South Africa sends leaders to study in China; offers African leaders schooling in its economic

[pampango]

and political models.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/south-africa/101001/economy-china

The leaders of South Africa’s ruling party are going back to school. They will undergo two weeks of “intensive political education” in China, under the direction of the Chinese Communist Party. Under a training program devised by China and the African National Congress, at least 35 senior ANC members have travelled to Beijing over the past year to attend lectures about Chinese national planning and the Communist Party’s political education system. A group of provincial-level party secretaries will make the trip by the end of this year, and dozens of other ANC cadres are expected to visit China for the same training.

South Africa's ANC, like many other African ruling parties, are increasing their links with the Chinese Communist Party with an eye to copying its political and economic development strategies. However, key differences in South Africa's history may make the Chinese model unsuitable to be emulated, according to some South African analysts. As the ANC maps out a new economic system for South Africa with greater state control of key industries, the ruling party has been cultivating closer political links with China. The ANC recently announced plans for greater state intervention in key sectors of the economy, saying that it will research proposals to nationalize mines and boost state intervention in financial institutions and currency rates.

Many Chinese people have seen dramatic improvements in their living conditions over the past 30 years. The trade-off, however, is the lack of political and religious freedom under China’s one-party, authoritarian government. Dissidents are regularly jailed, and the internet and media are heavily censored.

While China has been a success story in terms of its rapid development, “it’s not a completely adaptable, quick-fix model,” cautioned Sanusha Naidu, research director for the China/Emerging Powers in Africa program at the Cape Town office of Fahamu, a social justice organization.