Privatisation has both an economic and a political face. In South Africa, this
Janus-faced character is revealed by the juxtaposition of economic and political
arguments for and against the process of privatisation initiated by the
National Party, during the transition to majority rule. This paper argues that
the NP set out to fundamentally reorganise the structure of South Africa's
political economy as an exit strategy. Although it justified privatisation by
employing economic arguments, this ostensible depoliticisation masked political
motives. Ironically, the weak economic case reveals the political face of
privatisation in South Africa. The timing and context of South Africa's
privatisation process is difficult to defend on economic grounds, but it did
make political sense.