Resumo

DU PISANI, JA. Creation of infrastructure during the Prime Ministry of BJ Vorster: Asset or liability for the South African economy?. Tydskr. geesteswet. [online]. 2020, vol.60, n.1, pp.218-240. ISSN 2224-7912.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2224-7912/2020/v60n1a15.

This article investigates the large-scale expansion of infrastructure in South Africa during the prime ministry of BJ Vorster (1966-1978) with a view to evaluating its negative and positive outcomes and its impact on the South African economy. As background the context of economic trends in South Africa during that period is sketched. The South African economy followed global trends. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the country experienced unprecedented economic growth. All economic indicators were positive. Especially after the oil crisis from the end of 1973 the national economy started deteriorating. By 1976 and 1977 economic decline reached crisis proportions. One of the main issues throughout Vorster's term was rising inflation. The dilemma of the government was to try and stimulate economic growth without causing runaway inflation. Infrastructure was created in this period at a faster rate than in any other period during the existence of the South African state. An overview of the major infrastructure projects is given: expansion and upgrading of the road and rail networks, the Orange River scheme, the Richards Bay and Sishen-Saldanha projects, the nuclear programme, Iscor 3, Sasol 2 and the Natref refinery. The disadvantages and benefits of these infrastructure projects are considered. A major criticism was that expenditure on these massive projects further increased government spending, thus contributing to rising inflation with all its negative consequences. State control of infrastructure projects reflected the increase of state control over the economy, which was criticised as a threat to the ideal of a free market economy. On the positive side the expansion of the country's infrastructure brought all the benefits associated with improved infrastructure, including job creation, the provision of better services, improved productivity, and general economic growth. Whatever one's view of the short and meduim term pros and cons of infrastructure development in the 1960s and 1970s, in the long term the infrastructure that was brought into existence served the country for decades and today still stands as a monument for the Afrikaner-nationalist vision of the apartheid regime to raise South Africa to a significant middle power

Palavras-chave : Infrastructure; South Africa; 1966-1978; BJ Vorster; economic development; economic challenges.

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