this
paper, university educated sections of the South African society can be associated with the
middle class.
If inferences based on the interview data are made, a code is stated that refers to a certain
category in the analysis chart so that it becomes transparent on which passages from the
interviews a certain conclusion is based (e.g. C3 = category 3). The codes are to be found in
the analysis chart and stand for certain categories. On a more general level, categories within
the analysis chart are framed under some main categories. Also direct quotations from the
interviews are made if they illustrate a typical pattern that could be found within the
interview data. Roman numbers indicate the interview number (I-V). After that, the page (p.)
and lines (l.) are given to indicate the exact position in the respective interview.
18
4)
The emerging black middle class in South Africa and democracy
Chapter four compiles the actual empirical analysis. The first section deals with the emerging
black middle class' understanding of democracy, solely on the base of the collected interview
data. The second section builds on these first findings, the interview data, previous research
and some quantitative data in order to assess the relation between the emerging black
middle class and democracy in South Africa.
4.1) Understanding of democracy
To get a first impression of the emerging black middle class' understanding of democracy,
frequently used words were counted when the interviewees described their understanding
of democracy in the second section of the interviews (fig. 1). If a word like "vote" was
introduced by the interviewer's question, the word was not included into the count. Words
were only counted if they were introduced independently by the interviewee.
Fig. 1: Word count of frequently used key terms in regard of democracy
Interestingly, the most frequently used word in the context of describing democracy was
"opportunity" or the plural, "opportunities". The words appeared 28 times in the second
section of all interviews. The second most common terms were "free, freedom" whereby
freedom as an essential of democracy was commonly understood as a freedom of choice: "I
can say that democracy means freedom of choice" (I, p. 2, l. 23-24). The words "empower,
empowerment" hold the third position. The idea of empowerment was closely associated
with opportunities in the sense that a democratic system must empower disadvantaged
opportunity, opportunities
free, freedom
empower, empowerment
vote
equality
choice
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
28
19
13
12
9
3
19
people in society so that they might enjoy better opportunities in life. The words "vote",
"equality" and "choice" were less frequently used. However, voting is accepted as an
essential pillar of democracy. The word was moderately used and compared to "opportunity,
opportunities" the implications of voting were just not further elaborated by the
interviewees.
Throughout the analysis of the interviews it became apparent that the understanding of
democracy is still strongly linked to the past of apartheid (C1). This is an interesting finding
since the target group did at least not actively experience apartheid. Demands posed to
democracy and characteristics that democracy should embrace today are derived from the
time of pre-1994 or the present consequences of that time:
"I relate it [democracy] to apartheid within South Africa as a black person then you
could not basically do anything" (II, p. 2, l. 21-23)
Thus, as a starting point, democracy is essentially understood as the absence of former
apartheid legislation and the resulting restrictions on the individual's freedom in regard of
choices and chances (C4):
"it [democracy] means being able to be anything I want without any restrictions"
(III, p. 1, l. 20-p. 2, l. 1)
The emerging black middle class acknowledges that the majority of the South African
population was disadvantaged during decades of minority rule and that the consequences
are still obvious today. As democracy today is still regarded with reference to the past, there
is a strong emphasis on an opportunity-creating dimension of democracy:
"democracy must provide opportunities [...] that people have never had before"
(II, p. 2, l. 37-38)
Democracy is supposed to create opportunities for people. This is a ubiquitous essential of
the emerging black middle class' understanding of democracy (C6). Specifically, opportunities
are framed as chances in life to improve one's circumstances of living and to pursue a self-
defined goal. Practically, opportunities are seen as access to education or the provision of
20
jobs. Besides, democracy is not only considered as a system that provides theoretically or
legally equal conditions for everybody to access opportunities or rather educational
institutions and certain jobs. On the contrary, the emerging black middle class favours a
concept of democracy that also materially supports previously disadvantaged members of
society so that they may enjoy improved educational and job opportunities (C9). As a tool to
achieve these broader opportunities, equity and affirmative action policies like Black
Economic Empowerment (BEE) are unanimously supported (C10):
"there is the whole Black Economic Empowerment thing that is making sure that black
people [...] get opportunities to do things that they had never done before like become
CEO of a company" (II, p. 7, l. 6-10)
The support for this kind of legislation that is aimed to increase the representation of black
South Africans in qualified professions through the introduction of quotas for black
employees or preferences within the recruitment process is generally very strong:
"Right now, the stage we are in, in our democracy, I believe there is a need for a BEE
kind of system" (III, p. 16, l. 26-29)
There is not one negative statement to be found that would generally refute the
implementation of affirmative action policies. If affirmative action policies are criticized then
only in relation to the way they are implemented and executed (C11):
"So I think it's [BEE] necessary right now [...] maybe the implementation [...]
something is wrong because [...] people are still not seeing the fruits of this
policy" (III, p. 16, l. 26-33)
The strong support for social equity policies continues on a more general level together with
the demand for an active state (C9):
"as long as the government and the private sector cannot create enough jobs for
everyone there will always have to be social welfare because people have to get out of
poverty" (IV, p.17, l. 2-5)
21
However, even if affirmative policies are supported that enforce employment quotas and
preferential recruitment of black South Africans, there is a sceptical attitude towards mere
welfare programmes and redistribution to be found:
"giving people social grants and all these things it's not necessarily helping them grow
[...] it's keeping them at the same place" (III, p. 2, l. 11-13)
Thus, even if policies that are meant to ameliorate the access to opportunities are decisively
welcomed, a kind of dependency state that is permanently alimenting disadvantaged groups
of society is rejected (C13). In this regard, it is demanded to tackle the perceived root causes
of poverty which are seen in restricted access to opportunities. Statements demanding only
the creation of an equal base of political liberties whereas "everything else needs to be up to
the individual" (III, p. 15, l. 8-10) are just a minority opinion. Essentially, all interviewees
agreed on a comprehensive support of affirmative action policies.
Finally, the profound agreement on social and affirmative action policies (C9, C10) feeds into
the conclusion that the emerging black middle class attaches a significant social dimension to
democracy.
Obviously, the right to vote is regarded as a further essential of democracy (C2). However,
references to the importance of voting are significantly less frequent than to the importance
of opportunity creation (C6). Perhaps, the neglect of voting appears because the right to vote
is already perceived as normal after four inclusive elections. Moreover, social disparities are
omnipresent in everyday South Africa so that their alleviation in terms of opportunity
creation might seem to be more important. But clearly, it could also nurture the suspicion
that the process of selecting leaders through elections is regarded as less important as long
as affirmative action policies are pursued. However, against such a conclusion stands a
relatively strong claim that is made for direct elements of democracy (C8).
In terms of political liberties, specific attention is devoted to the freedom of expression.
Although it must stand behind the all dominating importance of opportunity creation
through democracy, the freedom of expression is valued especially in regard of the ability to
criticize the flaws of the governing ANC (C5, C26).
22
To summarize the findings, democracy is on the one hand understood as the absence of
former apartheid legislation that restricted the access to certain opportunities (education,
occupation, movement) and on the other hand, as the current existence of policies that are
introduced to mitigate social imbalances and impeded opportunities of the past. This social
dimension of democracy is seen as primarily essential to democracy.
A political rights dimension in terms of the right to vote and a political liberties dimension in
terms of freedom of expression are also regarded as important, especially in the light of
recent threats to the freedom of expression.
4.2) What kind of relation?
Previous research in the western world leads to the assumption that the middle class is positively
contributing to the development of democracy. However, the middle class hypothesis is
questioned in the case of the developing world and particularly South Africa (Giliomee, Simkins
1999a: 3; ibid. 1999b: 343; Schlemmer 1999: 287-288; ibid. 2005: 10-11). In this context, it has
been argued that the middle class is not necessarily fostering democracy since "a middle class
that has risen out of ruling party patronage does not play any significant role in broadening and
strengthening democracy" (Giliomee, Simkins 1999a: 3).
In the case of South Africa, it is true that the emergence of the black middle class
coincides with the ANC's time in government, its empowerment policies, preferential
employment and the demographic transformation of the civil service (Holden 2012: 227).
Hence, the emerging black middle class in South Africa is to some extent "a state
sponsored middle class" (Giliomee, Simkins 1999b: 343) but does this automatically
imply that it will be "unlikely to turn away from the party that had made its rise possible"
(ibid. 1999b: 343)?
The collected interview data does not confirm an exceptionally sound bond between the
ANC and the emerging black middle class in South Africa. The relation is more complex.
On the one hand, the ANC of the anti-apartheid struggle is still held in high esteem by the
emerging black middle class (C16). The merits of the ANC as a liberation movement that
freed South Africa from apartheid and brought democracy to its entire people are
23
emphasized. But on the other hand, the emerging black middle class recognizes that since its
time in government, the ANC has demised and none of the interviewees has been satisfied
with the ANC's performance (C17, C18):
"The ANC is like the father of democracy in South Africa. [...] they freed the
country [...] I'm grateful to the party, the whole organisation and all the people that
contributed but obviously [...] the last 19 years they sort of deteriorated"
(IV, p. 9, l. 16-22)
The high levels of corruption within the ANC led government are seen as one of the most
crucial deteriorations of the party (C18). The corruption problem is regarded as a waste of
public financial means that stunts the broadening of opportunities for disadvantaged people.
Clearly, such developments are leading to the distancing of the emerging black middle class
from the ANC since the creation of opportunities is seen as the most essential characteristic
of democracy (compare chapter 4.1).
Thus, this study finds a high level of critical distance between the emerging black middle
class and the ANC (C17, C18). The findings at hand do not support the allegation that
"especially the better-educated emerging middle class tend[s] to favour a hegemonic
position for the most popular party" (Schlemmer 1999: 298). Apart from the qualitative
findings based on the interviews, this assertion is also challenged by quantitative data. There
is no evidence for the claim that especially the better educated emerging black middle class
is prone to one party rule. The next graph (fig. 2) shows approval rates of one party rule
among black South Africans according to educational levels (Afrobarometer 2010-2012). The
approval rate of one party rule among black South Africans with primary or secondary
education is relatively high but decreases significantly with an academic level of education.
While still 24% of black South Africans with a primary school education support one party
rule, the group that is related to the middle class the university educated people (e, f)
shows the lowest support rate for one party rule: Only 3% of black South Africans with a first
university degree are in favour of one party rule.
24
Fig.2: Approval of one party rule among black South Africans according to education
Educational level of black South Africans
Approval of one
party rule
No formal schooling (a)
10%
(n=84)
Primary schooling completed (b)
24%
(n=178)
Secondary/high school completed (c)
21%
(n=477)
Post-secondary qualification, other than university (d)
14%
(n=99)
University completed, first degree (e)
3%
(n=16)
Post-graduate(f)
0%
(n=4)
The percentage for group (f) is based on a very small number of cases (n=4).
However, an academic level of education and a low approval of one party rule
are in congruence with the qualitative data.
Moreover, the claim that an emerging black middle class is less democratic due to its
staunch inclination to the ANC (Schlemmer 1999: 298) is refuted by the comparison of
university educated black and white South Africans. The following graph (fig. 3) shows the
support of one party rule among university educated South Africans according to population
groups (Afrobarometer 2010-2012). Generally, levels of support for one party rule are low.
But if one compares the two population groups, black university educated South Africans
(3%) seem to be even less prone to one party rule than white university educated South
Africans (15%). Thus, also the quantitative data does not allow for an inference that would
picture the emerging black middle class as less democratic than a comparable white middle
class in terms of approval to one party rule.
a
b
c
d
e
f
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
R² = 0,45
25
Fig. 3: Approval of one party rule among university educated South Africans (first degree) according to population
group
Population group
Approval of one
party rule
Black South Africans
3%
(n=16)
White South Africans
15%
(n=36)
But even if the emerging black middle class is far from being firmly aligned with the ruling
ANC, it remains to some extent affiliated to the party due to the lack of a present electoral
alternative.
Partly, support for the ANC is even granted if one is highly dissatisfied with the party's
performance. Due to the lack of a current alternative to the ANC, one does abide with the ruling
party (V, p. 6, l. 38-41). The Democratic Alliance (DA), the main opposition party, is sometimes
perceived as a white dominated party and thus for some it is not an option to vote for (C22). In
this sense, there is limited truth in the
assertion of a linkage between the black middle class and the ANC but this is less due to
conviction as due to a serious and electable alternative to the ANC.
Besides, although a significant degree of dissatisfaction with the ANC is to be found, it remains
true that the emerging black middle class is benefiting from the current democratic system in
South Africa that has been shaped through the ANC in government since the end of apartheid
Black South Africans
White South Africans
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
26
(Holden 2012: 237). Also the interview data shows that the emerging black middle class regards
itself as highly benefiting from the current shape of democracy (C27):
"I feel like democracy is only working for people like me" (IV, p. 6, l. 39-40)
This finding might cause some doubt how far the emerging black middle class is really willing to
alternate the currently existing framework of democracy in South Africa. Since the emerging
black middle class regards itself as benefiting from the current system, it might not have an
incentive to change it. At this point, it could be reasonable to think that the emerging black
middle class primarily stabilizes the current democratic system instead of changing it into a more
democratic direction.
But though benefiting from the current democratic system, the emerging black middle class'
dissatisfaction with the ANC is significant (C17, C18) and an extensive demand for more political
competition and a more sophisticated multi-party system (C19) is to be found. An urgent need
for the strengthening of the opposition to the ANC and the formation of a serious electoral
alternative is regarded as highly important.
To some extent, this support of a plural democratic system is also buttressed by quantitative
data. The next graph (fig. 4) shows approval rates of multi-party democracy among black South
Africans according to educational levels (Afrobarometer 2010-2012). From primary school level
on, the approval increases with the educational level and is exceptionally high among the group
of black South Africans with a first university degree (88%). Interestingly, the demand for multi-
party democracy drops with post-graduate education but this might be due to the restricted
quantitative data (only four cases for post-graduates) and is probably not an empirical regularity.
Fig. 4: Approval of a multi-party system among black South Africans according to education
a
b
c
d
e
f
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
R² = 0,02
27
Educational level of black South Africans
Approval of a
multi-party system
No formal schooling (a)
73%
(n=84)
Primary schooling completed (b)
61%
(n=178)
Secondary/high school completed (c)
71%
(n=477)
Post-secondary qualification, other than university
(d)
78%
(n=99)
University completed, first degree (e)
88%
(n=16)
Post-graduate(f)
62%
(n=4)
The percentage for group (f) is based on a very small number of cases
(n=4). Hence, it is doubtable if the support of a multi-party system really
declines with the highest educational level. The qualitative findings of
this study do not suggest such an interpretation.
Furthermore, the emerging black middle class' support of a multi-party system does not seem
less significant if one compares it to an equally educated white middle class. The graph below
(fig. 5) varies the population group (skin colour) among people with a first university education
(Afrobarometer 2010-2012). Generally, the approval of a multi-party system is high among black
and white South Africans with university education. It is even slightly higher among black South
Africans (88%) than white South Africans (80%). Hence, the quantitative data underpins the
qualitative finding of an emerging black middle class that supports multi-party democracy and
more political competition. There is no evidence to be found that the emerging black middle
class could be particularly less democratic than other middle class segments in the South African
society.
Fig. 5: Approval of a multi-party system among university educated South Africans (first degree) according to population group
Black South Africans
White South Africans
76%
78%
80%
82%
84%
86%
88%
90%
28
Population group
Approval of a multi-
party system
Black South Africans
88%
(n=16)
White South Africans
80%
(n=36)
The high level of support for a multi-party system among the emerging black middle class
probably stems from the following conviction: a strong competitor to the ANC could
contribute to a better functioning democratic system with less flaws in regard
of service delivery and corruption (C19). Out of the claim for multi-party democracy, there is
a profound demand for a serious opposition party to the ANC.
In conclusion, regarding its support of multi-party democracy, the emerging black middle
class could indeed contribute to a more democratic system (Holden 2012: 236) despite of its
benefits from the current shape of democracy.
Another important pattern shows that skin colour in terms of political preferences is less
significant for the emerging black middle class. The focus lies more on objective facts like
party performance and policies (C29). Hence, the emerging black middle class is a factor that
could contribute positively to a democracy less burdened by the skin colour divide:
"I think people in our generation those that have had a good, I guess education,
would be able to reason for themselves" (II, p. 19, l. 9-11)
Eventually, chapter 4.1, when discussing the emerging black middle class' understanding of
democracy, stressed the importance of a social dimension that is attached to democracy.
Democracy is understood as opportunity-creating through affirmative and empowerment
policies (C6, C9, C10). Obviously, also through direct material support and preferential
treatment of black South Africans but without establishing a permanent dependency culture
on fiscal transfers (C13). In this sense, the study at hand would agree with the summary that
"the key interests of the African middle class are centred on occupational mobility; as such
affirmative action, employment equity, and empowerment policies" (Schlemmer 2005: 12).
Taking these previous findings and the interview data into account, one might regard the
emerging black middle class primarily as a driver of a strong social dimension to democracy.
29
5)
Conclusion: a promising relation
First, this study finds that the emerging black middle class contributes positively to
democracy through its demand for a multi-party system and serious opposition parties as an
electable alternative to the ANC.
Second, although benefiting from the current shape of democracy in South Africa, the
emerging black middle class is less aligned with the ANC and less driven by skin colour than
an older black middle class that still experienced the hardship of apartheid. Thus, the
emerging black middle class does not necessarily stabilize the ruling ANC. At this point, the
results of this study differ fundamentally from previous findings that stated a general
alignment of the black middle class with the governing ANC (Schlemmer 1999: 287-288; ibid.
2005: 10-11; Holden, Plaut 2012: 348). Apparently, the findings of this study are more in
congruence with research that argues for a general positive relation between middle class
and democracy (Lipset 1959: 83; Barro 1999: 171; Easterly 2001: 330; Lu 2005: 171).
Third, the emerging black middle class appears to be foremost a driver of a social type of
democracy which tries to mitigate the imbalanced access to opportunities for the black
population. At this point, the emerging black middle class is supportive to a democratic
system that through affirmative policies tries to ameliorate the social standing of black South
Africans without growing a permanent dependency on state grants. Thus, the study could
confirm previous assumptions of the black middle class' inclination to a social dimension of
democracy (Schlemmer 2005: 12). Besides, in regard of feared limitations to the freedom of
expression in South Africa, one finds a strong support for the political liberties dimension of
democracy. This finding indicates once more that the emerging black middle class is far from
being manifestly aligned with the ruling ANC.
Practically, even if this study finds a positive relation between the emerging black middle
class in South Africa and the further strengthening of democracy, it is difficult to assess how
far this positive relation might be really effective. The relative size of the black middle class is
still quite small compared to the impoverished masses. Besides, the democratic attitudes of
the emerging black middle class will not automatically result into respective actions that
could alter the current shape of democracy in South Africa (Almond, Verba 1963: 479). Not
to forget that the middle class is not the only factor influencing the thriving of democracy.
Nevertheless, through alignments with other like-minded segments of the South African
30
society and a currently developing new party, the democratic aspirations of the emerging
black middle class could come into effect.
Unfortunately, this paper was not able to make full use of the abundance of data collected
through the interviews. To give an example, the interview data could have also provided for a
more detailed analysis of the necessary qualities of an alternative party to the ANC that
would seek to obtain support from the emerging black middle class. This could be an
interesting topic given the emerging black middle class' substantial demand for more party
competition and its proneness to an alternative party apart from the ANC.
Eventually, to further substantiate the claim for a positive relation between the emerging
black middle class and the development of democracy in South Africa, one could also expand
the study and conduct the same interviews with people living in poverty and who do not
belong to the middle class. Subsequently, it would be interesting to compare how far
attitudes and relation to democracy differ and how far the emerging black middle class is
really a stronger pillar of democracy than other sections of society in South Africa. Hence, to
vary the independent variable (middle class) and to contrast cases would also imply an
additional methodological value and increase the general meaningfulness of the findings.
Regrettably, such an approach was not feasible within the limited scope of this study but
could be an inspiration for more extensive research projects in the future.
31
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Details
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- Keywords
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