South Africa’s Post-Apartheid Economic and Education Reforms: A Reversal Of Racial Capitalism?

Apartheid was a system of racial segregation that took place in South Africa. Racial segregation was institutionalised and it covered all aspects of the country. The National Party implemented a series of laws to maintain its divide and rule policy. One of the key elements used by the Apartheid regime to guarantee separate development was the education system. The Bantu education system was used to keep the non-white population at a lower status and provide a supply of cheap labour. It was one of the tools that were used to establish and maintain white supremacy in South Africa. This thesis aims to analyse the South African case from the perspective of racial capitalism. Racial capitalism emphasizes the intimate link between race and capitalism. It underlines that capitalism evolved out of feudalism as racial capitalism. Racial capitalism highlights the racial dimension of capitalism and makes a special emphasis on how capitalism was built and maintained on the exploitation of black labour. This thesis will discuss if the post-apartheid policies have contributed to the transformation of racial capitalism. It will focus on the period 1994-2018 and it will assess where things stand regarding equality in education between white and black populations. In particular, it will seek an answer to whether the post-apartheid policies empowered the black population. Keywords: racial capitalism, segregation, separate development