South Africa could channel sustained, coordinated support into fields such as green energy, agro-processing, tourism and mineral beneficiation by developing skills pipelines, investment in infrastructure and policy consistency.
There’s growing buzz about the “developmental state” and the idea that South Africa should follow that path. Experts and academics often point to Asian success stories: Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and China as models where the state took a leading role in economic growth, instead of leaving it to the markets to do as they please.
This idea goes back to the work of American scholar Chalmers Johnson in the early 1980s, when he observed how post-war Japan’s government steered development through close coordination between the government and the markets. Since then, many scholars and policymakers have debated whether African states, and South Africa in particular, could or should emulate that approach.
At its core, the developmental state theory suggests that the government should actively guide economic development, picking priority sectors, coordinating investment, protecting industries, and ensuring implementation of economic policies. In some East Asian contexts, that worked under undemocratic regimes of strong political control and bureaucracy. More often than not, centralised power limits room for independent voices. While this may speed up certain decisions, it can also sideline civil society, weaken checks and balances and undermine human rights.
In the case of South Africa, sacrificing democratic openness for faster growth would be self-defeating. People want transparency, accountability and the ability to hold leaders to account. In reality, accountability falls short, because too many people have been let off the hook — they escape scrutiny and the consequences of their crimes, which only deepens public cynicism.
Building a “developmental state” requires a level of bureaucratic expertise, political stability and institutional trust that we currently lack. Perhaps, one lesson South Africa can borrow from the Asian states is the tight focus on a few strategic sectors. In countries like China, South Korea and Singapore, leaders identified areas where they could build a competitive edge, including manufacturing, electronics and technology, and then aligned infrastructure spending, education and training and regulatory support around those priorities.
South Africa could do something similar by choosing fields such as green energy, agro-processing, tourism and mineral beneficiation and channelling sustained, coordinated support into them.
This means developing skills pipelines (through vocational training and partnerships with industry), investing in the necessary infrastructure and maintaining policy consistency, so investors and entrepreneurs have confidence.
Crucially, this sectoral focus must operate within our democratic framework: decisions should be transparent, involve stakeholders (workers, businesses, residents) and include regular monitoring to ensure benefits reach people. By concentrating effort where we have real advantages, the country can achieve inclusive growth.
Instead of chasing a “developmental state” idea, we should instead focus on building a capable state, one that delivers on promises, respects democratic norms and meets people’s everyday needs.
Gap between policy and practice
Too often we hear that we have excellent policies and the Constitution. But unemployment is ridiculously high, inequality deepens every second, service delivery is poor and public trust is diminished. How do we measure the “excellence” of these policies and the Constitution if we don’t see the results on the ground?
Good policies prove themselves through being effective, delivering on the promises. If an education reform truly works, we’ll see better school performance; if a health initiative is sound, people’s healthcare services and resources will improve. When policies remain mere words, people lose faith. A capable state directs energy and resources towards making things happen on the ground, with regular evaluation and willingness to adjust.
So, what does a capable state look like? A capable state cannot afford double standards; it implements mechanisms that investigate wrongdoing, enforce consequences and restore trust. Only then can citizens believe that policies and priorities serve everyone, rather than protect a chosen few.
A capable South Africa should de-politicise crucial jobs, ensuring that appointments are made on the basis of expertise and merit, rather than political connections.
Accountability is essential too. Measurable targets should be set and progress published openly, with channels for citizen feedback and independent oversight so that, when problems arise, swift corrective action replaces cover-ups.
Inclusivity means involving people, civil society organisations and the private sector in policymaking and monitoring, grounding decisions in reality.
A capable state practices adaptive learning, constantly reviewing successes and failures, both locally and from abroad, and adjusting policies, rather than sticking to rigid top-down plans that risk obsolescence.
Finally, technology can be used: digital tools can aid data collection, service delivery and monitoring, but only if matched by the capacity to manage, secure and interpret information and by policies that protect privacy and ensure equitable access.
Together, these elements create a government that delivers results, upholds democratic norms and earns public trust.
Perhaps it’s time to admit that the developmental state rhetoric, while appealing in theory, might not fit South Africa’s context. Rather than mimic models from different eras and societies, we should invest in strengthening our own institutions, nurturing leadership that can manage complexity and forging genuine partnerships.
That means reviewing policies with a critical eye — which ones have clear paths to implementation, which need more capacity-building and which require fundamental rethinking.
In the end, South Africa doesn’t need a state that tries to do everything. It needs a state that can do what matters: deliver reliable services, create opportunities, protect rights and adapt to new problems.
Let us move beyond debates over labels and focus on practical steps: professionalising the civil service; improving planning and budgeting systems; reinforcing checks and balances and deepening people’s involvement. By building a capable state, we honour both our democratic values and our development aspirations without sacrificing one for the other.
Naledi Ramontja is a research assistant at the Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation, University of Johannesburg.