Paper short abstract:

This paper then tracks the internationalisation of South African capital, with particular relevance to mining resources, and its expansion across Africa and relates it to a growing democracy deficit within the country as a consequence of neoliberal policy choices.

Paper long abstract:

In terms of neo-liberal expansion, conceptualisations that focus on the influence of Africa on the world emphasize that the continent makes novel contributions to global neo-liberal regimes of governance (Comaroff & Comaroff, 2012). In this process of the global consolidation of resource extractions technologies and processes, South Africa with its advanced infrastructure and as a member of the BRICS countries, appears to occupy an important position and serves as an entry point into the African continent - South African capital, linked to global capital flows, has been expanding into emerging African markets over the past years. Simultaneously, a home grown vision for society and development appears exhausted, and a mixed economy and guided development (and democracy) à la China seems to have caught the attention of the ruling alliance. This paper then tracks the internationalisation of South African capital, with particular relevance to mining resources, and its expansion across Africa and relates it to a growing democracy deficit within the country as a consequence of neoliberal policy choices.