The Black Industrialist Programme’s prospects to the advancement of developmental state in South Africa

Abstract

To investigate the appropriateness of the Black Industrialist Programme as a policy to advance the developmental state framework in South Africa.Setting: Experience in East Asia regarding developmental states led countries like South Africa to believe that they can also implement such policies to enable the country to industrialise. Methods:The study employed qualitative research methods using open-ended interviews for primary data and documents collected from various sources for secondary data. The study's qualitative description of the findings derives from the themes that emerged from the research and which employed open-ended questions and research techniques in line with such research techniques.Results: Findings show that the Black Industrialist Programme policy will have an impact, as its funding model is a significant shift from past practices by assisting aspiring industrialists through grants and preferential procurement measures. However, the study argues that the shift from focusing on general industrialisation to narrowing it to black industrialisation brings with it new constraints in advancing a developmental state. Conclusions:The research concludes that the programme will contribute to the developmental state concept's progress but will be limited in praxis because the state does not possess a holistic overarching economic developmental plan. Contribution:The study contributes to the analytical discourse of developmental states by offering context-specific analysis of industrialisation paths for societies addressing racial and economic inequality.