South Africa in GEAR: ‘A better life for all’ or a zero-sum game of globalization? |
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Authors: | Johannes Tsheola |
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Institution: | (1) School of Economics & Management, University of the North, Private Bag X1106, Sovenga, 0727, South Africa (E-mail |
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Abstract: | State conduct of commerce with the rest of the world has always been important, rather than determinant, to domestic capacity
to generate and distribute output and income. Theoretically, engagements of world commerce have included protectionism, inward-looking
strategies, integration for interdependence, insertion for dependence, openness to imports and free trade regimes. For erstwhile
colonies in Africa, the trajectory of engagement has seemed to be predetermined due to colonial-formation of their economies.
As the model of evolution of Africa's external relations demonstrates, states in that continent have been inserted into the
global system for dependent extraversion and adjustments. Attempts at trade and market liberalisation there have perpetuated
openness to imports. Given that state of affairs, states in that continent have been eroded of capacity of domesticating globalisation
for local socio-economic transformation. From a political-economy perspective, the paper views South Africa's Growth, Employment
and Redistribution (GEAR) strategy as an instrument of appropriation that is set to perpetuate that country's dependent extraversion
and openness to imports. The paper uses the balance of payments to demonstrate that country's poor state of commerce with
the rest of the world. It argues that as external trade and capital flows and investments, which are shaped through domestic
economic policy, affect in return domestic capacity of transforming the structures of deprivation, GEAR has inaugurated a
zero-sum game of globalisation, rather than `a better life for all'. We analyse several indicators of economic performance
and social wellbeing to demonstrate the paradoxical operations and Janus-faced tendencies of globalisation and the attendant
lack of transformation of structures of deprivation in South Africa.
This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
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Keywords: | balance of payments deprivation foreign direct investment GEAR globalisation openness South Africa |
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