The South African State and the Oukasie Removal

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Periodical article

Title:	The South African State and the Oukasie Removal
Author:	Morris, Alan
Year:	1989
Periodical:	Transformation: Critical Perspectives on Southern Africa
Issue:	8
Pages:	24-46
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	segregation Politics and Government Ethnic and Race Relations Law, Human Rights and Violence Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
External link:	https://d.lib.msu.edu/tran/75/OBJ/download
Abstract:	In order to capture the complexity of the State, the concept of mentality as developed by French social historians, is extremely useful. The mentality of State officialdom significantly shapes the State apparatus and limits the State's ability to flexibly respond to the material circumstances at hand. This paper analyses the policy of the South African State regarding the Oukasie removal. In the mid-1970s, it was decided that all residents of Oukasie, 90 km northwest of Johannesburg, were to be moved to a town called Lethlabile, 24 km north of Oukasie. By the end of 1985 Lethlabile was ready for occupation. Despite the range of pressures, the removal was almost a complete failure. The author argues that the inability of the South African State to reverse its decision to remove the residents was partly due to the mentality of a major portion of State officialdom. This mentality, developed during the decades of 'reactionary despotism', makes it exceptionally difficult for the State to make a clean break with the reactionary despotic mode of operating. Bibliogr.