This article provides a historical perspective on the origins and steady growth of South Africa's role as a peacekeeper in African conflicts since the watershed political transformation of 1994. It revisits South Africa's foreign policy in the post-1994 period under the leadership of Presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki, as well as the practical (military) manifestations that emerged from the country's foreign policy projection or profile. The motives and aims underlying the South African government's peacekeeping contributions are discussed, along with the country's foreign policy identity in world politics and on the African continent, particularly during the first decade after its re-entry into international affairs. In addition, the article focuses on the scale of the country's military contributions to international peacekeeping. The focus then shifts to some of the most pressing challenges and vulnerabilities that began to constrain the South African military's contributions and performance in multinational peacekeeping operations on the continent during the leadership of President Jacob Zuma.
Theo Neethling (Tue,) studied this question.