SA’s foreign policy has become entitled, childish... while pandering to Russia

Source: News24, 08/05/2023

South Africa has completely fallen under the spell of Russia, China, and their satellites. Once, we were a reliable international partner, respectful of the international rules-based order, but that has now all changed, argues Pieter du Toit.
South Africa`s unhinged foreign policy unmoored from logic and reality, that is reached new levels of incomprehension last week during another vote related to Ukraine.
The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for closer cooperation between the global body and the Council of Europe, an organisation established after the Second World War to protect and promote human rights. The text of the vote contained a paragraph in which it condemned `the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, and against Georgia prior to that`, and proceeded to emphasise the importance of human rights.
Out of the countries present, 122 voted yes, five voted no and 18 abstained. Surprisingly �` but correctly �` China, India and Brazil, all who have been either vocal in their support of Russia (or refused to condemn the invasion), voted yes.
South Africa, as has become its wont, abstained, alongside other countries which either abstained or voted no, like North Korea, Iran, Nicaragua, Russia (obviously), Belarus, and Cuba. All countries with an atrocious human rights record, on the periphery of global affairs, removed from any influence, and none considered an attractive investment destination.
But here we are, South Africa, aligned with these actors and further telling those countries that matter �` countries that have actual skin in the game �` to sod off. South Africa, is the refrain, will not be dictated to who its friends are. And Russia is a friend, as Naledi Pandor, our foreign affairs minister, has repeatedly said.
Tone has changed
Western diplomats in this country have basically given up on us. Initially, when our push to Beijing and Moscow was at its most earnest, they really tried to understand and even accommodate our drift towards totalitarian and repressive states. One senior envoy even said it won`t damage relations with our big trading partners and that it’s all part of global realignment that happens periodically. And anyway, he argued, good sense always prevails in the end. But that tone has now changed.
It is clear that South Africa, forever kvetching about what it is owed by the West, has taken an antagonistic position towards its historic partners, simply for the stake of sticking it to Europe and the United States. And diplomats now recognise that, increasingly looking at what we say and how we conduct ourselves on the world stage with a shake of the head and a laugh. `What are you guys doing?` is the regular question.
South Africa, by deed and omission, has now firmly established itself as an intransigent friend of despots and dictators. It regularly welcomes Russian craft and military materiel to these shores, absolutely adores the attention by scoundrels like Sergei Lavrov (Pandor was giddy with excitement to meet him), and sees it fit to berate countries that actively invest in and support South Africa.
We have all of a sudden developed an enormous sense of entitlement, an attitude that has not gone unnoticed abroad. Meetings between South African ministers and counterparts from countries we now regard as adversaries �` despite those countries continuing to invest billions of dollars here �` are, as a matter of course, prefaced by declarations about what `the West owes us`.
One senior diplomat, from a country with deep historical ties to us, laughed when talking about getting some face time with the president or Pandor. It doesn`t happen, the plenipotentiary explained. Requests often go unacknowledged or are sneered at by South African officials, with many countries from `the West` regularly sidelined or ignored.
South Africa`s foreign policy is childish, self-defeating, and unsophisticated. It seemingly makes no provision for the sweep of history since World War 2, nor does it stay true to the human rights tenets in our Constitution. It certainly does not have the presence of mind to adapt to the changing geopolitical environment, nor does our government and its officials have the dexterity to reconcile principle with national interest.
We`ve completely fallen under the spell of Russia, China, and their satellites. Once, we were a reliable international partner, respectful of the international rules-based order, respected for our moral and ethical positions and sober-minded about which relationships we should invest time and effort in.
That`s now over. We`re now with the also-rans. What a pity.