Building a Democratic Developmental State in Post-Colonial Africa: South Africa at the Glance

What is it about?

This article is about South Africa's journey since the dawn of democracy in 1994 in building an ethical, capable and democratic developmental state to transform the society and economy. Although, South Africa's journey in building a developmental state, the path takes a topsy-turvy form of approach depending on the will and the vision of sitting state president. During the Thabo Mbeki era as the president, rhetoric for a democratic developmental state gained momentum, but died down during President Jacob Zuma's era. The developmental state rhetoric under President Cyril Ramaphosa gained momentum again. Everybody is now eager to see South Africa becoming a democratic developmental state within the globalised environment, which makes the exercise very challenging but exciting. The article concludes that South Africans themselves cannot make that judgement whether the country (a player) is a democratic developmental state or not. That decision should be left to the spectators or outsiders.

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Photo by Hansjörg Keller on Unsplash

Photo by Hansjörg Keller on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The article is important as it challenges the Western scholars' conviction and narratives that none of African countries will ever successfully replicate the success of the Asian nations, especially the so-called Asia Tigers. The Western scholars have concluded and ruled out the possibility of any African nation becoming a successful developmental state. However, the socio-economic experiences and success of Botswana and Mauritius have demonstrated contrary to the western narrative. The article argues that South Africa can follow suit and successfully replicate the practices of the Asian nations to transform and develop its society and the economy. Literature also demonstrates that nations such as the USA, Europe, or the so-called developed nations used the same ladder used by the Asian countries to climb up the ladder and reach the socio-economic summit. Once these nations have reached the socio-economic summit in terms of social transformation and economic growth and development, they kicked away the ladder and start preaching to poor countries about free trade, liberal economies, among other things. The article further encourages South Africa to carefully navigate this global terrain and succeed in building an ethical, capable and developmental state within the global democratic order.

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