South Africa and Zimbabwe have been unique examples of settler colonialism in Africa although they have divergent trajectories before and after the end of respective white-minority rules. They experienced ‘the longest-lasting versions of white settler colonialism on the continent’ (p. 5). Black majorities of South Africa experienced longer and more sophisticated segregation rules under white-minority rule than in Zimbabwe. This makes South Africa in some respects more interesting than Zimbabwe or other examples of white-minority rule. Nevertheless, Zimbabwe is unique for other reasons. The presidency of Robert Mugabe has made Zimbabwe not only a more stable but also a more problematic example of a postcolonial settler country since 1980. South Africa, in turn, has experienced several ANC governments since 1994. After 2008, Zuma’s presidency caused significant problems for South Africa due to corruption and state capture. Since late 2017, both countries have experienced political disillusionment and unease in the wake of the Mugabe and Zuma presidencies. Mnangagwa has become another example of dictatorship, the hopes of change having failed with the general elections in August 2023. Ramaphosa has had a controversial presidency since 2018. The likely outcome of his term could be a continuation of the ANC’s decline. In New Leaders, New Dawns?, fourteen authors discuss the political economy of South Africa and Zimbabwe in the 2017–18 period, before and after the presidential changes in both countries.

The editors and authors of the book are mostly experts on the political economy of Southern Africa; indeed, some have conducted ground-breaking studies on the topic while others have been in solidarity with the national liberation groups in both countries (p. 8). Together, they adopt a political economy approach and write from a critical solidarity stance (p. 7). The analyses of the transition periods in both countries cover the historical context and economic dynamics of Southern Africa.

The main research questions of the book are: ‘what did the rise to power of Ramaphosa and Mnangagwa portend? Did they represent genuine “new dawns” for South Africa and Zimbabwe or merely new faces on discredited old regimes?’ (pp. 3–4). In general, the chapters of the book answer these questions from the vantage point of aspects of the political economy of both countries. The book is divided into three parts: (1) the global and regional context of the leadership changes in both countries; and the political economy of (2) South Africa and (3) Zimbabwe.

In the first chapter, Linda Freeman argues that ‘deeper structural historical factors preclude optimism in either case’ (p. 30). She claims that there is no hope for positive change in either country. In Chapter 2, John S. Saul investigates the gains of capitalists and the recolonization of Southern Africa with the leadership changes in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Some of the chapters are not directly related to the leadership changes in the two countries; for instance, Chapter 3 analyses the mining projects of members of the India, Brazil, South Africa Dialogue Forum (IBSA) in Mozambique. Judith Marshall shows that South Africa-based mining firms strengthen the country’s sub-imperial position in Southern Africa and beyond (p. 90), as was also the case for the country’s inclusion in BRICS (p. 92). In Chapter 4, Roger Southall uncovers how Ramaphosa faced difficulties in confronting the mafia state in South Africa prior to the May 2019 elections. Hein Marais analyses how the ANC shifted away from leftist policies and its founding slogans during the transition period and post-apartheid era in Chapter 5. Carolyn Bassett and Allyson Fradella discuss the dominant position of the ANC and suggest that ‘what we have seen in South Africa is repeated failures to establish a hegemonic position – contrary to the notion … that the ANC is hegemonic’ (p. 180). In Chapter 7, Marlea Clarke provides a unique contribution to the book with first-hand data based on her research into the labour market and the labour movement in South Africa from the late 1990s to the late 2010s. In Chapter 8, David Moore analyses Zimbabwe’s violent year under the Mnangagwa presidency with a specific mention of ‘January Jambanja’, when Zimbabweans protested against the government’s increase in the price of fuel, sprinkling in colourful Leonard Cohen references. Blair Rutherford illustrates the importance of land for Zimbabweans even after the post-Mugabe period in Chapter 9. In Chapter 10, Richard Saunders focuses on ZANU–PF-linked elites and the business and mining sectors in Zimbabwe under the Mnangagwa presidency and demonstrates continuities with the Mugabe era. Finally, in the last chapter of the book, Mary Ndlovu analyses ‘the post-independence policy initiatives in the education sector, considering the achievements as well as long-term consequences of the reckless speed of expansion and the overemphasis on an academic curriculum’, drawing on her own personal schooling experiences (pp. 324–5).

The editors constructed the book around a critique of the ‘new dawn’ discourse in both countries. As Brown argues, ‘it would be unwise to expect any transformative change as a result of [the leadership changes]’ (p. 7). While there were few expectations of Ramaphosa, who, it was assumed, would replicate the business-friendly policies of the Mandela period, there was hope that Mnangagwa would transition the country to democracy and solve the entrenched problems of the Mugabe presidency.

The book is at times repetitive, although this would not be obvious to someone who reads the chapters independently. In addition, some chapters have weak links to the Ramaphosa and Mnangagwa periods that form the central focus of the book. Despite these minor flaws, New Leaders, New Dawns? provides a timely insight into the presidential changes in both countries, touching on issues ranging from labour to the minerals sector. I would recommend the book to scholars who study Southern African politics and/or political transitions in postcolonial countries. The book is also relevant to contemporary issues relating to the Southern African political economy, despite a couple of chapters that do not provide up-to-date analyses.