"This is a searingly honest book by someone who really knows his subject. Goodman is sympathetic to the attempts at transformation in my beloved motherland. The message of this book applies just as easily to the United States, where the fault lines run very deep, too. And the U.S. has been trying to solve these problems a great deal longer than the new South Africa."—Archbishop Desmond Tutu "David Goodman's vivid, intensely personal, and unobtrusively erudite book is irresistible reading for anyone who cares about South Africa."—Adam Hochshild, author of King Leopold's Ghost "A gem of a book. An excellent introduction to the intricacies of South African politics and society."—Gail M. Gerhart, Foreign Affairs "A sequence of truths shown through the lives of eight contrasted citizens, this book reveals our new South Africa with the startling accuracy of flashes of lightning on a stormy night—and with the apartheid storm over, a remarkable rainbow of hope can be seen."—Donald Woods, author of Biko

In South Africa, the decade of 1980–1990 not only saw the mobilisation of the popular masses, but also the marked escalation of the armed struggle inside the country, initiated and waged by the African National Congress (ANC). The liberation movement, headed by the ANC-led Congress Alliance, took major strides which finally broke the backbone of white supremacist rule. This book examines and analyses the events leading to the settlement of democracy in South Africa during this period. Amongst other topics, the subject matter of this book also includes a discussion of – The apartheid regime ANC underground, armed actions and popular resistance Liberation struggle in the 1980s in the Eastern Cape Bophuthatswana and the role of the UDF in the Western Transvaal Trade Unionism Print editions not for sale in Sub-Saharan Africa. This book is part of Routledge’s co-published series 30 Years of Democracy in South Africa, in collaboration with UNISA Press, which reflects on the past years of a democratic South Africa and assesses the future opportunities and challenges.

This book identifies the key 'actors' whose visions and strategies are crucial to the pattern which change will take in South Africa. These actors, their visions and 'strategic logic' were subjected to a critique by their researchers in the light of contemporary South African 'realities'.

Politicians and apartheid: trailing in the people's wake seeks to explain why apartheid was abandoned by South Africa's ruling white National Party at the negotiating table with the African National Congress and other black political organizations. While most books on South Africa's current affairs emphasize political organizations and activists as the central players, Politicians and apartheid argues that political activity was of secondary importance in determining the fate of apartheid. This book adopts instead an economic perspective, focusing upon businesses, consumers, workers, homeowners and taxpayers as the key groups responsible for bringing an end to apartheid. Politicians and apartheid also examines the response of politicians to the decline of apartheid. It argues that attempts by pro-apartheid groups to restrict or obstruct change were futile, while attempts by apartheid's opponents to topple the system were not only ineffectual but disastrous. The book concludes that everyday people are better placed and more able to achieve real change than politicians.