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Home Alone: South Africa's Regional Predicament
[working paper]
Corporate Editor
German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) - Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien, Institut für Afrika-Studien
Abstract South Africa finds itself in a severe internal crisis that has serious implications for its neighbours. As the regional hegemon is turning inwards, it has largely been unable to engage in regional crises in a constructive and meaningful way. As a result, we see a worrying downward trend in Southern ... view more
South Africa finds itself in a severe internal crisis that has serious implications for its neighbours. As the regional hegemon is turning inwards, it has largely been unable to engage in regional crises in a constructive and meaningful way. As a result, we see a worrying downward trend in Southern Africa, traditionally a haven of stability in Africa.
The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified South Africa's social and economic woes. Unemployment has reached an all-time high; more than half of the youth cannot find a job and live in poverty. This has bred public discontent and protest.
The governing African National Congress (ANC) is ravaged by internal power struggles between "traditionalists" and the "reformers" around current president Cyril Ramaphosa. While official investigations have exposed deeply ingrained corruption in state-owned companies, the ANC suffered a serious blow in the November 2021 local elections.
Being preoccupied with its domestic challenges, the government has largely remained inactive in responding to gross human rights violations in neighbouring Zimbabwe and eSwatini. Additionally, authoritarian Rwanda, not South Africa, has led the regional response to jihadist violence, deploying elite troops to quell the Islamist insurgency in Mozambique's Cabo Delgado region.
The European Union and Germany both have a strong interest in further supporting South Africa and thereby also the broader Southern Africa region: South Africa is one of the world's few democratic regional powers: it can be a core partner in fighting the global climate crisis, and its progressive constitution closely aligns with the new German government's focus on promoting human rights and women's empowerment. Finally, with more than 600 German companies present in South Africa, German business interests would profit from fostering stability in the country and the Southern African region.... view less
Keywords
Republic of South Africa; domestic policy; political system; political development; governability; government; effect; impact; international system; conflict; violence; protest; socioeconomic development; economic development (on national level); epidemic; election; voting; local election; election result; corruption; Southern Africa; Mozambique; Islam; Zimbabwe; authoritarian system; Lesotho; Madagascar; foreign policy; EU; Federal Republic of Germany
Classification
Political Science
Document language
English
Publication Year
2022
City
Hamburg
Page/Pages
11 p.
Series
GIGA Focus Afrika, 2
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57671/gfaf-22022
ISSN
1862-3603
Status
Published Version; reviewed