South Africa has the resources, institutions, and economic potential to become one of the world’s most successful countries, and could achieve levels of prosperity comparable to those of the United States (US), according to the American ambassador to South Africa, Leo Brent Bozell III.

In an exclusive interview with Gabriel Makin for The Common Sense earlier today, Bozell expressed considerable admiration for South Africa, its history, and the opportunities available to it. He argued that the country’s future could be much brighter than its present economic circumstances suggested, provided its government was prepared to reconsider policies that had held back investment, growth, and employment creation. The ambassador said the same principles of individual liberty, economic freedom, and private enterprise that had underpinned America’s rise to become the world’s leading economic power could work in South Africa, and that there was no fundamental reason why South Africans should not aspire to the same levels of success.

“South Africa could, I do believe, become one of the biggest economic powers in the world,” Bozell said. He pointed to the country’s natural resources, tourism industry, and other economic advantages as evidence of what was possible. “So I see the possibilities are extraordinary for South Africa if it embraced the basic concept of freedom.”

A central theme of the interview was Bozell’s admiration for South Africa’s peaceful transition from apartheid to constitutional democracy. He drew a comparison between the country’s democratic transition and the founding of the US, arguing that both had achieved outcomes that might once have seemed almost impossible. Where the US had fought a devastating civil war over slavery, South Africa had negotiated a fundamental transformation of its political system without descending into a comparable national conflict. Bozell described that achievement as a source of immense national pride, and suggested that the political qualities that had made it possible could now be directed towards an economic transformation.

The ambassador also spoke positively about South Africa’s constitutional foundations and the similarities between the two countries’ democratic systems. He recalled a conversation with Roelf Meyer, Bozell’s counterpart in Washington, and one of the figures responsible for South Africa’s democratic settlement, who had given him a pocket copy of the South African Constitution. Bozell said that, although the American and South African Constitutions differed in important respects, both countries had established democratic government under the rule of law, with independent judiciaries charged with interpreting and enforcing their constitutional arrangements. He regarded that shared commitment as a natural foundation for a closer partnership between the two countries.

Bozell suggested that South Africa's greatest economic opportunity lay in allowing its citizens and businesses greater freedom to pursue opportunities. Reflecting on American economic history, he argued that its success had been driven by entrepreneurs, investors, and individuals who were given the freedom to establish businesses, develop resources, build infrastructure, and retain the rewards of their efforts. The resulting expansion of enterprise and employment had created opportunities across American society. South Africa, he argued, had the human and material resources to pursue a similar course, with the potential to transform the circumstances of millions of people who were currently excluded from productive employment.

He suggested that South Africans should begin by assessing the results of some key government policies. The objectives of reducing inequality, improving public services, and expanding economic opportunity had been correct, but the results had too often fallen short of those ambitions. He pointed specifically to the persistence of extreme inequality more than three decades after democracy and what that said about the efficacy of government policy.

South Africa records an unemployment rate that is almost six times the global average and an economic growth rate that is just a quarter of the emerging market average. Levels of investment are about half that of comparable emerging markets. This has been the primary reason for the African National Congress (ANC) surrendering its national majority.

According to Bozell, South Africans needed to ask, “What hasn’t worked [and] what do you need to do to tweak them to make [policies] work? “He stressed that this was a principle that should apply to every country, including the US, rather than a criticism directed exclusively at South Africa.

The ambassador argued that the country’s investment environment was one of the most important areas requiring reform. He identified black economic empowerment requirements and concerns over property rights as impediments to attracting greater American investment, and said Washington had sought relatively limited changes that could improve the climate for businesses without requiring South Africa to abandon its broader social objectives. One proposal had been to extend existing Equity Equivalent Investment Programme arrangements to the mining and telecommunications sectors, providing investors in those industries with alternatives already available elsewhere in the economy.

Polls conducted by The Common Sense showed that South Africans themselves back the ambassador’s proposal. Privately, a great cross-section of investors concede that the policies flagged by the US do serve as impediments to growth and explain the country’s low investment rate.

Bozell used the example of Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite communications business, to illustrate the opportunities that he believed South Africa was missing. He argued that the technology could improve communications in rural areas, support education, and strengthen the ability of isolated communities to contact emergency services. According to the ambassador’s understanding, Musk had offered to provide free Starlink connectivity to 500 South African schools, but the company’s entry into the market had been frustrated by ownership requirements. Bozell regarded this as an example of a policy that, whatever its intentions, could prevent South Africans from enjoying the benefits of investment and technological innovation.

The ambassador was nevertheless optimistic that relations between Pretoria and Washington could be repaired. He explained that President Donald Trump had personally selected him for the posting because Trump was very committed to helping South Africa be a success.

On foreign policy, Bozell argued that South Africa would be better served by returning to genuine non-alignment, under which it maintained productive relationships with both the US and China. He was explicit that Washington was not asking Pretoria to stop trading with China or to abandon the pursuit of its own national interests. On the contrary, he encouraged South Africa to approach negotiations from a position of confidence in its own advantages and strategic importance. His argument was that productive international partnerships worked best when both countries sought outcomes that advanced their respective interests.

“Negotiate from South Africa first, and you too have your exceptionalism and bring that to the table. That’s where partnerships are made,” he said.

Bozell acknowledged that the diplomatic relationship had become increasingly difficult, but placed considerable emphasis on the opportunities that would become available if the two governments reached an agreement. A more favourable investment environment, combined with a restored diplomatic partnership, could allow Washington to encourage American companies to expand their operations in South Africa, bringing capital, infrastructure, technology, and jobs into an economy that desperately needed all four.

Bozell said the American government would then be able to strongly encourage American firms to seek out opportunities in South Africa.

He also suggested that there were important constituencies within the South African government, including within the ANC, that recognised the potential benefits of closer relations with the US. Although he believed some political figures remained attached to the ideological divisions of the Cold War, he said others genuinely wanted to build a productive partnership. He encouraged those who remained undecided to judge the relationship according to what would best serve South Africa’s interests and economic future.

The underlying message of the interview was therefore one of considerable confidence in South Africa’s prospects. Bozell did not regard the country’s present economic difficulties as inevitable or permanent. Instead, he suggested that decisions about economic freedom, investment, property rights, and international partnerships would determine whether South Africa could convert its substantial advantages into rising prosperity.

In concluding the conversation, Makin raised an argument previously advanced by Moeletsi Mbeki that South Africa, like the US, was a country of the New World and that its future could develop along very different paths depending on the choices it made. Bozell embraced that comparison, drawing a distinction between the outcomes that might follow from different approaches to government and economic policy.

For Bozell, the lesson of American history was that countries did not need to begin with extraordinary advantages to become prosperous. South Africa, he suggested, already possessed many of the foundations necessary for success. What remained was to create the conditions in which its people could make full use of them.

"You could be every bit as successful as the United States," he concluded.

The full exclusive interview will be released at 05:00 on The Common Sense’s YouTube channel tomorrow morning.