This book interrogates the nexus between the state and development in post-apartheid South Africa. It highlights current problems, and suggests ways of consolidating state capabilities, improving public institutions and enhancing governance and development outcomes.
Framed around developmental state theory, the book argues that the role of the state in South Africa will be fundamental for addressing the triple challenges of unemployment, poverty, and inequality. There is a growing concern that South Africa is at a development impasse, with ongoing crises in energy, infrastructure, and unemployment. The chapters investigate the role of the post-apartheid state in pursuing development and navigating a neoliberal globalised society. The book explores state capacity in all spheres of government, the relationship between politics and bureaucracy, and the role of state-owned enterprises in the country’s developmental aspirations. The book concludes by summarising the successes, challenges and lessons that have emerged over the course of the book; and anticipating future directions or possibilities for the state in South Africa’s development impasse.
Bringing together leading voices in the field, this book will be an essential read for researchers of African politics, political economy and development. The book is also relevant for policymakers, students and practitioners in social sciences.
Table of Contents:
1: The Historicity of the State and Development in South Africa 2: The ANC’s Quest for a Developmental State in South Africa: A Magnificent Dream Lost in Translation 3: Governing for Development in a Democracy: A Critique of the National Planning Commission 4: Neoliberalism and State Capacity in South Africa 5: Privatisation of State-owned Enterprises in South Africa: Implications for Aspiring Developmental States 6: Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) and Industrialisation in South Africa 7: Political Leadership and State Capacity: Lessons in Building State Capacity 8: The Prospects of Asymmetric Decentralisation in South Africa 9: State Institutions and COVID-19 in South Africa: Key Lessons for Government Efficiency 10: Impediments to Development in post-apartheid South Africa: Endogenous and exogenous causal factors
About the Author :
Isaac Khambule is a professor of political economy and the Director of the Africa Centre for Evidence at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He was previously an Associate Professor of Political Economy at the Wits School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand, where he taught Decision-Making in Public Institutions and was the Academic Head of the Executive Education Unit. Isaac’s research interest is on the relationship between the State, Institutions and Development, with a particular focus on the role of the state in economic development and the entrepreneurial state. He has also worked at the University of KwaZulu-Natal as a lecturer and at the Human Sciences Research Council as a researcher. His recent publications include two edited books: Contested Airport Land: Social-Spatial Transformation and Environmental Injustice in Asia and Africa (Routledge, 2024) and Contemporary South Africa and the Political Economy of Regional Development (Routledge, 2025).
