Globalisation and the Paradox of Participatory Governance in Southern Africa: The Case of the New South Africa

The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it will explore the tensions and contradictions of participatory governance in the context of globalisation in the new South Africa. Second, the paper will interrogate the links between neo-liberal economic reforms and participatory governance in South Africa. In particular, it will explore the question of whether or not participatory governance is inherently democratic and development enhancing. On the basis of the analysis, the paper will explore an alternative scenario that will be relevant for policy and academic purposes for South Africa and other developing countries

Towards a developmental state? Provincial economic policy in South Africa

This paper explores the meaning of the developmental state for spatial economic policy in South Africa. Two main questions are addressed: do provincial governments have a role to play in promoting economic prosperity, and to what extent do current provincial policies possess the attributes of a developmental state? These attributes are defined as the ability to plan longer term, to focus key partners on a common agenda, and to mobilise state resources to build productive capabilities. The paper argues that the developmental state must harness the power of government at every level to ensure that each part of the country develops to its potential. However, current provincial capacity is uneven, and weakest where support is needed most. Many provinces seem to have partial strategies and lack the wherewithal for sustained implementation. Coordination across government appears to be poor. The paper concludes by suggesting ways provincial policies could be strengthened

Covid-19 and the Return of the State in Africa

Abstract: As African countries battled the Covid-19 crisis in 2020, one of the questions that were raised was whether the state was taking a central stage in the affairs of society, especially solutions to major problems. The question was triggered by the fact that there has been a decline in the capacity, role and prestige of the state in Africa for decades. Yet it seems that the responses to Covid-19, following the WHO guidelines, have placed the state at the centre, without dislocating other stakeholders like the private sector and the civil society. This paper uses the evidence from a select number of African countries of different sizes in various regions of the continent to provide an empirical perspective on the role of the state in Covid-19 responses in 2020 to answer the question of whether Covid-19 has occasioned a return of the state, thus reversing the neoliberal designs in favour of a lean and mean state in Africa

Constructing a democratic developmental state in South Africa: potentials and challenges

The whole volume, including this chapter, engages with some of the issues raised. In doing so, it attempts to provide a definition of the democratic developmental state, its institutional underpinnings and its policy orientation.

How to construct a 21st-century developmental state in Africa

This article focuses on how to construct a developmental state in Africa rather that what to make of the developmental states in Africa.

Rethinking national planning institutions: a critical appraisal of the Green Paper

This paper seeks to provide both an honest assessment and a critical appraisal of the institutional architecture that is proposed in the Green Paper that will underpin South Africa's strategic planning. It argues that South Africa needs a super-ministry in the Presidency, headed by the deputy president and supported by a minister of planning, and not a commission made up of experts, leaders and intellectuals. This will enhance the organisational and technical capacities of the state to develop and implement a coherent development plan and ensure effective co-ordination and allocation of resources.

Developing the developmental state

Becoming a developmental state is not like winning the lottery - it does not happen by chance. There is much to learn from how successful developmental states have achieved their goals, said world experts Professor Linda Weiss and John Mathews at two public lectures, which has direct bearing on the newly announced industrial policy action plans. OMANO EDIGHEJI reports.

Rethinking national planning institutions

A critical appraisal of the Green Pape

Introduction: public sector reforms and the quest for democratic developmentalism in Africa

Developmentalism has been one of the main justifications for public sector reforms. In what concerns Africa, this, in part, has been based on the assumption that public sector reforms, which will make the state effective, efficient, responsive, accountable and productive, are necessary conditions for the development of the continent. Not surprisingly, a plethora of public sector reforms has been initiated and implemented. The intersection, synergies, complementarities and, at times, disjunctures between the reforms and the continent's quest for development, may not have received the scholarly attention it deserved, beside a few exceptions, including the work of the late Professor Guy Mhone. Therefore, this introductory article will focus on the public sector reforms in Africa, especially as from the 1980s, and will necessarily draw heavily on the work of Guy Mhone.

Rethinking the role of the African state in industrial development: building a democratic developmental state

Paper presented at the 2008 Guy Mhone Memorial Conference on Development: Rethinking Trade and Industrial Policy for African Development, Lusaka, Zambia, 25-27 Jul