SOUTH AFRICA'S SOFT POWER: A COMPARATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS

There is an emergent literature on South Africa’s soft power. In comparison with other African nations, South Africa possesses enormous soft power assets that it could wield to gain international benefits. However, paradoxically, there is little analysis of the nexus between soft power and South Africa’s foreign policy, suggesting a lack of interest among local and international scholars. In light of this reality, this article provides a critique of the current soft power literature relating to South Africa from a comparative perspective. It explores scholars’ different conceptions of soft power and the debates on South Africa’s soft power. The article identifies three strands of Pretoria’s soft power literature and notes that more needs to be done to grapple with the idea of soft power in order to deepen the country’s use of its soft power competences. It concludes by pointing out the role of the intelligentsia and other non-state actors in assisting state agencies to grasp the utility of soft power as foreign policy leverage