Title: The Changing Nature of Employment and the Reform of Labor and Social Security Legislation in Post-Apartheid South Africa
Abstract: The struggle against apartheid in South Africa reached its peak in the 1980s, as increasing numbers of people were mobilized through trade unions, religious organizations, residents' associations (called "civics"), and other civil society organizations across the country. The mobilization for the struggle spread so widely that the National Party government was no longer able to use force to suppress the movement. The criticism of apartheid from the international community was also heightened, and economic sanctions against South Africa were implemented by major countries from the mid-1980s, severely affecting the South African economy and making the cost of maintenance of the apartheid system prohibitively high. As a result, the government made a decision to initiate negotiations with the anti-apartheid forces, released Nelson Mandela, and lifted the ban on the African National Congress (ANC) and other liberation movements in 1990. Following prolonged negotiations, the first non-racial general elections were held in 1994, and the transition from an apartheid regime to democracy was realized.