ABSTRACT
For the South African government, the construction of a coherent, effective Africa policy has been a priority, and one of the most demanding challenges, in the democratic era. In the 1999–2008 Mbeki period, South Africa had both successes and failures in its neighbourhood, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) zone. When Nelson Mandela was sworn in as president on 10 May 1994, South Africa enjoyed unprecedented global standing, a valuable asset in the foreign-policy toolkit of any state. Although Mbeki never formally repudiated the Mandela administration’s policy of ‘universalism’—through which Pretoria sought relationships of equal merit with all states—he initiated a distinct shift in the emphasis and tone of South Africa’s strategic priorities, particularly in relation to the rest of the continent. Contrary to some claims, Jacob Zuma has failed to make a significant impression on South African foreign policy since becoming president, and has been unable to articulate even the broadest contours of a ‘Zuma Doctrine’.
