Realpolitik needed when it comes to SA foreign policy

South Africa does not need to move in lockstep with the United States when it comes to foreign policy but the country must accept global realities, says the Institute of Race Relations (IRR).

“Whether we like it or not South Africa needs the United States more than they need us. Associating with America’s adversaries in global forums was always going to have consequences at some point,” says Marius Roodt, IRR analyst and writer.

He adds: “The United States is one of our biggest trading partners. There are much stronger economic ties between our two countries than between, for example, Russia and South Africa. Yet South Africa has sided with Russia in international forums in recent times.”

Roodt notes that this does not mean South Africa must simply do what the United States wants, but the government needs to accept reality.

Says Roodt: “South Africa must be free to determine its own foreign policy. We do not need to fit in with what the United States says. But here we can look to what India has done. It follows an independent foreign policy yet does not antagonise the United States. Indeed, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been one of the first world leaders to visit Washington DC since Donald Trump’s election victory, but nobody would accuse India of being an American foreign policy lapdog.”

Roodt continues: “There is nothing wrong, for example, with South Africa’s approaching the ICJ. However, what does raise eyebrows is how South Africa’s commitment to helping downtrodden and oppressed people around the world lacks consistency. South Africa has been silent on what has been happening in Sudan, for example, and simply accepted the results of last year’s deeply flawed election in Mozambique. And Pretoria seems allergic to putting pressure on eSwatini to begin democratic reforms, to name a few areas where South Africa could perhaps apply pressure.”

In the final analysis, Roodt says that South Africa must determine its own foreign policy but it must be asked whether antagonising the United States is in the country's best interests.

Media contact: Marius Roodt Head of Campaigns Tel: 082 779 7035 Email: marius@irr.org.za

Media enquiries: Michael Morris Tel: 066 302 1968 Email: michael@irr.org.za