During the Mbeki era, South Africa was commended for being a reformist power, pushing for change in international institutions like the United Nations, World Trade Organisation, and International Monetary Fund; for the recognition of the voices of smaller economies of the world in decisions taken in those organisations. However, criticism was directed against pursuing reform, as it was seen as fruitless in the long run. Pursuing the African Agenda for continental unity and maintenance of peace was seen as progressive; the creation of NEPAD positioned South Africa as an agent of African development, however it was felt that the pillars of NEPAD fell apart when US made her developmental assistance conditional on support for her policy on war on terror. African Renaissance as a policy was critically addressed as good to an extend but too ambitious and resulted in South Africa being perceived as jostling for position to be a spokesperson for Africa. When the DRC joined SADC, with perceived support from South Africa, it was seen as having dragged SADC into the Great Lakes/Central Africa issues; Burundi was reported as a successful story for South Africa in conflict resolution. The elitist approach to foreign policy, which was associated with that era, was highly criticised.