South Africa's Defence Diplomacy

Stellenbosch University, SUNScholar, 2023

The study focused on the making of South African defence policy from 1994 to 2015. Since democratisation, South African defence spending declined as socio-economic development became the national priority. After integration, the South African National Defence Force struggled with affordability regarding its personnel, main equipment, internal deployments, and increasing operational involvement in African missions. The research question was to determine why there is a disconnect between the means and ends in South African defence policy since 1994. To answer this question, a theoretical case study with emphasis on domestic policy-making was done. The work of Graham Allison was used to analyse South African defence policy-making in terms of rational choice, organisational process, and bureaucratic politics. This study found that South African defence policy is not made in a rational, logical, or cost-effective manner – as society expects – but is predominantly influenced by party-political considerations and vested military institutional interests.

Scientia Militaria, 2015

The utility of theoretical approaches in international relations can be found in the fact that such approaches provide 'lenses' that can be applied to enhance our understanding of the social dynamics of the world we live in. Theoretical approaches are also instrumental in shaping perceptions of what matters in international politics as a social activity. At least indirectly, such approaches inform the choices made by decision-makers on foreign policy and related defence planning. The aim of this article is to revisit those theoretical approaches in international relations that underlie security studies, and to evaluate the relevance of the approaches with regard to a scholarly understanding of militaries and specifically their roles and functions in a foreign policy context. The latter pertains to militaries in general but also to the South African military in particular regarding its role and function as a foreign policy instrument of the South African government.

Just as apartheid was ending, South Africa’s foreign relations witnessed a massive expansion. However, the Department of Foreign Affairs that was to manage this change found itself undergoing institutional transformations of both personnel and ideology. Studies on South African foreign policy have mostly neglected this transformation, which has had a considerable influence on the content and direction of South African foreign policy. In discussing this seldom-studied issue, this analysis unearths the discussions and debates that took place between various stakeholders to bring about transformation in the Department. In doing so, it argues that two different cultures of diplomacy came together in forming the new Department of Foreign Affairs. These cultures have had a significant impact on the thrust and direction of post-apartheid South Africa foreign policy.

The Strategic Review for Southern Africa, 2020

This study examines the trajectory of South Africa's post-apartheid foreign policy by establishing the extent of change or consistency in its implementation since 1994. Under the ruling African National Congress (ANC), South Africa has emerged as a promising international actor, particularly within the Southern African region and on the African continent in general. The authors provide a historical analysis of the major trajectories of foreign policy articulation under the administrations of Presidents Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma spanning the period 1994 to 2018. In investigating the conception and execution of foreign policy under these dispensations, the authors unravel a consistent but skewed pattern of national role conception that underscores Pretoria’s vision to be a major actor in international affairs, both regionally and globally. We conclude that South Africa’s foreign policy during this period was marked by Mandela’s altruism, Mbeki’s Afrocentrism and t...

2020

Scientia Militaria - South African Journal of Military Studies, 2012

International Journal For Reseacrh In Applied Science And Engineering Technology, 2020

This article explains the foreign policy of South Africa from the period of 1994-2012. It explains the points of the dimensions of South Africa's foreign policy. " Continuity and Change of South Africa's Foreign Policy 1994-2012" focused to understand how and what effect, changing and significance has been there in the foreign policy of South Africa from the Mandela to Jacob Zuma time period. The foreign policy of South Africa has been important. The basic foreign policy of South Africa is to promote its territories, human rights, and peace. South Africa foreign policy has been relating to an apartheid policy which is a background of it. It examines the foreign policy in Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma presidential. It describes the foreign policy from apartheid to post-apartheid.

Insight on Africa July 2015 7: 108-119, doi:10.1177/0975087815580727 Almost three decades after South Africa dismantled its nuclear weapons programme and weapons, the question remains why the country has not reversed this decision. This contribution, using three illustrative case studies—the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), South Africa’s inspection team in Iraq (prior to the United States (US)-led invasion in March 2003 and the nuclear fuel reserve of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)—argues that South Africa has conducted its nuclear diplomacy using niche diplomacy as a diplomatic practice. These practices have revealed certain normative principles of South Africa’s post-apartheid nuclear diplomacy, which explain why the country has not reversed its decision. The contribution analyses South Africa’s nuclear diplomacy in the early twenty-first century by focusing on selected post-2000 nuclear-related events and developments.

Academia Letters, 2021