Geoffrey Hawker

Political leadership in the ANC: the South African provinces 1994-1999

The African National Congress (ANC) government in South Africa, having made compromises in the transition of 1994, has been accused of resorting to undemocratic ways in dealing with the frustrations of government. The instability of political leadership at the provincial level appears to confirm pessimism. The central organs of the ANC have tried to bring wayward provinces into line, most recently (May 2000) by dissolving the local party executives in two provinces. But there have been successes in provincial leadership and the party has resolved a number of disputes flexibly and arguably effectively. Conventions of political management are solidifying and may help to pattern ideological conflict in democratic ways in the future.

The New Scramble for Africa

It is a good title, though not exactly original, and begs the question: What is the difference between the first colonial scramble for the resources of Africa and the exploitations of the post-colonial world? The author does not make the answer entirely clear, though the opening and closing sections of the volume explicitly raise the question and seek to answer it. Along the way, we learn a good deal of detail about the needs of the nations beyond Africa for the resources of the continent*and especially about the heightened levels of Chinese activity in land purchases and in securing rights to oil and other vital minerals, timber, biofuels, food and fisheries. The most detailed and original chapter, written with Godfrey Hampwaye (though partly repeating previously published research), shows how deeply Chinese interests have penetrated Zambia, providing background to the recent election of President Michael Sata with strong anti-Chinese rhetoric. The author also notes the growing roles of India and the United States, and less prominent, though important, actors like Brazil and Japan. Australia hardly figures, except as a supplier and processor of coltan, and, more surprisingly, as an economy that has taken the ‘high road’ to ‘knowledge’ based on its clever use of the mining industry (188). The recent expansion of Australian mining companies into Africa, though much noted in Australia itself, passes unnoticed. Indeed, the extractive industries, apart from oil, do not get more attention than other natural resources, and that is a strength of the volume. The author’s tendency is to summarise opinion and factual findings, and the use of overlong quotations from other writers is mildly irritating, but, on the whole, the summary material is usefully brought together and makes the text of some value as a teaching tool. Its evaluation of what is happening to the states and peoples of Africa is less clear. African nations are distinct juridical entities rather than colonies owned by a metropolitan power; intervention in their economies and societies comes through a new set of players; and military force is usually not (well, only sometimes) at issue. Norms of ‘good governance’ have also emerged from the international financial institutions and other sources, though the author says little on this subject. He does, however, say that ‘the difference between the first and second scrambles is the difference between colonialism and globalization’ (192), which does not take us very far. ‘Globalization’ here seems to mean the integration of African markets with the world economy, but that was characteristic of colonial times, too, albeit before wars broke down that international system and created another. The new world, according to the author, has ‘increased the power of political elites in resource-rich states’ (191) and allowed proxy conflicts to emerge, as in Darfur between the United States and China. It is, to say the least, not obvious that the peoples of Africa are any more advantaged in the new world than they were in the old, though the author resists the temptation of some recent commentators to replace ‘the hopeless continent’ with the blue sky of expanding populations and expanding middle-class disposable income. Rather, he points to further issues for Africa as the destination for low-priced commodities from Asia. If China has an African strategy, Africa, as the author notes, ‘does not have a China strategy’ (193). In a globalised world (to the extent that the term has meaning), a more comprehensive strategy seems called for. The evidence of this volume is that one predator is much like another and to change that reality calls for political change in the First World as much as in Africa itself.

Review of Hilary Golder’sPolitics, Patronage and Public Worksand Peter J. Tyler’sHumble and Obedient Servants

Geoffrey Hawker of Macquarie University reviews Politics, Patronage and Public Works: The Administration of New South Wales , Volume 1, 1842–1900 , by Hilary Golder (Sydney: UNSW Press; 2005, pp. xii+ 268. AU

Politics and policy in Australia

59.95hb) and Humble and Obedient Servants: The Administration of New South Wales , Volume 2, 1901–1960 , by Peter J. Tyler, (Sydney: UNSW Press; 2005, pp. xvi+ 267. AU

The Hawke government : a critical retrospective

59.95hb).