ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the period between 1960, the onset of the economic miracle in Japan and concurrently South Africa’s international isolation, and the ending of apartheid in 1990. It focuses on the economic content of the relationship, especially with regard to trade and development concerns. The book describes the troubling phenomena of persistent mass unemployment in South Africa and draws comparisons with East Asia. It considers the demographic challenges facing South Africa in light of the Japanese experience. The book also focuses on the changing nature of trade relations between South Africa and Asia in the wake of the former’s democratisation. Emerging from the twilight of apartheid isolation, the new South Africa is taking up the mantle of African leadership through its economic stature, its political credentials and, increasingly, through the moral force of its international voice.
