The winner of ROAPE’s Ruth First Prize, awarded annually for the best article published by an African author in a publication year in ROAPE, is Musa Nxele. His 2022 article, ‘Crony capitalist deals and investment in South Africa’s platinum belt: a case study of Anglo American Platinum’s scramble for mining rights, 1995–2019’, was published in Volume 49, Issue 173.
The prize committee noted the article’s clear account of the emergence of a black business ‘crony capitalist’ class during Mandela's presidency and the 1997 Johannesburg stock market collapse, Mbeki's presidency and afterwards. It shows how Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) deals with Anglo American Platinum operated and how Amplats continued to control platinum mining by ‘building political connections [to keep] intact the distribution of platinum mining rights, and therefore the economic status quo’. The utter failure of the African National Congress’s strategy to develop a meaningfully productive black business class is powerfully demonstrated, and the use of ‘crony capitalism’ as a model for the connections between political and economic power of the new black elite forcefully illustrated. The committee commended the data produced on a highly complex topic.
Dr Musa Nxele is an economist and a political economist. He currently holds an academic position at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance at the University of Cape Town, where he teaches topics related to the political economy of policymaking and development. His current research is primarily focused on the politics of private investment and the economics of natural resources.
Dr Nxele has a PhD in Development Policy and Practice from the University of Cape Town. He is also due to defend his PhD in Economics at the Université de Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne in October 2023. He earned a Master of Research degree in Globalisation and International Economics from the Université de Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. He also holds a Master of Commerce and a Bachelor of Business Science specialising in Economics from the University of Cape Town.
Musa dedicates his life to the transformation of people’s livelihoods, driven by a passion for the possible and the incredible story of his hometown, Soweto.
The prize-winning article can be read free of charge on the Taylor & Francis Online ROAPE website at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03056244.2022.2098009.