Contemporary South Africa and the Political Economy of Regional Development

Methembe Ziphozonke Mdlalose is a Senior Lecturer in Development Studies at the University of KwaZulu‑Natal. His academic focus centres on the political and economic dimensions of development and governance in South Africa. Methembe’s research is characterised by an interdisciplinary approach that seeks to enhance understanding of how political and socio‑economic factors shape development processes. Methembe has published several articles in accredited academic journals and contributed to book chapters.Isaac Khambule is a Professor of Political Economy and the Director of the Africa Centre for Evidence at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He was previously an Associate Professor of Political Economy at the Wits School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand, where he taught Decision‑Making in Public Institutions and was the Academic Head of the Executive Education Unit. Isaac’s research interest is on the relationship among the State, Institutions and Development, with a particular focus on the role of the state in economic development and the entrepreneurial state.Nene Ernest Khalema (PhD) is the Dean and Head of School of Built Environment and Development Studies at the University of KwaZulu‑Natal in South Africa. Before joining the University of KwaZulu‑Natal, he was a professor and lecturer in various Canadian universities since 2001 and served as chief/senior research specialist of the Human Sciences Research Council (2011–16) where his seminal work on participatory action mixed methodologies, migration and mobilities, demography of vulnerable populations and social epidemiology received (inter)national recognition. A critical sociologist, Dr Khalema has co‑edited a number of books including the recent: Decolonizing African Studies Pedagogies: Knowledge Production, Epistemic Imperialism, and Black Agency (2023, Palgrave McMillan) and The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Africa (2023, Oxford University Press). He has published over 40 articles in accredited academic journals, 30 refereed book chapters and 40 technical research reports and policy/research briefs, and presented 75 papers and 25 academic posters in local, national and international conferences.

• 1. Neoliberal Regionalism in the Context of Globalization: Expanding Cities and Shrinking Peripheries 2. Regional Development in an Era of Neoliberalism: Reflections on International Thinking and Implications for Policy and Practice in South Africa 3. The Rise and Fall of Regional Planning and Policy in South Africa 4. Regional Development in Neoliberal South Africa: A Convoluted Concoction of Economics and Politics 5. From ‘Centre Stage’ to ‘Left Behind’: The Historical Evolution of South Africa’s Former Bantustan Spaces 6. Entrepreneurial-led Regional Development and the Challenge of ‘Left behind’ Places in South Africa 7. Assessing the benefits of the impact of big data and analytics on Regional Government 8. Spatial Targeting and Economic Development Corridors in South Africa 9. Promoting Place-Based Regional Development through Local Economic Development Agencies and Special Economic Zones in South Africa 10. South Africa’s most controversial Special Economic Zone, in Limpopo Province’s Musina-Makhado 11. Exploring the role of Special Economic Zones Models on Regional Integration and Inclusivity: The Case of Maluti A Phofung Special Economic Zone, Free State Province, South Africa 12. Methodological Advances for Regional Analysis in the Global South: Prospects for South Africa and beyond