Introduction

After decades of economic decline and political instability, the region of Southern Africa has engaged in a process of rapid and comprehensive political and economic change.1 Most countries of the region have introduced structural adjustment programmes with the support of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank or have made their own attempt at reforming their economies. State interventions and controls have been gradually reduced to allow markets to work more smoothly. In the process, the role of public enterprises, which after political independence became the major actors in the economies, has been reduced significantly. There has also been a shift in favour of more export-oriented and less protectionist policies. In the political arena, one-party systems and low levels of popular participation have been replaced by multi-party systems, except in Swaziland.