A partner in Africa? Canada and post‐apartheid South Africa
Before the apartheid‐induced imposition of sanctions beginning in the 1960s, Canada's ties with South Africa were closer and more complex than with any other nation on the African continent. William Dobell looks at the renewal of relations in the post‐apartheid era to determine whether South Africa has once again come to occupy the position of Canada's primary partner on the continent. The resumption of political, economic and cultural interchange has indeed fostered closer links between the two countries than those between Canada and other African nations, he notes, but this may have more to do with the weakness of Canadian ties to Africa than with the strength and vitality of its burgeoning relations with the new regime. Dobell examines the factors which may hinder or enhance the development of the ties that do exist and what benefits there may be for both nations in the pursuit of closer relations.
Namibia: Impressions of Independence
Namibia, once the private preserve of minority-ruled South Africa, acceded to independence on 21 March 1990, almost three decades after most other African countries. The attainment of formal independence came at a momentous time in the history of world society and of the region. Internationally, the bipolarity driven by the ideological excesses of the Cold War came to an end as empires perished and doctrinal politics went out of fashion. Regionally, the corrosive vulgarities of military destabilisation and apartheid began to exact prohibitive costs to minority-ruled South Africa. Proponents of military destabilisation lost their way in the uncharted immensity of the Angolan bush.
Why Swaziland is Different: an Explanation of the Kingdom's Political Position in Southern Africa
Explaining Swaziland's political position in the context of Southern Africa has been difficult and never in vogue. This small Kingdom with a population of less than 700,000 has often been neglected in African analyses, and where facts and figures have been presented, these have not been sufficient to give us any real understanding as regards what has happened in recent years, and why. What to some has defied objective explanation has been the Kingdom's non-conflictual relationship with South Africa which, in a regionally polarised situation, has come to be interpreted as a ready willingness to collaborate with the apartheid state.