Political Economy of Post-apartheid South Africa

The book, made up of three parts, covers a wide spectrum of political economy issues on post-apartheid South Africa. Although the text is mainly descriptive, to explain various areas of the political economy of post-apartheid South Africa, the first and the last parts provide illuminating insights on the kind of society that is emerging during the twenty-one years of democracy in the country. The book discusses important aspects of the political history of apartheid South Africa and the evolution of post-apartheid society, including an important recap of the history of southern Africa before colonialism. The text is a comprehensive description of numerous political economy phenomena since South Africa gained its political independence and covers some important themes that have not been discussed in detail in other publications on post-apartheid South Africa. The book also updates earlier work of the author on policy and law making, land and agriculture, education and training as well as on poverty and inequality in post-apartheid South Africa thereby providing a wide-ranging overview of the socio-economic development approaches followed by the successive post-apartheid administrations. Interestingly, three chapters focus on various aspects of the post-apartheid South African economy: economic policies, economic empowerment and industrial development. Through the lens of the notion of democratic developmental state and taking apartheid colonialism as a point of departure, the book suggests that, so far, post-apartheid South Africa has mixed socio-economic progress. The author’s extensive experience in the South African government ensures that the book has policy relevance while it is also theoretically sound. The text is useful for anyone who wants to understand the totality of the policies and legislation as well as the political economy interventions pursued since 1994 by the South African Government. Cover -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Contents -- Foreword -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Abbreviations -- List of Tables and Figures -- PART I - BACKGROUND -- 1. Introduction -- Background -- Transition from Apartheid to Democracy -- Concepts and Ideas -- Scope of the Book -- 2. Brief Political History of South Africa -- Introduction -- African Communities -- Political and Economic Systems -- Conclusion -- PART II - POLICIES AND PROSPECTS -- 3. Policy and Law-making -- Introduction -- Public Policy Reforms -- Public Policy Making Approaches -- Public Policy Cycle -- Policy Coordination and Monitoring and Evaluation -- Conclusion -- Key Terms -- 4. Economic Development -- Introduction -- Economic Transformation -- Economic Performance -- Calculating GDP -- Calculating Economic Growth Rate -- Unemployment -- Calculating Unemployment -- Economic Development Since 1994 -- Economic Development Initiatives -- Other Policies, Strategies and Initiatives -- Economic Performance in Post-apartheid South Africa -- Employment -- Conclusion -- Key Terms -- 5. Economic Empowerment -- Introduction -- Economic Empowerment -- Arguments against BEE -- Financing Economic Empowerment -- Promoting Small, Medium and Micro-Enterprises -- Institutional Framework -- Conclusion -- Key Terms -- 6. Industrial Development -- Introduction -- Brief History of Industrialisation -- Industrial Development -- Industrial Structure of South Africa -- Industrial Regulation and Policies -- Other Industrial Development Initiatives -- Post-apartheid South Africa's Industrial Development -- Conclusion -- Key Terms -- 7. Public Enterprises -- Introduction -- Historical Context -- Size Complexity of Public Enterprises -- Brief Profiles of Selected Public Enterprises -- Internal and External Challenges -- Performance of Selected Commercial Public Enterprises -- Conclusion -- Key Terms 0 - Prelim PART I. BACKGROUND 1 - Introduction 2 - Brief Political History of South Africa PART II. POLICIES AND PROSPECTS 3 - Policy and Law-making 4 - Economic Development 5 - Economic Empowerment 6 - Industrial Development 7 - Public Enterprises 8 - Land and Agriculture 9 - Education and Training 10 - Poverty and Inequality 11 - Spatial Planning PART III. TOWARDS A DEVELOPMENTAL STATE 12 - Post-apartheid South African Society 13 - Conclusion 14 - Notes 15 - References 16 - Index