From South Africa Info

In the space of just two decades, South Africa has gone from being a international pariah, shunned because of its apartheid policies, to being an influential player in world affairs and a powerful advocate for global political and economic reform.

This is according to the government’s 20 Year Review, a report reflecting on South Africa’s progress in reconstruction and development since 1994, and on the challenges facing the country as it enters its third decade of democracy.

The report, released by President Jacob Zuma in Pretoria on Tuesday, notes that South Africa has sought to improve north-south relations while pushing for reform of the global economy and global governance, better market access for developing countries, more favourable terms for debt relief, and new forms of partnership for development.

Growth in missions at home, abroad

“South Africa’s reintegration into the global community has seen its diplomatic, political and economic relations expand rapidly to include countries with which it previously had no relations,” the report states.

By 2012, the number of foreign diplomatic missions and international organisations in South Africa had increased to 315 – the second-largest number of diplomatic offices accredited to any country after the U.S.

Over the same period, South Africa’s missions abroad increased from 36 to 125, with the increasing importance of Africa in South Africa’s foreign policy reflected in the growth of South African diplomatic missions in Africa, from 17 in 1994 to the current 47.

Read more at South Africa Info