Editing Thabo Mbeki (section)

=== Economic policy ===
Mbeki had been highly involved in economic policy as deputy president, especially in spearheading the [[Social welfare programs in South Africa#Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR)|Growth, Employment and Redistribution]] (GEAR) programme, which was introduced in 1996 and remained a cornerstone of Mbeki's administration after 1999.<ref name="Bond-2004">{{cite magazine|author=Bond|first=Patrick|date=2004-03-01|title=From Racial to Class Apartheid: South Africa's Frustrating Decade of Freedom|url=http://www.monthlyreview.org/0304bond.htm|magazine=Monthly Review|access-date=15 July 2008}}</ref><ref name="Webster-2020">{{Cite journal|last=Webster|first=Edward|date=2020-06-01|title=Inequality, the pitfalls, and the promise of liberation in Africa|url=https://journals.co.za/doi/10.10520/EJC-1d05fb84b1|journal=African Review of Economics and Finance|volume=12|issue=1|pages=293–298|hdl=10520/EJC-1d05fb84b1}}</ref><ref name="Vale-2009">{{Cite journal|last1=Vale|first1=Peter|last2=Barrett|first2=Georgina|date=2009-12-01|title=The curious career of an African modernizer: South Africa's Thabo Mbeki|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/13569770903416521|journal=Contemporary Politics|volume=15|issue=4|pages=445–460|doi=10.1080/13569770903416521|s2cid=144117346|issn=1356-9775}}</ref> In comparison to the [[Reconstruction and Development Programme]] policy which had been the basis of the ANC's platform in 1994, GEAR placed less emphasis on developmental and redistributive imperatives, and subscribed to elements of the liberalisation, deregulation, and privatisation at the centre of [[Washington Consensus]]-style reforms.<ref name="Vale-2009" /> It was therefore viewed by some as a "policy reversal" and embrace of [[neoliberalism]], and thus as an abandonment of the ANC's [[Socialism|socialist]] principles.<ref name="Bond-2004" /><ref name="Webster-2020" /><ref name="Vale-2009" /> Mbeki also emphasised communication between government, business, and labour, establishing four working groups – for big business, black business, trade unions, and commercial agriculture – under which ministers, senior officials, and Mbeki himself met regularly with business and union leaders to build trust and explore solutions to structural economic problems.<ref name="Hirsch-2005">{{Cite book|last=Hirsch|first=Alan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Li6ES8l7p0C|title=Season of Hope: Economic Reform Under Mandela and Mbeki|date=2005|publisher=IDRC|isbn=978-1-55250-215-0|language=en}}</ref> [[File:Thabo-mbeki-district-six.jpg|thumb|left|Mbeki speaks to [[District Six]] land claimants in [[Cape Town]], 2001.|240x240px]]

Conservative groups such as the [[Cato Institute]] commended Mbeki's macroeconomic policies, which reduced the [[Deficit spending|budget deficit]] and [[Government debt|public debt]] and which according to them likely played a role in increasing economic growth.<ref>{{cite web|last=Tupy|first=Marian L.|date=2008-09-22|title=Mbeki's Legacy|url=https://www.cato.org/commentary/mbekis-legacy|access-date=2022-02-04|website=Cato Institute}}</ref><ref name="Nolutshungu-2019">{{cite web|last=Nolutshungu|first=Temba A.|date=2019-05-06|title=A tale of two eras: Mandela/Mbeki vs Zuma/Ramaphosa administrations|url=https://www.freemarketfoundation.com/article-view/a-tale-of-two-eras-mandela_mbeki-vs-zuma_ramaphosa-administrations|access-date=2022-02-04|website=Free Market Foundation|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Herbst-2005"/> According to the [[Free Market Foundation]], during the Mbeki presidency, average annualised quarter-on-quarter GDP growth was 4.2%, and average annual inflation was 5.7%.<ref name="Nolutshungu-2019" /> On the other hand, the shift alienated leftists, including inside in the ANC and its [[Tripartite Alliance]].<ref name="Vale-2009" /> [[Zwelinzima Vavi]] of the [[Congress of South African Trade Unions]] (COSATU) was an outspoken critic of Mbeki's "market-friendly" economic policies, claiming that Mbeki's "flirtation" with neoliberalism had been "absolutely disastrous" for development, and especially for the labour-intensive development required to address South Africa's high unemployment rate.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Wallis|first=William|date=2007-12-12|title=Mbeki policies on economy 'disastrous'|work=Financial Times|url=https://www.ft.com/content/04d23130-a8dc-11dc-ad9e-0000779fd2ac |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/04d23130-a8dc-11dc-ad9e-0000779fd2ac |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription|access-date=2022-02-04}}</ref> The discord between Mbeki and the left was on public display by December 2002, when Mbeki attacked what he called divisive "ultra-leftists" in a speech to the ANC's [[51st National Conference of the African National Congress|51st National Conference]].<ref name="Battersby-2002">{{cite web|last=Battersby|first=John|date=2002-12-20|title=ANC gets tough on Reds in its bed|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/anc-gets-tough-on-reds-in-its-bed-99198|access-date=2021-12-10|website=IOL|language=en}}</ref><ref name="ultraleft">{{cite news|date=2002-12-21|title=Mbeki accuses 'ultra-leftists' of abusing ANC membership|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/mbeki-accuses-ultra-leftists-of-abusing-anc-membership-1.1109299|access-date=2021-12-10|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en}}</ref>

However, Mbeki clearly never subscribed to undiluted neoliberalism. He retained various [[Social democracy|social democratic]] programmes and principles, and generally endorsed a [[mixed economy]] in South Africa.<ref name="Webster-2020" /> One of the ANC's slogans in the campaign for his [[2004 South African general election|2004 re-election]] was, "A people's contract for growth and development."<ref name="Hirsch-2005" /> He popularised the concept of a dual or two-track economy in South Africa, with severe underdevelopment in one segment of the population, and, for example in a 2003 newsletter, argued that high growth alone would only benefit the developed segment, without significant [[Trickle-down economics|trickle-down benefits]] for the rest of the population.<ref name="Hirsch-2005" /><ref>{{cite web|date=2003-10-31|title=Mbeki slams 'neo-liberal' market ideology|url=https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/economy/mbeki-slams-neo-liberal-market-ideology-774741|access-date=2022-02-04|website=IOL|language=en}}</ref> Yet, somewhat paradoxically, he explicitly advocated state support for the creation of a black capitalist class in South Africa.<ref name="Herbst-2005" /> The government's [[Black Economic Empowerment|black economic empowerment]] policy, which was expanded and consolidated under his administration, was criticised precisely for benefitting only a small black elite and thereby failing to address [[Inequality in post-apartheid South Africa|inequality]].<ref name="Vale-2009" />