Social cohesion in South Africa

To which extent does the image of the ‘rainbow nation’ capture nation-building and the social structure of the ‘new’ South Africa? Plagued by political scandals, abuse of power by government officials, a long-standing electricity crisis, gross socio-economic inequality (along both racial and class lines), as well as recurring xenophobic attacks against immigrants from other African nations, especially Nigerians, Zimbabweans, or Mozambicans, it seems plausible to assume that social cohesion in South Africa is relatively low.

This essay examines who determines “cohesion” in South Africa and to what extent it has informed the imagined community and nation-building processes in post-Apartheid South Africa. The essay will explore the issue from numerous angles by asking the following questions: How does national identity intersect with individual identities? How successful was the ANC’s commitment to non-racialism and which factors influence its success? How does inequality undermine social cohesion? To which extent are colonialism and apartheid obscured by the rhetoric of the ‘rainbow nation’? Finally, it shall also shed some light on whether a lack of consensus about a national South African identity may result in a crisis of national legitimacy.

What is “social cohesion”?

Social cohesion refers to the extent of connectedness and solidarity among groups in society. It identifies two main dimensions: the sense of belonging of a community and the relationships among members within the community itself. The concept of “social cohesion” stems from a democratic effort to establish social balance, economic dynamism, and national identity, with the goals of founding a system of equity, sustaining the impulses of uncontrolled economic growth, and avoiding social fractures (Manca 2014).

Political science commonly defines social cohesion as a social process which aims to “consolidate plurality of citizenship” by reducing inequality and socioeconomic disparities and fractures in the society (ibid.). It is seen to be reflective of people’s needs for both personal development and a sense of belonging and links together individual freedom and social justice, economic efficiency and the fair sharing of resources, and pluralism and common rules for resolving all conflicts. As such, social cohesion can be understood as positive relations among individuals and groups as well as between society and the state; these levels are called horizontal and vertical dimension of a society, respectively (Cox et al. 2023).

Nation-building and social cohesion in South Africa

In the case of South Africa, the content of social cohesion is articulated by government as its ‘template’ for nation-building and directed at the populace for enacting such a vision. It uses similar social policy concepts as elsewhere, but these have become inextricably linked nation-building. In his study of nation-building campaigns in the first two decades of post-Apartheid South Africa, Abrahams (2014) has argued that this formulation is deeply political in the sense that the social cohesion project (and its connection with nation-building) instantiates a version of nation that is based on – and produces – a narrative that seeks to solidify the African National Congress’s hegemony.

It has been criticized that the current discourse reduces social cohesion to a banal form of nationalism that requires the enactment of certain allegiances, namely the symbols and historical narratives of South Africa’s liberation, thus closely aligning with the ANC’s vision of South Africa (Johnston 2014). Consequently, the discourse upholds an idea of an archetypal South African identity as an important marker of how far South Africa has come in creating a united, cohesive society.

These concepts, however, Abrahams (2014) criticizes, are divisive and irreconcilable with the diverse expressions of identity in contemporary South Africa, which calls into question their usefulness for nation-building, which Anderson (2006) has called “a community” bound together by “a deep, horizontal comradeship" (Anderson 2006). By fostering nationalism, Abrahams (2014) argues, the current version of social cohesion becomes the seedbed for racism and ethnic chauvinism against those who are perceived not to belong, thereby perpetuating an exclusive notion of “South Africanness.” Social cohesion, he suggests, must be re-politicized instead of being conceived of as primarily “party-political,” especially since the ANC-led government appears willing to stake a claim on the concept (Abrahams 2014). Social cohesion as a notion that embraces social justice, solidarity and inclusion must be valued and supported by both state and society, and it must be a visionary project that is co-created by each. “If social cohesion as a discourse is not widened to equally include those who support the national vision of the ANC and those who do not,” Abrahams (2014) goes on, “then what is at stake is the social compact of a co-created just and equal society" (Abrahams 2014: 107).

Does the current nation-building ideology in South Africa politicize a version of social cohesion that insists upon a particular version of identity and patriotic allegiance? If so, a more inclusive social cohesion may be achieved by moving from national consciousness to political and social consciousness. After the end of Apartheid, the process of social cohesion as nation-building has been fundamentally political, not in the sense that it creates social and political spheres, but in terms of being intimately tied to party politics. Casting social cohesion as nation-building has established the hegemony of the ANC government, and at the same time delegitimizes other pursuits/forms of social cohesion outside this party-political space. The current social cohesion, it seems, enforces a unity of identity as a coercive form of citizenship rather than allowing the diversity of expressions available to citizens as a marker of their identities.

Similarly, Hart (2013) has observed that the contemporary nationalization project in South Africa is linked to the hegemonic project of the ANC and its appeals to a particular narrative of the nation. This process that is informed by the moral weight of the “liberatory narratives” evoked by the ANC during election times, its policies and the party-specific vision of the South African society (Hart 2013: 23). Others have also noted that through these tropes “legitimation is sought more and more from appeals to ‘Africanist’ racial solidarity and nostalgic recollections of patriarchal social order" (Lodge 2014:2).

Ever since the end of Apartheid, Abrahams (2014) suggests, the ANC has increasingly adopted more narrow, coercive and conservative expressions of nationalism, while political contestation has “forced the ANC to flank-watch and may have helped fuel an Africanist tendency within the ANC uncomfortable with nation-building on the basis of non-racialism and human rights" (Beall et al. 2005: 692). It is a particular version of nation, strongly held onto by the ANC. The unchallenged rehearsal of such a discourse as an articulation of social cohesion 20 years after democracy is thus deeply political in that it recreates and entrenches the ANC’s narrative that it is that vanguard for nation.

The Rainbow Nation

South Africa’s transition to democracy and acceptance as a member of the national community has been accompanied by a quest for a new national identity. The “rainbow nation,” a term coined by archbishop Desmond Tutu, symbolizes the ‘new’ South Africa, and has come to represent the imaginary nation constructed by the South African government in the post-apartheid era. The rainbow symbolizes a range of cultural groups represented by discrete colours and hues which blur into one another; none of which is completely distinct but each is essential to the composition of the entire spectrum. It has been claimed that the rainbow is incomplete without each of the colours, but none of the colours or strands is dominant over the other. The rainbow consequently implies the co-existence of individual and collective identities – a representation of different cultures and of a shared “South Africanness” and a celebration of South Africa’s diversity (Habib 1997). In his inaugural address in 1994, Nelson Mandela described his image of the ‘new’ South Africa as follows:

[to] build [a] society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts, assured of their inalienable right to human dignity – a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world.

The ANC government began to articulate its vision of the ‘imagined community’ of the South African nation shortly after the end of Apartheid. In July 1997, it released a document entitled Nation-Formation and Nation Building which sought to “assert African hegemony in the context of a multi-cultural and non-racial society.” The opposition party Democratic Alliance (DA), meanwhile, has proclaimed The Death of the Rainbow Nation in a policy document. Former leader Tony Leon attributed the demise of the ‘rainbow nation’ to “a creeping re-introduction of race policies in South African society” by the ANC since 1994.

The legacy of systematic racial ordering and discrimination under apartheid is that South Africa remains deeply racialised, in cultural and social terms – as well as deeply unequal – in terms of the distribution of income and opportunities. Seeking’s (2008) study on the salience of race has argued that South Africans continue to see themselves in the racial categories of the Apartheid era, partly because these categories have become the basis for post-apartheid ‘redress,’ and partly because they retain cultural meaning in everyday life. South Africans, he goes on, “continue to inhabit social worlds that are largely defined by race,” and many express negative views of other racial groups. Although schools provide an important opportunity for inter-racial interaction for middle- class children, there has been little racial integration in residential areas (Seekings 2008; Seekings & Nattrass 2005).

However, Seekings (2008) also notes that experimental and survey research provide little evidence of racism. Few people complain about racial discrimination, although many report everyday experiences that might be understood as discriminatory. Racial discrimination per se, his findings suggest, seems to be of minor importance in shaping opportunities in post-apartheid South Africa. He places far importance to disadvantages of class, exacerbated by neighbourhood effects: poor schooling, lack of footholds in the labour market, or lack of financial capital. The relationship between race and class, he argues, is now very much weaker than in the past. Overall, however, race remains very important in cultural and social terms, and still plays a role in structuring economic advantage and disadvantage.

The South African Reconciliation Barometer

The South African Reconciliation Barometer (SARB) conducts surveys with 2500-3000 people on various factors it views as central to reconciliation and social cohesion in South Africa: (1) power relations; (2) democratic political culture; (3) Apartheid legacy; (4) racial reconciliation; (5) improvement in reconciliation; (6) perception of change. The questions mainly revolve around national identity, unity and nation-building, reconciliation and social cohesion, as well as democratic political culture.

The South African Reconciliation Barometer has stressed the importance of national identity, unity and nation-building, arguing that, “A strong sense of a shared national unity is an essential basis for furthering social cohesion" (SARB 2021). Most recent surveys show that South Africans identify themselves – and also want their children to identify – as South Africans. Nonetheless, class and race are among the top divisions in South African society as per the respondents, and SARB (2021) shows that South Africans believe these vast disparities to be detrimental to social cohesion. These factors are followed by allegiances to political parties and language groups, standing at 40 and 29 percent, respectively (SARB 2021: 41). In general, 72 percent of the respondents felt that some divisions of the past still persist and hinder sustainable social cohesion in contemporary South Africa (SARB 2021: 12, 13, Figure 1). Nonetheless, 75 percent of respondents agreed that unity among South Africans was desirable, with 67 percent claiming it was possible to achieve said unity (SARB 2021: 41).

Another important factor for social cohesion noted by the SARB is interpersonal trust, as these are crucial to sustainable relationships within a society. The SARB distinguishes between bonding trust (trust between people of the same group) and bridging trust (trust between different groups of people). It found that bonding trust among South Africans is short-reached, yet relatively strong, whereas bridging trust among South Africans is significantly lower. Bridging trust among South Africans is lower. Interracial interaction is most likely to occur within public spaces, with 42 percent of respondents stating they never interact with people from other race groups in private place. Apart from that, xenophobic tendencies are also rather widespread in South Africa, with violent attacks against Indians, Zimbabweans, Mozambicans and Nigerians in Johannesburg and other urban areas. This is reflected in the fact that 52 percent of South Africans responded that they do not trust foreigners. In South Africa, generalised trust remains a major challenge in many communities (see Khaile et al. 2022).

With regard to democratic political culture, the SARB found that there is a high trust in institutions that investigate corruption, especially the South African Broadcasting Service (SABC) and the Hawks, but also civil society organisations such as Human Rights Watch or Corruption Watch. However, while the president also enjoys a considerable amount of trust among the population, with Cyril Ramaphosa being the most trusted government official, there is less trust in political parties and a rise in violence as a method of expressing one’s political demands.

Nonetheless, the division-creating power of the factors ‘race’ and ‘class’ also stems from the conflicted memories of Apartheid, a period of state-organised racial segregation in South African from 1948 to 1991. This is also evident in the statistics with regard to both the Apartheid legacy and the perception of change. The SARB found that 71 percent of respondents believe that impoverishment, inequality, and spatial segregation are legacies of the apartheid system, while 72 percent believe that Whites as a demographic group are well-off because of the privileges granted to them during the Apartheid era.

Reconciliation, a popular concept during the democratic transition in the early 1990s, remains a big concern for many South Africans. While 46 percent of respondents argued that they experienced reconciliation, the majority of South Africans believed that they still need reconciliation. Reconciliation and redressing the long-term consequences of Apartheid as well as the massive socio-economic inequality in South Africa, it seems, will be crucial to achieve social cohesion. Social cohesion, however, goes beyond Apartheid. As a broad project, it requires reducing/eliminating inequalities, exclusions and disparities based on factors such as ethnicity, gender, class, nationality, or any other distinctions which engender divisions distrust and conflict in a planned and sustained manner.

Socio-economic inequality

A recent quantitative study about social cohesion and inequality found a significant relationship between individuals’ perception of inequality and their level of inter-racial interactions (David et al. 2018). It found that individuals who perceived that the gap between the rich and the poor is getting worse are less likely to participate in inter-racial socializations, while those who perceived that the gap is getting better are more likely to participate in inter-racial socializations.

This finding remained strong and significant even after controlling for the influence of LSM, race, education, trust and other factors. A number of these factors are also correlated with higher inter-racial interactions. Individuals who have higher education levels, a higher LSM and a better relative economic position are more likely to be involved in inter-racial socialization. In both the descriptive and multivariate analysis Africans and Whites are shown to have lower levels of interracial interactions than Coloureds at all LSM levels. The study’s results suggest that vertical inequality in living standards is correlated with the level of social cohesion. Higher inequality may adversely affect social cohesion as it reduces inclusiveness

South Africa’s socio-economic inequality is staggering. In 2021, South Africa’s Gini coefficient (0.63) was the highest in the world (WPR 2021), while its unemployment rate currently stands at 34.4 percent – equalling 7.8 million South Africans – and youth unemployment has reached 63 percent. Similarly, South Africa’s wage Gini coefficient rose from 0.58 to 0.69 between 1995 and 2014. A recent World Bank report titled Overcoming Poverty and Inequality in South Africa found that the share of household wealth held by the top 10 percent in the distribution was 71 percent, while the bottom 60 percent held 7 percent of the net wealth. (World Bank 2018). Similar statistics for other OECD countries suggest that, on average, the top 10 percent of the wealthiest households own 50 percent of total wealth, while the bottom 60 percent own only 13 percent.

Conclusive Remarks

South Africa was one of the 1990s iconic cases of democratization, perhaps even the case of democratization and transition to the “rainbow nation,” though this image is porous and has to be constantly re-negotiated. South Africa’s transition to democracy brought a far-reaching shift of political power from a white minority to the majority of its citizens. Especially since the mid-2000s, however, South Africa began to experience a “disruptive collision” between its strong political institutions and massive economic inequality. The collision intensified across the 2010s, resulting in economic stagnation and increasing threats to institutional integrity (Levy et al. 2021). South Africa's economic and social imbalances are glaringly obvious and have been the topic of many academic debates and scholarly articles. For the time being, it seems that South Africa has three possible ways forward: muddle through, endure another surge of ethno-populism, or pursue inclusive development.

South Africa’s democracy has had strong and credible institutions for a significant period since the end of apartheid. However, much of their capacity and credibility has been eroded in the course of the rule of the Zuma administration. Under Ramaphosa, there have been efforts to improve corrupt aspects of the state, but the recovery process may take many years to remedy amidst the massive fiscal constraints in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The economy is in dire straits, with national debt spiralling due to increased state spending and financial mismanagement at state-owned enterprises (SOEs) such as Eskom and Transnet, and economic growth has been slow and exclusive. Inequality is an impediment to inclusive growth and a more cohesive society. The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened the existing, self-induced economic crisis, and recovery will take many years. South Africa as a country has made progress when it comes to cohesion, but with regard to full reconciliation and redressing socio-economic imbalances created through Apartheid, it may be argued that South Africa will take a long time to fix. Almost three decades after the end of Apartheid, data suggests that South Africans still live apart – geographically and socially. Despite the gains it made with regard to reconciliation and the creation of a South African identity, research suggests that South Africa is yet to emerge as a fully socially cohesive nation.

Literature

Abrahams, Caryn (2014). “Twenty Years of Social Cohesion and Nation-Building in South Africa,” Journal of Southern African Studies 42(1), pp. 95-107

Anderson, Benedict (2006). Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso Books

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Cox, Fletcher, Charlotte Fiedler & Karina Moss (2023). “Strengthening Social Cohesion in Conflict-Affected Societies: Potential, Patterns and Pitfalls,” Policy Brief 3/2023. Bonn, German Institute of Development and Sustainability.

David, Anda, Nathalie Guilbert, Hiroyuki Hino, Murray Leibbrandt, Elnari Potgieter & Muna Shifa (2018). Social Cohesion and Inequality in South Africa. Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit Working Paper 219. University of Cape Town, January 2018

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