Stuck in stabilisation? South Africa's post-apartheid macro-economic policy between ideological conversion and technocratic capture

This article explores post-apartheid South Africa's commitment to macro-economic orthodoxy. Its key argument is that South Africa offers an exemplary case of neoliberal deepening which has entailed three interconnected processes: ideological conversion, a stated focus on poverty and development covering a deep commitment to orthodox macro policies, entailing institutions and a set of practices, and a far-reaching state restructuring involving the emergence and consolidation of a hegemonic treasury. Drawing on an analysis of grey literature, policy documents and a series of interviews with policy-makers, the article first discusses neoliberalism in South Africa, focusing on the ‘conversion’ of key ANC leaders to neoclassical economic orthodoxy. It then turns to the central, yet under-researched, instrument of neoliberal deepening: the emergence and consolidation of a dominant national treasury with the ability to shape policy-making across all areas of state intervention. The article closes on a call to envisage concurrently ideological conversion and state formation to understand the dynamics of neoliberalism, and its paradoxical resilience in the South Africa case.