South Africa’s Economic Role in Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 418-440
Author(s):  
Mills Soko ◽  
Mzukisi Qobo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Domestic Policy ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
African Region ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Economic Role ◽  
Policy Performance ◽  
Economic Diplomacy ◽  
Southern African Region

South Africa’s expansion into Africa since the dawn of democracy has mostly been a product of a series of deliberate domestic and foreign policy decisions implemented by successive post-apartheid governments. By prioritizing the ‘African Agenda’, South Africa has sought to harness its representation at the helm of continental institutions into meaningful foreign policy outcomes, including economic diplomacy objectives. South Africa has largely succeeded in fulfilling the goals outlined in its foreign policy and in the ‘African Agenda’. Nonetheless its actions, especially in the context of the enactment of the Protocol on Trade in the Southern African region, has also undermined the economic interests of its regional neighbours. The extent to which South Africa will be able to sustain its foreign policy performance in Africa in the future will depend on how far it weighs its domestic policy pressures with its continental obligations, on how it responds to and accommodates the economic concerns of its regional neighbours, and on how it manages African perceptions of the country.

South Africa’s Foreign Policy and the BRICS Formation: Reflections on the Quest for the ‘Right’ Economic-diplomatic Strategy

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-61
Author(s):  
Theo Neethling
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
South African ◽  
Special Importance ◽  
South African Government ◽  
The South ◽  
African Government ◽  
Economic Diplomacy ◽  
The Right

South Africa’s foreign policy has recently been gravitating away from an appeal to Western powers towards the establishment of new friendships in the Global South, especially with Asia and Latin America. Moreover, the favouring of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) partnership and a rising tone of anti-Western sentiments have increasingly been evidenced in South Africa’s contemporary foreign policy, which are of major significance to the nature and direction of its economic-diplomatic strategy. Three broad perspectives or main arguments from this article are of special importance: First, most members of BRICS are troubled by slower economic growth, which should be of concern to South Africa’s current foreign policy stand. Second, anti-Western ideological concerns and related presumptions on the part of the South African government that the BRICS formation could potentially assume a counter-hegemonic character vis-à-vis the West are questionable and dubious. Third, South Africa stands to benefit from many networks and opportunities provided by BRICS membership. At the same time, because of its low economic growth, high levels of poverty and lack of employment opportunities, South Africa cannot afford to follow an approach of narrow interest concerning the BRICS formation and to constrain itself in its economic diplomacy. This article argues that the South African government will therefore have to consider the opportunities offered by a more nuanced and pragmatic foreign policy designed on multiple identities.

Two new species of Callilepis (Asteraceae) from southern Africa with corymbose inflorescences

Phytotaxa ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 183 (4) ◽  
pp. 254
Author(s):  
Paul Herman ◽  
Marinda Koekemoer
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
New Species ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
African Region ◽  
Southern African Region ◽  
Two New Species

Two new species of Callilepis (Asteraceae) are described: C. corymbosa and C. normae. They differ from other Callilepis species mainly by their corymbose inflorescences and white disc florets. They are endemic to the southern African region: C. corymbosa is known from Swaziland only and C. normae occurs in Mpumalanga, South Africa.

scholarly journals A Numerical Model Study of an Intense Cutoff Low Pressure System over South Africa

2007 ◽  
Vol 135 (3) ◽  
pp. 1128-1150 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. T. Singleton ◽  
C. J. C. Reason
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Numerical Model ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
South Coast ◽  
African Region ◽  
Extreme Rainfall Events ◽  
Rainfall Events ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Southern African Region ◽  
Cutoff Low

Abstract Investigations of extreme rainfall events in the southern African region are limited by the paucity of the observational network. Furthermore, the lack of full radar coverage for South Africa makes quantitative precipitation estimation difficult. Therefore, numerical modeling represents the most effective method for improving the understanding of the mechanisms that contribute to extreme rainfall events in this region with the caveat that accurate validation of model simulations is hampered by the limited observations in the region. This paper describes an intense cutoff low event over South Africa that led to record rainfall and flash flooding along the south coast of the country and adjoining hinterland. Analyses from the Global Forecast System model showed that the cutoff aloft was accompanied by a strong low-level jet (LLJ) impinging onto the south coast where rainfall was heaviest, and that lapse rates were steep in the lower troposphere. Simulations of the event were carried out using a numerical model [i.e., the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model (MM5)], which showed that severe convection occurred over the ocean on the right-hand side of the LLJ, and at its leading edge where it impinged on the coastal topography. This topography was also very important in providing additional forcing for the ascent of moist air. A factor separation technique was used to show that surface heat fluxes from the warm sea surface temperature (SST) of the Agulhas Current were important in enhancing low-level cyclogenesis, and that topography was important in maintaining the position of the low-level coastal depression, which led to favorable conditions for rainfall remaining in the same area for an extended period of time. It is suggested that improved representation of the tight topographic and SST gradients of the southern African region in NWP models or postprocessing systems would help to provide more accurate forecasts of the amount and location of heavy precipitation during cutoff low events where surface forcing is important.

Foreign Policy and Empirical Democratic Theory

1974 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 1192-1197 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Democratic Theory ◽  
Domestic Policy ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Policy Measures ◽  
National Analysis ◽  
Cross National ◽  
American State

This paper compares the research on the determinants of domestic policy outcomes, primarily in American state governments, with similar research in the area of foreign policy. Using seven foreign policy measures, it then tests a hypothesis based on Cutright's cross-national analysis of social insurance programs, that political representativeness is more important in accounting for policy outcomes among developed than among undeveloped nations. Finally, it suggests what implications the reported findings may have on empirical democratic theory.

Capitalising upon Globalisation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Webber
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Development ◽  
Macroeconomic Policy ◽  
Domestic Policy ◽  
Policy Decisions ◽  
Gordon Brown ◽  
Development Policies ◽  
At Home

Having mapped out in the previous chapter, New Labour’s often contradictory and even ‘politically-convenient’ understanding of globalisation, chapter 3 offers analysis of three key areas of domestic policy that Gordon Brown would later transpose to the realm of international development: (i) macroeconomic policy, (ii) business, and (iii) welfare. Since, according to Brown at least, globalisation had resulted in a blurring of the previously distinct spheres of domestic and foreign policy, it made sense for those strategies and policy decisions designed for consumption at home to be transposed abroad. The focus of this chapter is the design of these three areas of domestic policy; the unmistakeable imprint of Brown in these areas and their place in building of New Labour’s political economy. Strikingly, Brown’s hand in these policies and the themes that underpinned them would again reappear in the international development policies explored in much greater detail later in the book.

The Foreign Policy Mechanism of the Union Of South Africa and the Development of its Diplomatic Relations (1910–1948)

2020 ◽  
pp. 74-86
Author(s):  
Alexandra Arkhangelskaya
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
British Empire ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
The Political ◽  
Diplomatic Relations ◽  
Economic Evolution ◽  
Local Elite ◽  
History Of

The history of the formation of South Africa as a single state is closely intertwined with events of international scale, which have accordingly influenced the definition and development of the main characteristics of the foreign policy of the emerging state. The Anglo-Boer wars and a number of other political and economic events led to the creation of the Union of South Africa under the protectorate of the British Empire in 1910. The political and economic evolution of the Union of South Africa has some specific features arising from specific historical conditions. The colonization of South Africa took place primarily due to the relocation of Dutch and English people who were mainly engaged in business activities (trade, mining, agriculture, etc.). Connected by many economic and financial threads with the elite of the countries from which the settlers left, the local elite began to develop production in the region at an accelerated pace. South Africa’s favorable climate and natural resources have made it a hub for foreign and local capital throughout the African continent. The geostrategic position is of particular importance for foreign policy in South Africa, which in many ways predetermined a great interest and was one of the fundamental factors of international involvement in the development of the region. The role of Jan Smuts, who served as Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 to 1924 and from 1939 to 1948, was particularly prominent in the implementation of the foreign and domestic policy of the Union of South Africa in the focus period of this study. The main purpose of this article is to study the process of forming the mechanisms of the foreign policy of the Union of South Africa and the development of its diplomatic network in the period from 1910 to 1948.

DEMOCRACY AT THE SERVICE OF FOREIGN POLICY OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. FREDDIE
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Foreign Policy Change ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Apartheid Regime

The article examines the place and role of democracy and human rights in South Africas foreign policy. The author analyzes the process of South Africas foreign policy change after the fall of the apartheid regime and transition to democracy. He gives characteristics of the foreign policy under different presidents of South Africa from 1994 to 2018 and analyzes the political activities of South Africa in the area of peacekeeping and human rights on the African continent.

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