DA supporters must have been proud to hear John Steenhuisen draw a line in the sand and publicly criticise President Ramaphosa for his flagrantly unwise and inappropriate statement that Russia is a valued friend and ally of South Africa. The president could do with a little diplomatic coaching. Instead of a pragmatic approach, in the interests of South Africa, he lives in a dream world where you can eat your cake and have it. You can pretend to be non-aligned, but at the same time be on the side of a shady and internationally discredited figure like Putin, who attacked a sovereign neighbour, Ukraine, and has been waging a bitter war for over two and a half years.
If South Africa has such a valued friend and ally, does that mean we can also be friends and allies with the USA and the countries in the European Union who regard Putin as anything but a friend and ally? Or do we automatically become bad friends?
Is it in our interest to slap our major trading partners in the face? Trade with the USA, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, dwarfs our trade with Russia. Angola, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Botswana are each more important trading partners than Russia.
BizNews commented: “While non-alignment should mean neutrality, Ramaphosa’s position seems pro-Russian, risking South Africa’s vital Western trade partnerships. With limited trade ties and cultural connections to Russia, South Africa’s alignment appears more ideological than pragmatic. Ramaphosa’s approach may jeopardize key economic benefits, reflecting a misinterpretation of strategic neutrality.”
On the grounds of South Africa’s best interests, rather than a misty-eyed clinging to a relationship between Russia and the ANC, Ramaphosa’s fawning over Putin, is a failure and most ill-judged.
Regarding the GNU, Ramaphosa has forgotten that the ANC was supported by 40% of the voters, that it lost its majority in the election, and is dependent on 10 parties, chiefly the DA, to remain in power. The plain fact is that old ANC policy is not necessarily the policy of South Africa. It is arrogant, presumptuous, and wrong to think that the ANC does not have to discuss important matters, including foreign policy, with its coalition partner parties and colleagues.
Steenhuisen has been roundly criticised for daring to spell out the realities and to attack Ramaphosa for overstepping the mark. His critics are misguided. If he had failed to make it clear that the DA does not regard Putin as a friend and ally, he would be risk-averse and a doormat to be trodden on by an ANC and a president grown too big for their boots, forgetting that they lost the election and their majority. The DA also did not win the election, but it undertook before and during the campaign that it would do everything humanly possible to avert the danger of an ANC/ MK/EFF coalition government. It has carried out that election promise and the ANC would do well to remember that.
Naturally, the parties in the GNU cannot be expected to be at one on every policy proposal. There will be differences of principle. Finding consensus is necessary and this cannot happen if there is an arrogant assumption that the ANC, rejected by 60% of the voters, can say and do what it likes. One hopes that President Ramaphosa, who clearly values the GNU and wants it to work, (and it is working), will see the light and make it unnecessary for his government partners to differ so publicly.
Douglas Gibson is a former opposition chief whip and former ambassador to Thailand.
First appeared in The Star.
