NUWE BOEKE/NEW BOOKS
L IE B E N B E R G , M .M .B. Julie 1990. Schw eizer-Reneke. P reto ria : RG N. ISBN 07969 08176. Prys:
R28,00.
M et die proklamering van ’n dorp by Mamusa langs die H artsrivier op 3 O ktober 1888 het Schweizer-Reneke amptelik tot stand gekom. M et die oog op ’n feespublikasie om die d orp se h o n d erd jarig e b estaan te h erdenk, het die S tadsraad die Instituut vir Geskiedenisnavorsing van die RGN in Februarie 1988 genader om die geskiedenis van die dorp te boek te stel.
In hierdie studie word ’n oorsig van die ontstaan en groei van die dorp en gemeenskap tot 1988 gegee. D ie benadering was om die dorp binne streekverband uit te beeld om dat dit uit die staanspoor ’n dienssentrum vir die om liggende boeregem eenskap was. Feitlik geen aandag is aan aspekte soos politieke en kultuurbedrywighede, sport en ontspanning geskenk nie. D aar is veel e erd er gepoog om ’n algem ene ontwikke- lingsgeskiedenis van die dorp aan te bied m et inagneming van sosiale en ekonomiese problem e en aktiwiteite in gem eenskapsverband. D ie studie maak dus geensins aan- spraak op volledigheid nie, aangesien die hoofoogm erk was om aan die plaaslike ge
m eenskap ’n breë blik op hul verlede te gee.
D aar het nog nie veel sekondêre w erke oor die geskiedenis van die dorp en distrik verskyn nie. D ie aktiefste skrywer oor Schw eizer-Reneke was ’n plaaslike inwoner, H.P. M aree, wat drie werke gepubliseer het. M et die navorsing is gepoog om bestaan- de inligting uit sekondêre bronne aan te vul m et gegewens uit prim êre bronne, veral staatsdokum ente. Die m eeste van laasgenoem de inligting w ord in die Transvaalse A rgiefbew aarplek gehou. Tydens ’n besoek aan die dorp is heelw at inligting van die m unisipaliteit en plaaslike inwoners bekom. W eens die tydsfaktor kon nie in ’n groter m ate van m ondelinge getuienis gebruik gem aak word nie. Alle bronne is dus nog nie uitgeput nie en daar is ruimte vir verdere studie oor die omgewing en sy mense.
(O orgeneem uit R G N Nuwe Boek Inligtingsblad. 1990. No 1.)
SW ILLING, M ARK. Nov. 1990. Views on the South A frican State. Pretoria : HSRC.
ISBN 0 7969 0887 7. Price: R52,00.
No-one doubts th at the 1990s will be the decade of transition. Transition takes place during the interregnum that occurs betw een the breakdow n of an old regime and the creation o f a new one. It will be impossible, however, to understand this transition
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Nuwe boeke/N ew books
w ithout an understanding of the changing balance of power within and around South A frica’s ancien regime th a t p reced ed th e transition. T his is w hat this book papers achieves. T he contributors assem bled a year before F.W. de K lerk’s February 2 1990 speech to share their views on the past, present and future course of the South African state. T hese analytical pieces by som e of our best known political analysts reflect a wide range of conceptual assum ptions and strategic perspectives. W hat they have in com m on, how ever, is a keen insight into the key issues facing all the m ajor political actors at the end of the 1980s. In the words of Van Zyl Slabbert, these players needed
"time out" at th a t m om ent to reflect on w hat had h appened during the 1980s - the decade during which the break from apartheid had occurred, but no clarity on how to finally bury it had emerged. So as we move beyond the break and into transition in the 1990s, this c o lle c tio n will assist th o se w ho w ant "tim e out" to d ev elo p a b e tte r understanding of the debates about the changing nature of the South African state that preceded the current transition. For the final analysis. South African politics revolves prim arily around the question of state power. But as the conclusion reached by the c o n trib u to rs in this collection suggest, the com plexity o f the South A frican s ta te ’s institusions, ideology and modus operandi must never be underestim ated.
CON TEN TS
1. H ot A ir or F resh B reeze? C u rren t state reform strategies - Steven Friedman, Centre fo r Policy Studies, University o f the Witwatersrand.
2. Prospects for a D em ocratic Process of Political change in South A frica - Fanie Cloete, Centre fo r Policy Studies, University o f the Witwatersrand.
3. C h an g in g face o f th e S o u th A fric a n S ta te : from M o b ilized E th n ic ity to M odernizing bureaucracy - Bobby Godsell, Anglo American.
4. T he Struggle for a N on-racial D em ocratic South A frica - F. Van Zyl Slabbert, Graduate School o f Business Administration, University o f the Witwatersrand.
5. T h e R o le o f V io len ce in C u rre n t S tate S ecurity S tra te g ie s - Jacklyn Cock, Department o f Sociology, University o f the Witwatersrand.
6. T h e South A frican Security E sta b lish m e n t: T h e o re tic a l an d C o m p arativ e Im pressions - Annette Seegers, Department o f Political Studies, University o f Cape Town.
7. Effects and Lim itations o f the South A frican S tate’s C u rren t U rban Policies - Andrew Boraine, P L A N A C T , Johannesburg.
8. Regional Political Economy in South Africa: A R einterpretation - J e ff McCarthy, Urban Foundation, Johannesburg.
9. Theorising the Bantustan State in South Africa: Breaking Bonds and Boundaries -J.F. de V Graaf, Department o f Sociology, University o f Cape Town.
10. T he R elatio n s betw een W hite South A fricans: An U nlikely A lliance - Sampie Terreblanche, Department o f Economics, University o f Stellenbosch.
412 Koers 55 (1990):1-10
11. T he concept of Class and the Class C o n ten t o f N ational L ib eratio n in South A frica - E m p iricism and E ssen tialism in th e T h eo ry o f th e South A frican R e v o lu tio n - P .A . H udson, C entre fo r P o licy S tu d ie s, U niversity o f th e Witwatersrand.
12. T he Judges Crucible: Ideology of Law and Ideology of Struggle - Denis Davis, Law Faculty, University o f Cape Town.
13. N atio n -B u ild in g in South A frica: W hite P ersp ectiv e s - H erm an G iliom ee, Departement o f Political Studies, University o f Cape Town.
14. Exploiting the Logic of Illogical Institutions: "Own" and "General" Affairs State S tru c tu re s and P o litic a l C hange in South A frica - Chris H eym ans, Urban Foundation, Johannesburg.
15. The State and Possibilities for Devolution in the N ear Future - Simon Bekker and A nthea Jeffery, Centre fo r Social and Development o f African Studies, University o f Natal.
16. T he State Regional Reconstruction: The South A frican state and the changing environm ent - Willie Breytenbach, D epartm ent o f African Studies, University o f Stellenbosch.
(Previously published in H SRC New Book Information Sheet 1990. No. 2.)
NOTICE
CONFERENCE ON CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION IN AFRICA.
4-9 MARCH 1991.
Venue: T he University o f Zimbabwe, Mt. Pleasant, H arare, Zimbabwe.
T he sessions will begin a t 8:00 am . on Monday the 4th o f M arch and will close on Friday the 8th at 20:30.
T h e In te rn a tio n a l A ssociation for th e p ro m o tio n o f C h ristian H ig h er E d u catio n (IA PC H E ) is holding a conference a t the University of Zim babwe in H arare, M arch 4
9 , 1991. T he Conference them e is "Christian H igher Education in the African context".
IA PC H E is an association o f scholars com m itted to pursue scholarship in C hristian perspective. Its focus is on post-secondary (tertiary) education. T he keynote address by dr. Bon-Hon Son o f Seoul K orea will explain the vision o f the Association. This wil be worked out further by an address on the present challenge in A frica by dr. N. Onwu o f N igeria. A third address will deal w ith th e relationship o f theology to the o th er sciences: Is it the queen of the sciences o r a servant?
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T he emphasis on Christian education in Africa will be developed further by a series of re p o rts in an "A frican Panoram a". Five institutions in A frica presently engaged in tertiary education will subm it b rief reports. A num ber o f scholars who are presently teaching at state universities will explain how they view the relationship betw een the Lordship of Christ and their particular discipline.
T h e A sso ciatio n springs from a co n feren ce held in 1975 in P otchefstroom , South A frica. O th e r c o n fe re n c e s have b e e n h eld a t C alvin C ollege in G ra n d R apids, Michigan, D ordt College in Iowa, and in Breukelen, the Netherlands. The most recent one was in Lusaka in 1987. The H arare conference is the first regional conference, the third to be held in Africa.
A ll lodging and m eetings will be in the facilities of the U niversity o f Z im babw e in M ount Pleasant, a suburb of H arare. A dditional inform ation may be obtained from Mr. Edw ard M utem a, 483 Smuts R oad, Prospect, W aterfalls, H arare, Zim babw e or from the IPA C H E Secretariat.
Further information:
Prof. B.J. van der W alt IRS (250)
Tel. 0148-99 1619 (W) Tel. 0148- 7691 (H )
414 Koers 55 (1990):1-10
