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In South Africa, the intervening variable of state structure permitted greateractivism in foreign policy, but this policy was deprived of the requisite materialresources. While under Mandela there was a sense that South Africa retained thegoodwill of the international community – a view backed up by large disbursementsof donor funds 702 to the South African state and civil society in the immediateaftermath of apartheid’s overturn – Mbeki, cognisant of the fact that this would notcontinue indefinitely, ushered in a more pragmatic stance. Indeed, a reportcommissioned by the Presidency in 2003 confirmed this stance thus:The danger of [South Africa] over-extending itself became more pronounced,particularly with president Mbeki taking the lead in 1998 (sic). For example, in lightof the enormity of the task at hand, some analysts question whether government’sAfrica policy … is sustainable. Playing an active continental and international roletended to stretch the capacity of the DFA to the limit – a difficult issue to manage,given the domestic requirement for civil service transformation. 703Government’s response to this was a greater centralisation of foreign policymaking,through the implementation of the cluster system, or ‘integrated governance’, whichhad the side-effect (intended or unintended) of increasing the influence of thePresidency. In neoclassical realist terms, the mobilisation and extraction power ofthe state increased markedly at this time.In Brazil, meanwhile, the more diffuse nature of political power, by way of thefederal state, in spite of the centralising figure of the President, meant that approvalfor foreign adventures had to be obtained from the National Congress, in which nosingle party holds an outright majority. PT’s legitimating power in society has alwaysbeen contingent, owing to its leftist credentials and Lula’s three previous attempts atthe Presidency before finally winning the 2002 election. The roles are almostreversed in Brazil, compared to South Africa, in the sense that PT lacks depth inforeign policy thinking, while Itamaraty is steeped in history and in safeguardingBrazil’s noteworthy and often-praised diplomatic legacy. In South Africa,meanwhile, the ANC and Thabo Mbeki in particular, acted as the ideological centre702 Julie Hearn, “Aiding Democracy? Donors and civil society in South Africa”, ThirdWorld Quarterly, 21, Issue 5 (2000); Michael Bratton and Chris Landsberg, Frompromise to delivery: Official development assistance to South Africa, 1994-8.(Johannesburg: Centre for Policy Studies, 1999).703 Anthoni Van Nieuwkerk, “Report: IRPS Cluster Review” (Midrand: Institute for GlobalDialogue: 2003): 3.282