In yielding to Ramaphosa’s re-election as President, the Democratic Alliance(DA) displayed a great measure of political naiveté on the one hand while displaying boundless bona fides on the other. They clearly underestimated the political cunning and dexterity of Ramaphosa, who now wields ultimate say over the selection of his executive. Instead of recognizing and rewarding this act of political goodwill Ramaphosa is playing hardball and being parsimonious in allocating cabinet posts to parties other than the African National Congress (ANC) in the Government of National Unity (GNU).
The one Cabinet post that intrigues me the most and that the ANC treats as a “sacred cow” is that of the Foreign Minister. The ANC is very steadfast in perpetuating its self-proclaimed focus on “human rights”, which is almost totally centred on its leading role in taking Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague. This sanctimonious belief completely belies the actual practice and implementation of our foreign policy over the past 25 years.
In reality, the ANC still views itself as a revolutionary movement, which pits itself against all the formerly Colonialist or Imperialistic countries. Helen Zille understands this all too well, after the drubbing that she was subjected to for daring to pronounce that Colonialism was not all bad.
This inherently makes anti-Westernism a cornerstone of our foreign policy, and makes us more sympathetic to those countries which view themselves as anti-Imperialist or “non-aligned”. Unfortunately, this group of countries includes those with the poorest human rights records and also those with a proclivity to be ruled by autocrats or more accurately by dictators.
Another cornerstone of our foreign policy is supposed to be a focus on co-operation with nations in the global south. In reality apart from Brazil which is a member of BRICS, and which spans both hemispheres, most of our economic and close political ties are with nations in the Northern hemisphere.
Our leading economic ties are with Europe, the USA and China-all located in the northern hemisphere. Our closest political relations are with the dictators in Cuba, Venezuela, Russia, China and Iran and we have never expressed any concerns about the abysmal human rights records of any of these countries. We have on at least two occasions occupied the revolving seat of the Security Council which has afforded us plenty of opportunities to raise concerns about human rights abuses. Instead, we used our vote to support the military government in Burma because they were being supported by our close ally China.
What has been truly disgraceful has been our chilling silence about the world’s biggest human tragedy which is unfolding on our very own continent in the Sudan. It makes Gaza look insignificant. Ten million people have been uprooted, that is 4 times the population of Gaza. Half a million have been killed, that is fifteen times more than Gaza and the number of children and women facing imminent starvation is horrifying.
Unlike Gaza, where sufficient aid is entering the territory, Sudan is forgotten and hardly any aid is entering the war-torn areas. Yet our “human rights” obsessed government and its sanctimonious President have been shockingly silent. I will level an accusation against the ANC that they love to level against western media which is that the deaths of Europeans make headlines whereas the deaths of Africans appear only in the fine print. Well, why when you know of the human calamity that has been perpetuated for many months in the Sudan, are you not moved to act in outrage? Our total silence about the deaths of our fellow Africans is a blot on our conscience.
Likewise, where was your outrage against the slaughter of women in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini. Ever since the dictatorial religious dictators perpetrated a brutal genocide in 1988, which has since been verified by the United Nations, against thousands of minority and opposition groups sanctioned by the Supreme leader Khomeini, the crimes have continued unabated.
Where were our protestations against the “death committees”, which were overseen by the late President Ebrahim Raisi, known by his sobriquet “The Butcher of Tehran”, which executed prisoners after sham trials. Instead of outrage at their human rights abuses, our President who cares so much about the human rights of the Palestinians, sent letters of condolences following the death of Raisi in a helicopter accident a few months ago. Contrast this to the absolute silence about the deaths of over one thousand innocent Israelis massacred by Hamas, on October the 6th, 2023.
Where is the outrage of our human rights centred Department of International Relations (DIRCO) at the role that Iran plays in arming proxy groups all over the world? The Houthi’s for example have caused the deaths of far more people than in Gaza and made the country of Yemen ungovernable.? This has effectively closed off the shipping route through the Suez Canal which has a direct impact on the income for countries like Egypt and adds to the costs of our imports.
Similar atrocities occur in almost every country with which we are closely allied, yet we are blinded to call them out because of our friendship.
Let us pray, for a change to this insincere and delusional foreign policy. Let us lay bare the hypocritical assertion and assumption that DIRCO cares one iota about human rights. Let us affirm that a true “human rights” focussed foreign policy will align us with the democracies of the world, no matter how imperfect they may be.
Even if we don’t spurn our historic friends for standing with us during the struggle against Apartheid, let us admit that our association and silence of the abuses perpetrated by these dictators actually undermine our “human rights centred’ concerns and policies.
Ben Levitas
