South Africa’s transformational approach to global governance

Abstract

South Africa’s post-apartheid foreign policy reveals that transformational global governance considerations have occupied a central place on the Republic’s international radar screen. The Mandela, Mbeki, Motlanthe and Zuma governments have all ambitiously set out to help transform global order from its western-bias and to become more sensitive to the needs and interests of Africa and the global South, while simultaneously championing the idea of a “rules-based” international society. Unilateralist tendencies of major powers have been opposed while South Africa championed active participation in the multilateral domain. One goal was to transform structures and institutions of global governance while another aim was to place developmental goals on the global agenda. As South Africa targeted UN agencies, notably the Security Council, the IMF, World Bank, WTO and more recently the G20, the curious question begs: will South Africa muster the wherewithal to sustain such grand global roles in the years and decades to come?