Precolonial history of southern africa south african. The social, psychological and economic impact of flooding in gamotla and gamoeka communities of moretele district in north west province, south africa by r. Africa s general economic performance continues to improve, with gross domestic product growth reaching an estimated 3. Over the last decade, a dominant theme in writing about south african historiography has been the growing ascendancy of social history. African economic history was founded in 1974 by the african studies program at the university of wisconsin and subsequently has also been associated with the harriet tubman institute for research on africa and its diasporas at york university. Economic history the south african mmu microfinance department. History of south african economy timeline timetoast timelines. Ongoing political stability in south africa appears contingent on a sustained and high level of per capita economic growth for the foreseeable future. Poverty, the most pressing issue confronting the continent, has received worldwide publicity in recent years. The african slavetrade began imported slaves from malaysia acted as an important contributing factor in the south african industry. Pdf an overview of the political economy of south africa. The history of african development published by the african economic history network aehn aims to draw experts in the field of african history, economics and african development studies together around an open access textbook.
Building on two world bank reports the poverty and inequality assessment and theforthcoming systematic country diagnostic this 11th edition of the south africa economic update argues that. E m h sy p p growth episodes, 16902010, economic history of developing regions, 25 2010, 127154. The global economic growth outlook has improved, but is clouded by policy uncertainty as. Page 1 of 34 an overview of the political economy of south africa. Economic policy and south africas growth strategy trevor a. With a new appointment set to join us in 20 we are working towards expanding our graduating teaching with a course in methodology and eventually we hope.
Throughout this period south africa produced twice as much electricity and six times as much steel as the rest of the african continent combined while at the same time. Firstly the share of mining in gdp stood at 11% in 1994, but has steadily declined over an eighteen year period to its current 5% in 2012. South africa successfully held its first democratic elections in april 1994 and the african national congress anc won with a majority vote to head the government of national unity. Next year we are adding another honours level course on south african economic history. South africa experienced 36 consecutive quarters of positive economic growth during the period in which thabo mbeki was president and trevor manual was finance minister. The 11th edition of the south africa economic update was produced by a. South african government officials have put their trust in the policy guidelines and loans from the imf, but the projects they funded have not created any new wealth in south africas economy.
The journal publishes scholarly essays in english, french, and portuguese on the economic history of. They brought skills from their homecountries that contributed largely to the industrial development in south africa, skills such as fishing, farming and working in sugarcane plantations. South africa s democratic transition in 1994 created expectations of a dramatic turnaround in the economic performance. The data revolution in african economic history1 wur. Its economic regulations have restricted badly needed wealth creation and economic growth, while the keynesian spending spree achieved a similar end. Economic history society of southern africa promoting the. Hamilton the student of southern african precolonial history is in creasingly forced to examine the purpose of his or her work, to assess the function and impact of precolonial studies on contemporary society. Postapartheid southern africa after decades of economic decline and political instability, the southern african region has engaged in a process of rapid and farreaching political and economic changes. South africas relationship to the rest of africa has been ambiguous. South africa reduce its high dependency on commodity price movements, which do not look favorable for the country in the medium term. The economic history society of southern africa strives to promote the study of, and interest in economic and social history. This book is the first economic history of south africa in over sixty years.
Economic history the south african economic history society of. Bringing together history and economics, this paper presents a historical and processual. The textbook is primarily intended for teacherslecturers and undergraduate students, at african universities. Project muse african economic historyvolume 43, 2015. Economic history of south africa pretoria, 1983 pp. South african economic history annual december 2014 volume 3 page 2. Trade and financial sanctions and internal political opposition to the. The data in table 1 also raises the thorny problem of the periodisation of south african economic history. Throughout the 1960s, south africa had economic dominance over the rest of africa and was considered the only developed country in africa by the united nations economic criteria.
South african economic history annual december 2012 volume 1 page 2. In order to rebuild and transform the economy after years of apartheid regimes economic isolation and financial sanctions which were enforced by the international community, reconstruction and development. The south african economy is greatly influenced by the world economy and is characterised by the continuing recovery of the rand and the rising gold price fourie, 2003. Pdf an overview of the south african economy in the 1970s. Growth projections for south africa and other emdes 21. This development has been reinforced by south africa s transition from apartheid, a transition which has created optimistic. Below a graph showing south africa s annual gdp per capita rand value of the south african economy per person living in it, as calculated by south african market insights. South african scientists have been actively involved in the study of human origins since 1925 when raymond dart identified the taung child as an infant halfway between apes and humans. Dart called the remains australopithecus africanus, southern apeman, and his work ultimately changed the focus of human evolution from europe and asia to africa. African economic history was founded in 1974 by the african studies program at the university of wisconsin and subsequently has also been associated with the harriet tubman institute for research on africa and its diasporas, york university.
The journal publishes scholarly essays in english, french, and portuguese on economic history of african. The combination of president mbeki and finance minister manual proved to be the most successful economic combination in south africas young history. The purpose of this article is to promote the revival of african economic history. The contribution of african women to economic growth and development in the precolonial and colonial periods. Postapartheid southern africa south african history online.
South africas key economic policies changes 1994 20. The future of south african economic history1 johan fourie2 and stefan schirmer3 abstract. Included are agricultural economics, manufacturing, short and longdistance trade, including the slave. Before south africas vast mineral wealth was discovered in the late nineteenth century, there was a general belief that southern africa was almost devoid of the riches that had drawn europeans to the rest of the continent. Pdf for the past three or four decades, most economic historians have come to embrace quantitative methods as the sine qua non of their. Economic overview in brief the south african economy, which grew by an estimated 0. Economic history, economic development, economic growth, development economics, external trade 1this is an early version of a paper that has been published as economic growth in oxford handbook of modern african history edited by john parker and richard reid, oxford university press, 20. The first decade, an article by jon inggs in volume 111, march 1996, contains a synopsis of every article published between 1986 and 1995. The contribution of african women to economic growth and. The decade of the 1970s marked a watershed in recent south african economic history, as longterm economic growth gave way to long. The statutory meeting took place during the first african economic history network workshop held at lund university, 16 december 2011. Feinstein offers an authoritative survey of five hundred years of south african economic history from the years preceding european.
An economic history of south africa this book is the first economic history of south africa in over sixty years. The justification offered for choosing this time period rests on the fact that south african gold output peaked in physical terms in 1970. An overview of the south african economy in the 1970s. See gareth austin, african economic history in africa, economic history of developing regions, aheadofprint 2015, 116. Economics is the study of how individuals, firms, governments and other organizations within our society make choices and how. South african economic history annual december 2012 volume 1 page 6 vergence. Feinstein offers an authoritative survey of five hundred years of south african economic history from the years preceding european settlements in 1652 through to the end of the apartheid era. An economic system for so uth africa m l truu department of economics, university of pretoria abstract at present, south africas economic system has no name and is under a cloud of confusion. South africas economic history south african market insights. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. A history of south african capitalism in national and global. The decline of the south african economy explicitly selects the period 1970 to 2000. African economic history is an annual publication designed to publish scholarly research in all aspects of the economics of the african past, including historiography, with an emphasis of subsaharan and colonial and postcolonial themes.
Rabalao 2006108977 submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree masters in disaster management disaster management training and education centre for africa at the. A thorough discussion of the last two decades of the apartheid period may be found in two issues of the south african journal of economic history, the precursor to the present journal, edited by. Cambridge core regional history after 1500 an economic history of south africa by charles h. This has been caused by the concurrence of two major political events. Katzen, gold and the south african economy cape town, 1964. As can be seen from the graph during thabo mbekis tenure south africans enjoyed a surge in gdp per capita, while more recently the gdp per capita has remained relatively flat hardly any growth from 2010 to 2015. African economic history 2nd printing edition by ralph a. We argue that although new techniques, archival sources, international interest and a greater propensity. It was africas economic history, in particular, that was in high demand. All journal articles featured in economic history of developing regions vol 18 issue 12. The purpose of this article is to promote the revival of african econ omic history. African economic history often focuses on explanations of poverty and obscures other aspects such as the achievements of african farmers, traders and states, including improvements in food security, and episodes of economic growth. In short, the share of mining in national output has more than halved in the postapartheid period. Looking forward, african economic growth is projected to accelerate to 4percent in 2019.