South Africa in the twenty-first century: Governance challenges in the struggle for social equity and economic growth

Abstract

Since the advent of democracy in 1994, South Africa has undergone an extensive process of state reform aimed at overcoming the legacy of Apartheid and at building a more egalitarian social and political order. Whilst progress has been made in reforming the state infrastructure, the pursuit of an inconsistent economic growth path has meant that inequality and poverty remain serious challenges to the social order. The inability of oversight institutions to control powerful political interest groups, furthermore, has led to the growth of public sector corruption and to power struggles within the ruling alliance. From a BRICS perspective this suggests that the current governance challenges in South Africa need to be taken into account when factoring in its future role in the partnership.