AThen the majority of the world’s countries condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Wednesday March 2, demanding in a resolution that it “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all its military forces”, a certain number of nations refrained from speaking, and among them: South Africa. “The resolution we have studied today does not create an environment conducive to democratic dialogue and mediation”, justified the South African ambassador to the United Nations.
In the Rainbow Nation, this “blank” vote comes as no surprise. Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine. President Cyril Ramaphosa calls for “mediation”, rather than the withdrawal of Russian troops. Same speech for his party, the ANC, which believes that it is not in line with the party to demand such a withdrawal from the Russians.
“It is not in the tradition or in the history of the party to condemn,” explains Candice Moore, political scientist at the University of the Witswatersrand, in Johannesburg. “The only times South Africa has taken sides is with Palestine and Western Sahara. The party is very proud of its history and the way it resolved the conflict at the end of apartheid. He still sees himself rather as an actor who can share his expertise with countries in the same situation. »
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Dismissal of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
On February 24, a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shook up this approach, which aims to be as neutral as possible. “South Africa calls on Russia to immediately withdraw its troops from Ukraine,” it read. Enough to make the tenors of the ANC swallow their coffee, especially since it was the Minister of Foreign Affairs herself, Naledi Pandor, who approved the press release. According to Sunday Times South African, Cyril Ramaphosa would have been very unhappy with this misconduct.
On Monday February 28, a meeting would also have brought together the ANC’s international relations sub-committee to review the points on the I. Chance of the calendar, February 28 was also the anniversary of 30 years of diplomatic relations between Russia and South Africa. The opportunity for the Russian ambassador to recall “the close ties of friendship and cooperation established during the fight against apartheid” between the two nations. “Let us emphasize that for a long time the USSR was the only major nation that fundamentally refused any contact with the criminal regime,” he added in a statement.
��������Today marks 3️⃣0️⃣ years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and South Africa!
Our interaction is distinguished by the strong bonds of friendship & cooperation established during the struggle against apartheid, which continues to develop today. pic.twitter.com/OHLS4AL5HS
— MFA Russia ���� (@mfa_russia) February 28, 2022
“Russia is our friend no matter what,” confirmed in an interview Lindiwe Zulu, minister of social development, head of the ANC’s international relations subcommittee, and who studied in Moscow during the apartheid. “We are not about to condemn this friendship that we have always had. »
It is not the first time that the ANC has ignored Western criticism of its friendship with autocrats such as Fidel Castro (Cuba) and Muammar Gaddafi (Libya), in the name of the support they gave during apartheid.
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Close relationships
Relations between Russia and the ANC party go beyond historical recognition. Jacob Zuma, the former president of South Africa, is close to Vladimir Putin. The ANC, which is facing financial difficulties, also received last year its largest donation (5 million rand, or 300,000 euros) from a mining company partly owned by the Russian-run conglomerate by the oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, a close friend of Putin.
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South Africans divided
Since Naledi Pandor’s isolated exit, there has been no question of calling for a Russian withdrawal. The watchword is again to call for “mediation” and “compromises” on the part of both parties.
A position that divides South Africans, aware of having emerged from apartheid in particular thanks to similar international sanctions, but who, on the other hand, do not want to be at the heels of Westerners and do not see the point in their country to get involved. A petition is also circulating online, signed by 30,000 people and calling on the government not to get involved and to focus on the evacuation of South African nationals. “South Africa has nothing to do in a 3and impending world war. (…) We South Africans have our own problems, and we do not want to sacrifice any South African life in a war that does not concern us. »
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