A Critical Review of South Africa’s Foreign Policy in Promoting Continental Integration

Since 1994, South Africa has demonstrated a strong commitment to promote the interests of Africa and in being the “voice” of the continent. Through its foreign policy posture, South Africa has played a pivotal role in the African continent and the world over. After gaining its independence, South Africa had to promote a strategy of Africans speaking with one voice while still building coalitions amongst themselves. This paper examines South Africa’s approach to global issues on addressing the challenges of underdevelopment, the restructured global division of labour, the increasing iniquitous distribution of global wealth, global poverty, the growing power of trans-nationals and the implications for progressive governance and administration. The paper seeks to discuss South Africa’s foreign policy position on globalization in the era of neoliberalism. This paper uses the critical theory to report on the comprehensive scholarly literature review on the role of South Africa’s foreign policy on continental integration. The results show that South Africa needs to position itself in a new international economic paradigm that incorporates both democratic governance and an accountable and responsible market place beyond the anti-globalization stance. Furthermore, South Africa has attempted to cut the powers of colonizers in Africa, particularly the new powers whose motives fail to promote the African agenda. The paper concludes that South Africa’s policies and actions since 1994 have significantly helped the country to enhance its benefits for its population, while domestic challenges and weaknesses in its conduct have at times had a weakening effect on its endeavour to promote continental integration.