This paper reviews postapartheid educational policy between the 1994 and 1999 elections. Its objective is to interrogate the different concerns, approaches, and implications of the various policies that have been formulated to fundamentally transform the legacy of the apartheid system. Five principal concerns are discussed: (1) the historical legacy of apartheid education; (2) equity and justice; (3) democracy and participation; (4) economy and globalization; and (5) efficiency, quality, and effectiveness. The paper examines existing critical analyses of educational policy development and highlights what critics point out as the process of educational compromise and the narrowing of the policy agenda. Researchers have reported a growing skepticism regarding educational policy development in South Africa. While some hail the new policies, others worry about deep conceptual flaws, implied political betrayals, and empty principles. However, all of these accounts only provide partial explanatory frameworks for understanding educational change. By adopting a metapolicy approach to educational policy development, the paper considers the various influences that have shaped, and continue to shape, educational policy discourses. (Contains 91 references and 22 endnotes.) (DFR)