Is Thabo Mbeki Africa's Saviour?

Abstract

Foreign relations are the main preoccupation of South African president, Thabo Mbeki. His role perception is dominated by a mission to improve the plight of Africa, and second to that, to act as the Third World's uberdiplomat. Under his administration, South Africa's foreign policy has become almost an adjunct of his more holistic diplomatic pursuits. The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is the magnum opus of Mbeki's foreign policy, and the success or failure of this grand design for an African renaissance will determine his legacy and make or break his leadership in South Africa and in the rest of Africa. The success of his NEPAD diplomacy is a daunting task, requiring the support of his African peers, his South African constituency, and the leadership of the developed nations of the world. Dealing with these diverse elements, Mbeki's policy-making oscillates between realism and idealism, and between ideology and interests, giving the impression of a style of a prudent bureaucrat rather than that of a single-minded reformer. In the end, his diplomacy seems to founder because it fails to satisfy the contradictory demands of any of these three constituencies. However, even if NEPAD should fail as a project, its role could be that of a harbinger of a new political and economic era in Africa and the movement away from post-colonial orthodoxy.