Why ‘Anglo Licks the ANC's Boots’: Globalization and State–Capital Relations in South Africa
Okechukwu C. Iheduru (okey.iheduru{at}asu.edu) is a Professor of Political Science at Arizona State University. The author acknowledges the Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Fellowship for financial support, and the Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria for institutional affiliation in 2005. I am grateful to Frederik van Zyl Slabbert, Michael Spicer, Lot Ndlovu, and Peter Vundla for giving freely of their time and insights. I also acknowledge the editors, Sara Dorman, and two anonymous reviewers for helping crystallize my thoughts.
Under what conditions does capital in the age of globalization accept state regulation of markets instead of exercising its ‘exit option’ and shifting assets to less restrictive markets? This article explores this question by analysing local and foreign capital's compliance with the South African government's policy of seeking to transfer 25–30 percent of equity and management in white-owned companies to blacks in all sectors of the economy by 2014. This is part of government's overall policy of black economic empowerment (BEE) to foster the emergence of a black capital-owning class. The article argues that the relative vulnerability of states and markets to globalization pressures compels states and markets to reach a ‘fateful compromise’ that enhances state autonomy to regulate markets while also advancing the interests of capital.