African Perceptions, African Realities –
South African capital and sub-imperial expansion in Africa
Coordinator
Darlene Miller
Members:
Etienne Nel, Richard Saunders, Bridget Kenny ,Charles
Mather, Godfrey Hampwaye,
Saliem Patel, Monty Roodt ,Magda Wilson,Longinus
Rutasitara,Fred Hendricks, Olajide Oloyede
Countries of study:
South Africa,
Malawi,Mozambique,Namibie,Tanzania ,Zambia, Zimbabwe
South Africa’s economic
expansion in Africa is often approached as a one-way
process, where local environments and communities are
passive recipients of dynamic South African-led processes.
This research is premised on the understanding that dynamic
internal contestations shape the terms of the engagement
between South African companies and their African hosts. The
project seeks to examine the internal class dynamics in
different national contexts that produce variable
development outcomes with the economic expansion of South
African companies. The agents of change are South African
businesses who are part of the post-Apartheid expansion into
Africa. The study further seeks to understand how the
differential outcomes in local African contexts and host
countries are shaped by the responses of governments,
workers, local producers, local manufacturers, local
consumers, NGOs, trade unions and local municipalities.
The
main comparative question in this study is:
Are South African companies agents of South African
sub-imperialism? The broad research issue the study
investigates is the social and economic impact of South
African investment on host countries in Africa. The
objective is to analyse the uneven development of regional
South African-led capital accumulation by assessing the
impact on internal class dynamics in different national
contexts.
Currently, the group is
preparing for its first methodological workshop. This is to
take place in Dakar in the month of May.
