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Strategic Review for Southern Africa, Vol 41, No 2. Nov/Dec 2019 Strategic Review for Southern Africa, Vol 41, No 2. Nov/Dec 2019 For Odilile Ayodele, information infrastructures constitute a strategic pathway to Ecologies of Change: an Editorial „governmentality' where information and communications technology infra struc tures evolve into infrastructural power that connects biopolitics and tech Ecological and agricultural change, technological changes, economic policy, gender nopolitics. For this reason, infrastructural power is proposed as a conduit for de- transitions and the dynamics of a developmental state including accountable peripheralising Africa in the world experiencing development-enhancing digital intelligence services, people-oriented foreign policy implementation are among sub revolutions. Thus, she redefines and re-presents the idea of conduit power in ways jects that are in this journal edition. These are subjects that have long been in mega that illuminate implications – challenges and prospects- of digital transformations discussions about strategic political dynamics of southern Africa and Africa. They for Africa. are about thinking afresh on questions that have a bearing on the lives of the 450 Very strategic also for the region is the assessment of gender policies as in million people of the region. These are discussions that focus us on the age-old pur struments of empowerment and transformation rather than mere window- suit of a state that responds to human needs. These issues cannot be addressed dressing. Amupanda and Thomas critically analyse the 50-50 gender policy of the without research that seeks to clarify what these needs are and what this desired governing SWAPO in Namibia on the basis of data from parliament in order to state might be, research that reflects on what work has been done in these understand the value derived in this regard. They argue that SWAPO has promised directions. more than it has delivered simply. Of course, true gender transformation require In this edition, the authors also thus contribute to the much-needed expansion more fundamental transformation of politics as a practice and art. of what strategic studies in Africa would entail, that it would imply much more Lona Gqiza and Olusola Ogunnubi provide a critical historical analysis of than an outgrowth of military or war studies as it unfortunately has been in Euro continuities and changes in the manner in which the ANC-led governments have centrism. The expanded purview of strategic studies concerns us with human implemented South Africa‟s foreign policy. This show greater amount of interests, social welfare, environmental justice and technological innovation for continuity than change although the geopolitical environment regionally and inter human good as much as it focuses on questions of hard power, security and the nationally has been evolving in ways that require careful navigation of established state. priorities, principles and practices. Still on South Africa, Sandy Africa provides a Elias Phaahla looks at how the relationship between a thriving competitive party wide-ranging and engaging analysis of the state of accountability systems and me politics and an advancing developmental state project has played out in the island chanisms on intelligence services in South Africa in the face of major debate about state of Mauritius, showing how the party system is geared towards social causes accountability gaps in the SA state system. linked to development needs of the country. Botswana‟s success in balancing multi Taken together, these articles provide food for thought in relation to expanded party democracy with the pursuit of socio-economic development is also at the conceptions of strategic studies, enabling us to ask new questions about what are centre of Mabutho Shangase‟s discussion of how to upscale regional economic challenges and prospects underpinning strategic dynamics in Africa and southern integration pivoting on the Southern African Customs Union on the basis of a Africa. This should stimulate research and discussions on such issues as digital tran holistic macro-economic convergence across the region. The instruments of public sitions, ecological justice, risk analyses, and institutional effectiveness in the region policy that have people‟s interests at heart are critical in this regard. The subject of a and beyond. The hope is that this edition will stimulate further research into the developmental state as the basis of a developmental regional integration envisioned region we want, an Africa Africans desire. in the SADC RISDP is that requires case studies of the nature presented in these We invite retorts, responses, rejoinders and debate articles designed to engage two articles. with some of the articles in this edition. Malawi‟s pursuit of agricultural development and food security in the context of I take this opportunity to report that there has been growth of the editorial ecological change is the subject of Bryson Nkhoma‟s historiographical essay. It board over the past year as reflected in the first page of this journal. We welcome shows how historical analysis has evolved from modernist to developmentalist, pro new members representing a blend of experience and youthful energy as well as a viding insights into how colonialisation disrupted indigenous patterns of food variety of disciplinary backgrounds. production in ways that outlasted colonial rule . It also shows that current efforts may fail if they are not sufficiently comprehensive and strategic to reverse this curse of Berlin on Africa‟s food situation. 1 2 Strategic Review for Southern Africa, Vol 41, No 2. Nov/Dec 2019 Strategic Review for Southern Africa, Vol 41, No 2. Nov/Dec 2019 E. Phaahla We thank the associate editor, Prof. Everisto Benyera, and book review editor, Prof. Kgothatso Shai, for their dedicated service. Mauritius’ Competitive Party Politics and Social Democratic Welfare Outcomes after Independence Siphamandla Zondi Editor-in-Chief Elias Phaahla November 2019 Department of Political Studies University of Cape Town, South Africa Abstract Mauritius has cast herself as an outlier on the African political landscape, having hosted peaceful, free and fair elections since the advent of independence in 1968 without fail. The island state of Mauritius, which lies over 2000km off the coast of East Africa, boasts a multiplicity of political parties which have added to the vi brancy of political culture in that country. Election season tends to be a hotly contested period in which various political parties, by virtue of their claims as custodians of collective and national centre left interests, jostle one another for dominance under the banner of pro-poor development. This essay considers Mau ritius‟ status as a social democratic welfare state by drawing the relation between the country‟s competitive political culture and development successes against the backdrop of its democratic election experiences from 1968 to 2005. While election outcomes elsewhere on the continent tend to reflect the maturity of democratic spaces in which political spaces exist, in Mauritius they continue to serve as a litmus test to ascertain the level of commitment to the social cause by the ruling incumbents and aspirants alike. 1. Introduction And they (the political parties in Mauritius) seem to recognise that, at the end of the day, they will be left with what they started with: an agricultural colony, created by empire in an empty island and always meant to be part of something larger, now given a thing called independence and set adrift, abandoned imperial barracon, incapable economic or cultural autonomy. They (the Mauritians) have such con fidence in their rights, their votes, and the power of their opinions (Naipaul 1972). Elections seldom exist in a vacuum. They are a result of a system entrusted with se lection of leaders that will make decisions on behalf of the society electing them. Upon election of the political elite into power, a social contract comes into exis tence in which the elected assume not only a position of state control, but equally 3 4 Strategic Review for Southern Africa, Vol 41, No 2. Nov/Dec 2019 E. Phaahla Strategic Review for Southern Africa, Vol 41, No 2. Nov/Dec 2019 E. Phaahla so, become entrusted with the responsibility to make policy decisions in the interest safeguarding of a state-led social agenda. of electors to complete what can be termed the “process of con sent” (Janowitz The reasons the IMF conditionalities had the opposite effect on Mauritius are and Marvick 1955:381). In many countries, elections have routinely been used as manifold, but chief among these were the partial imposition of the structural the penultimate gauge to measure the level of democratic maturity, serving only the adjustment measures. Thanks to the unflinchingly „here and no further‟ stance by purpose of „box ticking‟ in a bid to give the state some modicum of legitimacy. the political leadership of Mauritius that the country‟s welfare sector became Under these circumstances, the tangible impact of elections on the material liveli insulated from the domineering policy prescriptions by the IMF as an untouchable, hoods of voters is seldom taken into consideration, resulting in progressive policies thus putting political pressure at home at bay. It becomes apparent that the survival likely to be relegated to the side-lines of the policy discourse. of the welfare state in times of economic difficulty in Mauritius relied as much

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