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Thabo Mbeki : State of the Nation Addresses - an analysis of his rhetorical technique

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-95).

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Rahman, Zarina
Other Authors: Salazar, Philippe-Joseph
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Political Studies 2014
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access_status_str Open Access
author Rahman, Zarina
author2 Salazar, Philippe-Joseph
author_browse Rahman, Zarina
Salazar, Philippe-Joseph
author_facet Salazar, Philippe-Joseph
Rahman, Zarina
author_sort Rahman, Zarina
collection Thesis
description Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-95).
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/9001
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:33:40.116Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2014
publishDateRange 2014
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publisher Department of Political Studies
publisherStr Department of Political Studies
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source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/9001 Thabo Mbeki : State of the Nation Addresses - an analysis of his rhetorical technique Rahman, Zarina Salazar, Philippe-Joseph Political Communication Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-95). The dissertation analyses the rhetorical style of Thabo Mbeki with the aim of evaluating whether his oratory was effective enough to convince his audience to support him. It does this by analysing four of the eleven annual addresses that he delivered at the occasion of the Opening of Parliament during his period in office. Mbeki held the position of President of South Africa from June 1999 to September 2008. The speeches that were chosen for analysis from this period are 1999, 2003, 2006 and 2008. The motivation for these choices is related to critical periods during the Mbeki presidency. Before analysing the speeches, the paper examines the context in detail by briefly outlining Mbeki's political and personal background in order to understand his identity in relation to his rhetoric. The current form of annual address at the opening of Parliament is placed in its historical context It also places the type of speech in context in terms of parliamentary rules and the South African Constitution and does a brief comparison with similar addresses in the United States of America and Britain. A key aspect of the dissertation is to attempt to identify how he possibly failed to gain the support his audience by missing the opportunities that his annual address to Parliament presented. In order to identity the disjuncture between the style and content of the oration and the audience. the dissertation examines the understanding of audience and speculates about the real and perceived audiences in the case of Mbeki's annual addresses. The annual address to Parliament provided Mbeki with an opportunity to speak to the nation. directly through the various forms of media as well as through the members of Parliament that were present at the addresses. The dissertation concludes that, on the basis of the in-depth rhetorical analyses of the speeches and the perception of the audience. Mbeki's form of oration resulted in him appearing distant and aloof to his audience. Mbeki used Eurocentric language and metaphors that the audience was not able to identify with thereby failing to unite the audience in support for him. He failed to use presidential rhetoric to his advantage in his speeches in Parliament but further failed to bolster the rhetorical presidency by not establishing his ethos with the people whose support he depended on in order to secure his position in office. By maintaining a strong adherence to the British notion of a president-in-parliament, he remained aloof and wasted the opportunity that the office of the President provided. While his policies may have been sound. he was not able to convince his audience of this causing him ultimately to fail. 2014-10-31T17:59:09Z 2014-10-31T17:59:09Z 2009 Master Thesis Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9001 eng application/pdf Department of Political Studies Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Political Communication
Rahman, Zarina
Thabo Mbeki : State of the Nation Addresses - an analysis of his rhetorical technique
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Thabo Mbeki : State of the Nation Addresses - an analysis of his rhetorical technique
title_full Thabo Mbeki : State of the Nation Addresses - an analysis of his rhetorical technique
title_fullStr Thabo Mbeki : State of the Nation Addresses - an analysis of his rhetorical technique
title_full_unstemmed Thabo Mbeki : State of the Nation Addresses - an analysis of his rhetorical technique
title_short Thabo Mbeki : State of the Nation Addresses - an analysis of his rhetorical technique
title_sort thabo mbeki state of the nation addresses an analysis of his rhetorical technique
topic Political Communication
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9001
work_keys_str_mv AT rahmanzarina thabombekistateofthenationaddressesananalysisofhisrhetoricaltechnique