By Chris Matthews
Homes to the South African and Russian governments: The Union Buildings in Pretoria (left) and The Kremlin in Moscow (right). Source: Left (Sipho Ndebele on Unsplash) and Right (Michael Parulava on Unsplash).
On Valentine’s Day 2023, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), an independent think tank and research publication, reported that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 has since “set alight the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War 2”. Senior officials within the Kremlin have been open about the perceived threat posed to them by the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), and the CFR believes this ‘threat,’ coupled with the old Soviet Union’s previous occupation of Ukraine, is at the heart of this conflict. According to NATO’s website, the organisation comprises a political and military alliance of 31 member states from Europe and North America. The response from countries within NATO has largely been to condemn Russia’s invasion through trade sanctions and a supply of military aid to Ukrainian forces. Beyond NATO, many other countries have chosen to follow suit.
Closer to home, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has placed the South African government in arguably its most significant foreign policy conundrum since the apartheid era. On 11 May 2023 US ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, levelled allegations against the South African government of reportedly supplying arms to Russia when a Russian-sanctioned ship by the name of ‘Lady R’ was docked at South Africa’s naval base in Simon’s Town in early December last year. These allegations have since been somewhat retracted, according to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO). While President Cyril Ramaphosa has requested an independent investigation into the allegations, it is more so South Africa’s continued policy of ‘non-alignment’ regarding the Ukraine conflict that has left many scratching their heads.
To better understand South Africa’s mixed approach to the war in Ukraine, one can unfortunately only delve into the realm of speculation. In April last year, the Daily Maverick reported that South Africa has now abstained from two votes at the United Nations condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the reasoning from DIRCO being that they would “rather see an end to the war”. While sound in principle, critics are quick to call this a red herring - an easy out that distracts the global community from South Africa’s ties to Russia. Seeking an end to the war alone is noble, but it implies that others are not. This notion is empirically untrue; the Economist has reported that the war in Ukraine has driven energy prices across Europe to record highs, and the European economy has suffered as a result.
South Africa, however, is not Europe. Many South Africans still know the devastating effect Western imperialism has had on our country. Our post-apartheid democracy has made great strides to reinforce our independence, and our constitution ostensibly outlines our unique value system - primarily shaped by our diverse population. While the West is quick to rebel against Russia, even if only by proxy, who is to say South Africa should follow the same line?
Vladimir Putin is set to visit Mzansi in August this year for the annual BRICS summit. In a recent interview on BBC Hardtalk, current ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula was asked by the BBC’s Stephen Sackur what South Africa’s response to the ICC’s warrant of arrest for Vladimir Putin would be in light of the upcoming summit. Visibly conflicted, Mbalula admits to feeling constrained by the ICC, but poses a question in return. In a response that has now gone viral across social media, Mbalula asks why the same questions were not asked of former British PM Tony Blair’s invasion of Iraq. A conflict that was initiated on the grounds of disarming “weapons of mass destruction” that were in fact never found. Blair’s invasion led to the death of many innocent Iraqis, and would be credited for leading to political instability in the country for years to follow.
Unfortunately, little is known about the South African public’s stance on matters of Foreign Policy. As local problems continue to mount, our focus also turns more inwards. South Africa’s war is one against crime, against unemployment and rolling blackouts - are we not justified for placing matters of geopolitics in the backseat and declaring a case of “see no evil, hear no evil, do no evil”? This Switzerland-esque approach seems to no longer be a viable solution, as even the ever neutral Swiss have drawn a line in the sand against Russian aggression. Our modern world is simply too interconnected.
South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress, has deep ties to the former Soviet Union. Many of the party’s military combatants received formalised training from the Soviet Union, and a quick observation of party jargon reveals many Soviet-associated phrases such as ‘comrade’ and ‘cadre’ remain present within ANC ranks. Many believe that the top brass within Luthuli House, the ANC headquarters, feel they owe a debt to the now Russian Federation for their support in the fight against apartheid. How can we forget the joint Chinese, Russian and South African military exercises that took place just off South African shores in February of this year?
The argument that South Africa’s non-alignment policy results from shared political ideology with Russia is also quickly losing credibility. While the ANC are technically political allies of the South African Communist Party, the Ramaphosa administration is arguably South Africa’s most liberal and pragmatic to date. Data from the Social Research Foundation seems to suggest that this style of more individualistic and pro-free market governance is now garnering more support from the South African public. Support for the notions of radical economic reform and the complete nationalisation of the state, as often associated with that of the Russian federation, seems to have ‘met its ceiling’ in South Africa.
It begs the question: where to from here? Is South Africa’s democracy still experiencing growing pains? Are we unsure of our place in the world, or are we steadfast in our values? Is this affair not in and of itself sustaining narratives that offer little support to South Africa, and by extension other African countries as well? Giving up trade with the West would spell disaster for the South African economy - a disaster that ‘good intentions’ will not quickly fix. So too, however, would be the loss of other unique strategic partnerships. It is safe to say South Africa does not align with Western hypocrisy or Russian autocracy, but unfortunately, both time and consequences will not allow us much longer to take a firm seat at the international table.