Between domestic interests and regional obligations: class compromise and the evolution of South Africa’s development cooperation programme

Abstract

This paper examines the evolving debate about South Africa’s role in international development cooperation since the emergence of the African Renaissance Fund (ARF) in 2001. It identifies three key discursive findings. First, various domestic stakeholders are supportive of South Africa playing a leadership role in international affairs, with the proviso that these international engagements feed back into economic growth and jobs at home. Second, much of the debate concerns the lack of sufficient accountability measures with the ARF. However, the politically problematic disjuncture between xenophobic attitudes and actions at the societal level and Pretoria’s claim to advance the ‘African Agenda’ as a pillar of its foreign policy complicates South Africa’s development cooperation agenda. With the creation of a fully fledged development agency, three countervailing discourses have emerged in order to ‘sell’ South Africa’s role as a player in development cooperation. First, the South African Development Partnership Agency proponents argue that the new agency seeks to align development assistance programmes more strategically with the country’s own economic interests. Second, the Foreign Ministry has promised more rigorous assessment procedures. Third, to counter anti-African immigrant attitudes, a counter discourse of interdependence by government officials prevails. This discourse emphasises moral values and the benefits that economic development in the region brings to South African businesses and reduces the flow of immigrants.