ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the relationship between political leadership and policymaking in Africa. It particularly revisits policymaking in post-apartheid South Africa during the presidency of Thabo Mbeki (1999–2008). It argues that Mbeki was not only a politician and government bureaucrat or political elite for that matter, but he was also a policy entrepreneur. Therefore, he developed innovative policy proposals that helped re-sculpt the post-apartheid South African society and policy regime fundamentally. A good number of these innovations were translated into concrete government actions and programmes, and positively impacted the lives of millions of disadvantaged South Africans. Also, some of Mbeki’s policy innovations were extended beyond South Africa and were implemented at regional and continental levels. This discussion uses the theoretical concept of policy entrepreneur to argue that President Mbeki took on the role of a policy entrepreneur influencing the South African political and bureaucratic space and other external arenas.
