1st Edition
Contemporary South Africa and the Political Economy of Regional Development
South Africa’s struggle in balancing its domestic needs while playing a dynamic developmental role in the African region and global context exposes a complex web of relations shaped by its geostrategic location on the continent, and the world, and the staggering legacies of colonialism and apartheid. As such, understanding the complexities of the global economy and of South Africa's place in it, is of great importance. This book builds upon an existing body of literature which has demonstrated that while the post-apartheid South African state has recast its nation building goals - with advances having been made notably in the area of a stellar post-apartheid constitution, policy directives, and democratic political integration - economic integration and policy implementation presents a projection of captured interests, where big business concerns are entrenched in the post-apartheid state’s apparent neo-liberal turn.
The main focus of the book is to contextualise issues relating to three main trends in global discourses on development, which are significant for South Africa, and indeed, for the study of the political economy of regional development in the country from the prism of South Africa as a global capitalist state. These trends include the impact of globalisation, regionalisation, and the marginalisation of South Africa and indeed the African continent in the global economy, thus unpacking the possible role that South Africa might play in regional development.
This volume will be a valuable resource to academics, researchers and students in the fields of regional studies, economics and political theory as well as policymakers, planners and local economic development practitioners.
List of figures
List of tables
List of contributors
Extended Foreword
Chapter 1: Neoliberal Regionalism in the Context of Globalization: Expanding Cities and Shrinking Peripheries
Methembe Mdlalose & Andile Biyela
Chapter 2: Regional Development in an Era of Neoliberalism: Reflections on International Thinking and Implications for Policy and Practice in South Africa
Etienne Nel
Chapter 3: The Rise and Fall of Regional Planning and Policy in South Africa
Ernst Drewes & Mariske van Aswegen
Chapter 4: Regional Development in Neoliberal South Africa: A Convoluted Concoction of Economics and Politics
Methembe Mdlalose & Eric Makoni
Chapter 5: From ‘Centre Stage’ to ‘Left Behind’: The Historical Evolution of South Africa’s Former Bantustan Spaces
Christian M. Rogerson & Jayne M. Rogerson
Chapter 6: Entrepreneurial-led Regional Development and the Challenge of ‘Left-behind’ Places in South Africa
Sthembiso Myeni & Aubrey Mpungose
Chapter 7: Assessing the Benefits of the Impact of Big Data and Analytics on Regional Government
Thokozani Nzimakwe
Chapter 8: Spatial Targeting and Economic Development Corridors in South Africa
Andre Brand & Ernst Drewes
Chapter 9: Promoting Place-Based Regional Development through Local Economic Development Agencies and Special Economic Zones in South Africa
Isaac Khambule
Chapter 10: South Africa’s Most Controversial Special Economic Zone in Limpopo Province’s Musina-Makhado
Patrick Bond
Chapter 11: Exploring the Role of Special Economic Zones Models on Regional Integration and Inclusivity: The Case of Maluti A Phofung Special Economic Zone Free State Province South Africa
Chukwuemeka Osuigwe & Trynos Gumbo
Chapter 12: Methodological Advances for Regional Analysis in the Global South: Prospects for South Africa and Beyond
Nene Ernest Khalema, Maximino Gervasio Costumado, Blessings Masuku, and Sibongile Ngcobo
Index
Biography
Methembe Ziphozonke Mdlalose is a Senior Lecturer in Development Studies at the University of KwaZulu‑Natal. His academic focus centres on the political and economic dimensions of development and governance in South Africa. Methembe’s research is characterised by an interdisciplinary approach that seeks to enhance understanding of how political and socio‑economic factors shape development processes. Methembe has published several articles in accredited academic journals and contributed to book chapters.
Isaac Khambule is a Professor of Political Economy and the Director of the Africa Centre for Evidence at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He was previously an Associate Professor of Political Economy at the Wits School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand, where he taught Decision‑Making in Public Institutions and was the Academic Head of the Executive Education Unit. Isaac’s research interest is on the relationship among the State, Institutions and Development, with a particular focus on the role of the state in economic development and the entrepreneurial state.
Nene Ernest Khalema (PhD) is the Dean and Head of School of Built Environment and Development Studies at the University of KwaZulu‑Natal in South Africa. Before joining the University of KwaZulu‑Natal, he was a professor and lecturer in various Canadian universities since 2001 and served as chief/senior research specialist of the Human Sciences Research Council (2011–16) where his seminal work on participatory action mixed methodologies, migration and mobilities, demography of vulnerable populations and social epidemiology received (inter)national recognition. A critical sociologist, Dr Khalema has co‑edited a number of books including the recent: Decolonizing African Studies Pedagogies: Knowledge Production, Epistemic Imperialism, and Black Agency (2023, Palgrave McMillan) and The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Africa (2023, Oxford University Press). He has published over 40 articles in accredited academic journals, 30 refereed book chapters and 40 technical research reports and policy/research briefs, and presented 75 papers and 25 academic posters in local, national and international conferences.
