Abstract
By now it is fairly commonplace to hear or read of political commentators on South Africa predicting a ‘plural’ devolution of power for the country. One of the first major statements of this alternative came from the SPRO-CAS Politics Commission (Randall, 1973), and the theme has been reappearing ever since, among the most recent references to it is in a paper by Welsh at the 1976 Annual Council Meeting of the South African Institute of Race Relations (Welsh, 1976). The concept, in very broad, perhaps very vague, terms, has also been creeping into party political nomenclature — the Minister of the Interior recently referred to South Africa as a ‘plural democracy’, and currently an internal commission appointed by the South African Cabinet is considering ways of ‘moving away’ from the Westminster model of government. This development follows a rejection by the Cabinet of a recommendation in the report of the Theron Commission that the franchise on the South African parliamentary voters’ roll be restored to the Coloured people.
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© 1978 Nic Rhoodie
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Schlemmer, L. (1978). The Devolution of Power in South Africa: Problems and Prospects. In: Rhoodie, N., Ewing, W.C. (eds) Intergroup Accommodation in Plural Societies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-04314-9_22
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-04314-9_22
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