A question of underlying interests : economic justice, constitutional history and the capture of the South African state by white economic interests

Abstract

Understanding the South African constitutional state beyond the banal framings of liberal or transformative thinking requires a reconsideration of the prevailing approach to questions of constitutional identity or character. Rather than fixating on the ideological underpinnings that mark the identity of the South African Constitution, we suggest that more may be learnt about its nature by examining the material relations that it recognises between its various subjects and the institutions it establishes. To understand why and how South African society came to be so constituted, it is imperative to interrogate how the Constitution deals with the question of material distribution. In this respect, we focus on how white economic interests impacted on South Africa's constitution-making processes at two distinct points in history, namely the making of the 1910 and post-1994 constitutions. In doing so, we seek to disturb the often uncritical, linear narratives of South Africa's constitutional history that focus on the prevailing politics and the identity of the main political actors and their political agendas. We draw attention to white economic interests, which were preeminent in the (re)constituting of South Africa. Historical events suggest that these discrete interests were key drivers in determining the nature of South African constitutionalism, which established a political and economic environment for the benefit of white interests. We contend that these interests determined the construction of the constitutional scheme by establishing the state as a key site for enabling the accumulation and preservation of white economic interests at the expense of the broader black population.