President Cyril Ramaphosa’s bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, where he reaffirmed Pretoria’s ties with Moscow, has exposed the inherent intra-GNU divisions on foreign policy.
During the meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the Brics summit of emerging powers in Kazan, Russia, Ramaphosa described Russia as a “valuable ally and friend” that had supported SA since apartheid.
This stance does not deviate from SA’s post-apartheid foreign policy, which, among other goals, pushes for a more multilateral world in which African states get more control on the global stage without aligning themselves to any superpower.
Ramaphosa’s remarks have, however, angered the DA leader and minister of agriculture, John Steenhuisen, who has rejected the president’s position of Russia being an ally of SA. The DA is the second-largest member of the 10-member government of national unity, with a combined 12 ministers and deputy ministers in the administration.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Steenhuisen cited the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, where Putin has been accused of war crimes, as one of the reasons SA could not be aligned to Russia. The US and European governments have previously conducted intensive campaigns to rally African governments to oppose Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. SA has chosen to remain nonaligned in the matter and sought to find solutions to an end to the conflict through leading a peace mission of African states.
“Our government simply cannot afford to make statements that could jeopardise international relations and trade opportunities, which are crucial for realising our key objectives of growth and job creation,” Steenhuisen said, citing that the financial market sentiment had turned hugely in SA’s favour since the GNU’s formation in June.
“As leader of the DA in the GNU, I reiterate the importance of positions expressed on behalf of the GNU being the subject to full and proper debate within the government mechanisms, before being announced as positions of the GNU, to ensure maximum consensus and agreement among the parties to the GNU,” Steenhuisen said.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin in 2023, accusing him of responsibility for the war crime of illegal deportation of children from Ukraine. The warrant of arrest prevented him from attending the 2023 Brics summit in Johannesburg, which would have compelled SA to arrest him because SA is a signatory to the Rome Statute.
The GNU statement of intent signed by leaders of parties in the coalition government commits SA to a foreign policy guided by human rights, constitutional principles, the national interest, solidarity and the peaceful resolution of conflict; achieving the African Agenda 2063 development plan and promoting co-operation between the Global South and Global North, and fostering multilateralism.
Ramaphosa previously clarified that despite the formation of the GNU, where there are inherent contradictions among member parties on global issues, SA’s foreign policy would largely remain unchanged.
“[The DA] can’t impose those positions on the president under the guise of the GNU. This statement is an attempt to micromanage the president, which will not be allowed regardless of the importance and the respect the president attaches to the GNU. He will not be micromanaged by the DA or any party for that matter in the exercise and management of foreign policy,” Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said.
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