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The Role of South African Business in South Africa's Post Apartheid

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The Role of South African Business in South Africa's Post Apartheid View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Birmingham Research Archive, E-theses Repository THE ROLE OF SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS IN SOUTH AFRICA’S POST APARTHEID ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY By ANTOINETTE VALSAMAKIS A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Political Science and International Studies School of Government and Society College of Social Sciences University of Birmingham May 2012 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT This thesis explores the role of South African business as non-state actors (NSAs) in South Africa’s post-apartheid economic diplomacy. The work is an empirical contribution to the debate within diplomacy studies asserting the importance of NSAs in diplomacy studies and that the inclusion of economic considerations in diplomacy studies is crucial. Whilst a broader agenda in diplomacy studies is increasingly being recognised by diplomacy scholars, there is limited case-based evidence of the increasingly active role being played by NSAs in diplomacy generally and economic diplomacy more specifically. The research uses a multistakeholder diplomacy framework to analyse the extent to and ways in which corporate actors engage in South Africa’s post-apartheid economic diplomacy. This study explores specific business activities around economic diplomacy, expounds why South African business adopts different strategies at different times and crucially examines how corporate actors do this. The thesis identifies three distinct modes of corporate diplomacy: consultative, supplementary, and entrepreneurial. The thesis concludes that corporate diplomacy warrants far more scholarly attention than has hitherto been the case, both in developed and emerging economies, on the basis that corporate actors in South Africa play a crucial role in economic diplomacy, both as consumers and producers of diplomatic outcomes. Table of Contents CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Defining the concept of economic diplomacy ......................................................... 5 1.2 The Thesis Argument ............................................................................................. 13 1.3 Analytical framework ............................................................................................. 14 1.4 Methodological approach ..................................................................................... 22 1.5 Thesis outline ......................................................................................................... 25 CHAPTER TWO: THE CONTEMPORARY COMPLEXITY OF ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY ................. 29 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 29 2.2 Theoretical perspectives........................................................................................ 32 2.3 Including economics in diplomacy studies ............................................................ 51 2.4 Business as NSAs in economic diplomacy ............................................................. 57 2.5 Multi-actor frameworks for diplomacy ................................................................. 63 2.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 69 CHAPTER THREE: SOUTH AFRICA’S POLITICAL ECONOMY ...................................................... 72 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 72 3.2 South Africa’s historical political economy ........................................................... 73 3.3 South Africa’s apartheid-era economic diplomacy ............................................... 79 3.4 Business during apartheid and at political transition ............................................ 82 3.5 Post-apartheid ‘liberalisation’ ............................................................................... 90 3.6 The present economic milieu ................................................................................ 98 3.7 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 103 CHAPTER FOUR: SOUTH AFRICA’S ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY STAKEHOLDERS ....................... 105 4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 105 4.2 Government Institutions ..................................................................................... 105 4.3 Non-State Actors (NSAs) ...................................................................................... 111 4.4 Analysing agency in South Africa’s economic diplomacy .................................... 126 4.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 138 CHAPTER FIVE: MODES OF DIPLOMACY, THE CONSULTATIVE ROLE OF BUSINESS ............... 141 5.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 141 5.2 Constructive Contestation ................................................................................... 143 5.3 South Africa’s Trade Agreements ........................................................................ 146 5.4 Consultation Mechanisms ................................................................................... 151 5.5 Diplomatic process, tools and methods .............................................................. 156 5.6 Analysing the consultative role of business NSA ................................................. 156 5.7 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 170 CHAPTER SIX: MODES OF DIPLOMACY, THE SUPPLEMENTARY ROLE OF BUSINESS ............. 173 6.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 173 6.2 South-South diplomacy – sites of diplomatic engagement ................................ 174 6.3 Africa – fearing the South African (economic) hegemon? .................................. 186 6.4 Analysing the supplementary role of business NSAs .......................................... 193 6.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 204 CHAPTER SEVEN: MODES OF DIPLOMACY, DIPLOMATIC ENTREPRENEURS ......................... 208 7.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 208 7.2 Sites of diplomatic activity – a global stage ........................................................ 210 7.3 Corporate agency – mapping South Africa’s MNCs ............................................ 224 7.4 Analysing the entrepreneurial role of corporate diplomacy ................................ 229 7.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 237 CHAPTER EIGHT: CONCLUSION .............................................................................................. 239 8.1 Towards a multi-centric view in IR and diplomacy studies ................................. 239 8.2 Empirical Depth ................................................................................................... 240 8.3 A MSD approach to diplomacy ............................................................................ 241 8.4 The relevance of South Africa’s political economy ............................................. 243 8.5 Stakeholders in South Africa’s economic diplomacy .......................................... 245 8.6 Modes of Engagement......................................................................................... 246 8.6 Further research .................................................................................................. 254 8.7 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 255 APPENDIX ONE: LIST OF INTERVIEWS .................................................................................... 257 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................... 258 List of Tables and Figures Figure 3.1 GDP Growth rates 1950-1990.........................................................................78 Figure 3.2 Distribution of South Africa’s Exports by World region (2010).....................102 Table 3.1 South African Trade by Country: Exports (2006-2010)....................................99 Table 3.2 South African Trade by Country: Imports (2006-2010).................................100 Table 5.1 Selected List
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