The department of international relations & co-operation (Dirco) has distanced itself from SA Defence Force (SANDF) chief Gen Rudzani Maphwanya’s comments regarding SA’s foreign policy stance on Iran and the US.
Maphwanya is quoted by Iranian media as saying that Pretoria and Tehran share “common goals” and that the SANDF visit to Iran earlier this week “carries a political message”.
Maphwanya and other generals of the defence force visited Iran to strengthen ties.
The SANDF’s move to strengthen military ties with Iran comes amid a trade and political standoff with the US, its sworn enemy.
Maphwanya’s comments have raised the ire of SA’s foreign ministry, which said on Wednesday that minister Ronald Lamola would be “seeking clarification” on the matter.
“The implementation of SA’s foreign policy is a function of the presidency, supported by Dirco,” the department said in a statement.
“Consequently, any statements made by an individual, or a department other than those responsible for foreign policy, should not be misinterpreted as the official position of the South African government,” the statement said.
“The remarks attributed to General Maphwanya, therefore, do not represent the government’s official foreign policy stance.”
The DA said the SANDF chief’s comments were “reckless”.
“The SANDF’s job is to lead and manage the defence force, not to act as an unsanctioned political envoy. Allowing our most senior military officer to make partisan foreign policy pronouncements is strategically reckless, diplomatically irresponsible and economically self-defeating,” DA MP Chris Hattingh said.
Washington accuses SA of siding with countries that undermine its foreign policy including Iran, China and Russia, and has imposed various measures against SA in retaliation. Recently, the US released a report accusing SA of, among others, gross human rights violations towards racial minorities.
The SA government on Wednesday dismissed the US state department’s report of the country’s human rights conditions as “inaccurate and deeply flawed”.
Dirco said the UN has praised the country’s Expropriation Act as an important step towards addressing racially skewed land ownership, calling it a measure that reinforces constitutional principles and human rights-based law-making.
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