South Africa’s Post-Apartheid Foreign Policy Towards Africa

Abstract

Two principal factors have shaped South Africa’s post-apartheid foreign policy towards Africa. First, the termination of apartheid in 1994 allowed South Africa, for the first time in the country’s history, to establish and maintain contacts with African states on equal terms. Second, the end of the Cold War at the end of the 1980s led to a retreat of the West from Africa, particularly in the economic sphere. Consequently, closer cooperation among all African states has become more pertinent to finding African solutions to African problems. Given South Africa’s status as the leading African country in terms of economic prosperity, political stability, and military strength, other African states have placed considerable hope on South Africa’s contribution to socioeconomic and political betterment of the continent. South Africa has consequently become a more attractive partner for African states than ever before.