As part of post-war developments and the new political dispensation after
a regime change in 1994, South Africa regained its international stature on the
continent and further afield. Based on its phenomenal political recovery, and
resourcefulness and capacity (though both limited), the post-apartheid South
African government has pledged and is therefore expected to help develop
the African continent. This commitment is well mirrored in its foreign policy,
which strives for regional and African recovery and seeks to champion the
cause of the South at large.
Since 1994, South Africa has played a critical role in Africa. On multilateral
grounds, the country has been preponderant in the development of SADC, the
AU and other African multilateral institutions. For this research, three areas of
development were considered: human rights, peace and security, and trade
relations. Its human rights role, although mired in controversy â accusations of
befriending and defending human rights abusers â has been fairly significant,
at least on paper. With regard to peace and security, South Africa continues
its peacekeeping efforts in several African countries by devoting its resources
to peace missions under SADC, the AU and the UN. Notwithstanding the
perceived aggressiveness in its asymmetrical trade relations with the rest of
the region, South Africa has contributed largely to continental economic
development through its foreign direct investment.
It is against the background of its continental foreign policy and actual role
that this research attempts to investigate whether South Africa is a partner or
hegemon on the continent. This facet of South Africaâs post-1994 foreign
policy towards and its role in Africa has been widely debated by political observers. Some political commentators contend that South Africa is a
continental partner while others conclude it is just a selfish hegemon and a
âbullyâ. Moreover, due to its post-1994 role on the continent, others suggest
South Africa shares characteristics of both a partner and a selfish hegemon.
This assertion particularly subscribes to the view that while South Africa may
claim to be a partner, it is in reality seen to be an aggressive hegemon in its
trade relations with the region; a viewpoint reinforced by the fact that South
Africa, lying somewhere between the developed and developing worlds,
should primarily be regarded as an emerging, middle-income country.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-11112011-122610 |
| Date | 11 November 2011 |
| Creators | Themolane, Tshaba |
| Contributors | Mr PA Schoeman, Prof TG Neethling |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-11112011-122610/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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