An Afro-Centric Analysis of South Africa's Foreign Policy on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) : Case of Zimbabwe, 1999-2018

The 1994 democratic dispensation was the watershed on South Africa's foreign policy. Given the protracted fight against apartheid, human rights took precedence on South Africa's foreign policy. Concomitantly, Tshwane incorporated African Agenda on its foreign policy by forging ties with former liberation movements throughout the continent, in particular Zambia and Zimbabwe. By so doing, South Africa abandoned the apartheid siege mentality and became a leader towards the Southern African region. South Africa's foreign policy towards Zimbabwe received and continue to receive much attention from scholars, academia and media alike. This is largely spurred by the ongoing economic crisis which led many of that country's nationals to fled into South Africa. Scholars employed North [ern] Angled perspectives which provide fragmentary analysis and understanding of South Africa's foreign policy. This article moves away from Euro-American cultural value systems and experiences of Westerners about the phenomenon of politics and foreign policy by adopting Afro-centricity as an alternative lens to explore Tshwane-Harare relations. The main argument of this article is that South Africa's foreign policy towards Southern African Development Community (SADC) especially Zimbabwe, should be understood based on African experiences. Methodologically, this study is a desktop research relying on secondary data and adopted document analysis.