Abstract
The second democratic President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, has been considered the most influential leader of his generation on the African continent. Mbeki’s influence was clearly captured in his articulation of the African Renaissance and continental institution building. The African Union’s (AU’s) programme for development, the New Partnership of African Development (NEPAD), was an expression of the Africa’s desire for renewal and Mbeki together with the African Renaissance coalition of leaders were integral in its formation. This study presents an idiographic analysis of Mbeki’s political leadership examining and describing it in reference to the formation of NEPAD. The study is informed by Morris and Seaman’s 1950 call for leadership studies to be interdisciplinary, and Rotberg’s (2014) understanding of leadership to be a social construct that is utilized, reflective interdisciplinary. Both theories integrate: 1) the reflective studies of leadership and power theory, 2) social constructivism, 3) pan- Africanism and International Relations sub-fields foreign policy, and 4) diplomacy that develop African Agentic Leadership as a political leadership framework to explore Mbeki’s intermestic political leadership. The key reason for the construction of African Agentic Leadership was to delineate Mbeki’s ideas and beliefs on one hand, and his environmental mastery on the other hand. The former exploring agency of change and the latter environmental mastery. Leading to a description of an idiographic phenomenon of political leadership. This study undertook a qualitative research synthesis based on the exploration, integration and construction, and reconstruction, of knowledge. The main findings of the study confirmed that Mbeki was an African Agentic Leader, in how he delivered his message of African Renaissance and the implementation thereof. The African Agentic Leadership framework also illustrated what Mbeki achieved through his oratory and diplomatic skill, and political beliefs which were examined using operational code analysis. A link between the two principles is evident through the translation of communication into deeds that led to the formation of NEPAD. In conclusion it took great personal and interpersonal mastery for Mbeki to be a key agent in the conceptualisation of the African Agenda and execution of the agenda. African Agentic Leadership is best understood a framework suited to holistically understanding individual political leadership.
M.Phil. (Management : Leadership in Emerging Countries)