On Wednesday 15 March 2023, the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria, Professor Tawana Kupe, and the Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship co-hosted a workshop to discuss the political economy of South Africa. A multidisciplinary group of 34 experts from 11 universities in the US and Europe, the University of Pretoria and the South African state participated in the event.

The workshop, coordinated by the Centre’s Professor Daniel Bradlow, was held under Chatham House rules to foster a frank and lively exchange of views on South Africa’s current political and economic challenges, and on the role South Africa is playing in the evolving global governance regimes.

In his opening remarks, Professor Kupe stated that “One of the hallmarks of a great university is that it encourages its staff and students to both do research on and to engage in robust and lively discussion about the great challenges facing its society and the world. This is certainly true of the University of Pretoria”. This event was a good example of the University of Pretoria’s commitment to addressing the challenges that our country and the world face.

The workshop consisted of two sessions. The first session focused on the domestic challenges that South Africa faces. The session began with short presentations on the opportunities and challenges confronting the South African economy and political system. They were followed by a lively discussion on the country’s unemployment and unstable electricity supply challenges. There was also discussion of the economy’s low growth potential and the possibilities for increasing this potential, including the question of training and technical capacity building. Participants also noted that there are some impressive elements in the South African political economy, including its constitution, legal system and democratic order. Some participants encouraged the group to consider South Africa in a broader comparative context. They suggested that such comparative analysis would facilitate a more nuanced and balanced perspective on the performance of the South African political economy.

The second session focused on South Africa’s international relations. The short presentations at the beginning of this session discussed South Africa’s role in global affairs and how it had changed since the advent of democracy in South Africa. The speakers expressed concern that the country’s standing in the international community had declined since the early days of the Mandela government. They noted that that this was due in part to developments outside South Africa’s control because during this period the international environment had become more difficult and even hostile for countries in Africa. However, they also expressed concern that South African foreign policy making had not adequately adapted to the changing environment and had squandered the opportunities that the country’s good international reputation had won it. The ensuing discussions provided an opportunity for an exchange of views on the internal circumstances in South Africa’s that contribute to the international policy choices it has made and the role it has elected to play in regional and global politics.