South Africa and Africa: mixed messages?

Abstract

This chapter is an attempt to conceptualise South African-African relations and to provide a broad view of how these are being sustained. It does this by unpacking post-apartheid South Africa's political relationship with Africa, and assess how this has affected the state's role in the continent, especially in the context of political relations. The second part of the chapter will focus on post-apartheid South Africa's economic expansion into Africa. This analysis will mainly focus on comparing and contrasting South Africa's political relations with the continent with corporate South Africa's economic relations with Africa. Can the latter relationship be construed as part of the overall foreign policy strategy or does it reflect something more analogous to the bahaviour of self-seeking multinational companies?