The foreign policy of the Zuma government: pursuing the ‘national interest’?

Emerging donors: the promise and limits of bilateral and multilateral democracy promotion

“…Mbeki came to power extolling three distinct features, which are democracy, Africanism and anti-imperialism (Nathan 2005, 363) and transformed South Africa's somewhat overstretched foreign policy into a more moderate and pragmatic one (Alden and le Pere 2004). He also wanted to advance a neoliberal agenda to encourage investments in the African continent, which was beset by a negative image internationally (Alden and le Pere 2009).Mbeki realized that Africa's image of being a conflict-ridden continent needed to change towards being investment-friendly and democratically stable Thus, South Africa demonstrated an innovative and concerted effort in democracy promotion through regional cooperation, which continues in the postMbeki agenda of South Africa's foreign policy (Sidiropoulous 2008;Landsberg 2010). South Africa's foreign policy is an integral part of its development assistance when it comes to promoting democracy.…”

Towards a new aid paradigm: South Africa as African development partner

“…20 Confidential observation made at a high-level government meeting, October 2010. than reactive to Africa's development needs, including post-conflict reconstruction; and also to serve a narrower commercial objective, namely South Africa's interest in markets (Naidu 2012). This shift towards considerations of greater pragmatism and mutual interest in the debate on South Africa's development cooperation in Africa coincides with a stronger focus on economic diplomacy (DIRCO 2012) and the 'national interest' (Landsberg 2010) in South Africa's foreign policy during the Zuma administration. South Africa's successful lobbying for BRICS membership, 21 Pretoria's championing of ambitious African integration and infrastructure projects, and a more overt bid for positional leadership in Africa, as with the heavily contested campaign to elect Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to head the AU Commission, point to South Africa's more assertive pursuit of its interests.…”

South Africa as a Gateway to Africa

“…South Africa has been hesitant to assert its hegemonic position and has focused more on co-operation and partnership in a bid to assure its neighbors of its good intentions. This is what has guided its Bilateral Partnership Agreements, Joint Bilateral Agreements, Strategic Partnership Agreements and Bi national Commissions with African states (Landsberg, 2005(Landsberg, , 2010. This was in part to assuage the fears by its neighbors that had suffered under apartheid that the ANC government preferred co-operation rather than aggression.…”