I refer to Terry Crawford-Browne’s letter (“SA a shining example”, July 20), in which he calls me “deluded” for suggesting “SA is collapsing” (“ANC is SA’s greatest threat”, July 17).
Recent SA history includes three eras: the pre-1994 apartheid “pariah” state; the Mandela-Mbeki era between 1994 and 2008, when SA was a middle power that punched above its weight as a trendsetter in multilateral forums, developing policies such as the Responsibility to Protect (R2P); and the Zuma-Ramaphosa era that began in 2010.
With the later came corruption on an industrial scale through state capture and President Cyril Ramaphosa continuing to appoint corrupt cadres to cabinet posts, thereby earning a scathing rebuke from former chief justice Raymond Zondo. The collapse is all too evident — a faltering economy, crumbling infrastructure as in Johannesburg, dysfunctional municipalities, lack of service delivery. Despite frequent power and water cuts, South Africans must pay increasingly higher prices for these basic utilities.
Gone is our diplomatic reputation, as the ANC’s foreign policy, which Frans Cronjé describes as making no economic sense, leads us to today, August 1, and the imposition by the US of 30%-40% punitive tariffs. SA no longer champions human rights, has ditched R2P, and the priority is seemingly alignment with tyrannical regimes. In 2023 the Butcher of Tehran, Ebrahim Raisi, was a guest. Brics membership damages SA, though it inflates ANC comrades’ folie de grandeur.
Crawford-Browne asks whether should we grovel to Donald Trump. The leaders of the UK, Indonesia and EU are. Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte calls Trump “Daddy”. The reality is that Trump practices coercive diplomacy. Should SA, rendered powerless by decades of ANC misrule, stand up to him or try to make amends?
Ramaphosa is doubling down on all the domestic and foreign policy issues that Trump considers problematic. South Africans will pay the price.
François Theron
Pretoria
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