By Bonang Mohale
South Africa’s foreign policy choice must be premised on strong principles.
Let us together fortify our foundations and build a great and resilient future – a state’s foreign policy, international relations policy or external policy with objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through multilateral platforms.
This is a set of goals about how the country will work with other countries economically, politically, and militarily. This includes such matters as international trade, foreign aid, military alliances and wars.
At a time when “the defining geopolitical contest of our time is between China and the United States”, all the Group of Seven countries’ leaders have visited Ukraine to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky in person, express their support for the country in its defence against Russian aggression, and paid tribute to civilians killed in Bucha.
Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol held a summit in Tokyo in March, marking the first visit by a South Korean president in 12 years. These two east Asian countries have joined sides with the US and European countries.
The south-east Asian countries and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) are charting a more peaceful and prosperous path, setting an example of how to walk the diplomatic tightrope to preserve trust with both China and the US.
South Africa must act in its own best national interest and preserve the little, if any, of what is left of our international reputation, as the one thing that the country cannot afford right now is to annoy both the East and the West.
Especially a country defined by such rich principles with the best constitution, and premised on three pillars of constitutional democracy, social justice, and fundamental human rights.
South Africa is a beneficiary of 189 United Nations member countries that declared apartheid a crime against humanity – a country whose forebears laid such a firm foundation. A country of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela’s dreams.
Soon after Mandela was released from prison, he visited for three days his comrade Fidel Castro in Havana, Cuba in July 1991.
He thanked him for the support the ANC received in the 1960s – sending soldiers to Angola during the 1970s right through the 1980s to fight apartheid regimes, the critical role the Cubans played in the defeat of the South African Defence Force, and in backing the People’s Armed Forces of Liberation of Angola in the battle of Cuito Cuanavale, as well as inform some of his negotiations with the National Party to end apartheid.
Both incidents are believed to be a significant catalyst to the eventual ending of apartheid.
He also visited several other Latin American and Caribbean countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, Brazil, Argentina and Peru.
In his speech at a rally at which he was Castro’s guest, and awarded the Order of Jose Marti medal, Cuba’s highest honour on July 27 1991, Mandela said: “We admire the sacrifices of the Cuban people in maintaining their independence and sovereignty in the face of a vicious, imperialist-orchestrated campaign. We, too, want to control our own destiny.”
Mandela was heavily criticised by the Western governments for his friendship with Castro, Palestine Liberation Organisation leader Yasser Arafat, and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi – from whom he accepted the Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights.
Amnesty International and other rights groups that protested Mandela’s imprisonment censured Castro’s one-party system and for jailing his opponents and stifling dissent.
Speaking to reporters before leaving for Venezuela, Mandela refused to endorse such criticism, stating: “If there is a diversity of opinions about Cuba, I understand that. The people of South Africa and the ANC are entitled to have our own friends and allies … and in this case, Cuba is our friend.”
In 1994, Castro was able to return the visit to attend Mandela’s presidential inauguration following his election as South Africa’s first black president.
Four years later, on a return visit to South Africa, Castro was given a hero’s welcome, delivering a speech to a packed ANC rally.
The ANC won a 63% share of the vote. Mandela was inaugurated on May 10 1994 as the country’s president, with the National Party’s FW de Klerk as his first deputy and Thabo Mbeki second in the government of national unity at a ceremony attended by more than 4 000 people in Pretoria.
Some of the prominent world leaders who also attended included US vice-president Al Gore, first lady Hillary Clinton, commerce secretary Ron Brown, the Reverand Jesse Jackson, UN secretary-general Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Prince Philip, foreign secretary Douglas Hurd, Archbishop Trevor Huddleston from Britain, Palestine Liberation Organisation chairman Yasser Arafat, and Castro.
The internationally televised ceremony had over a billion people tuned in to watch the historic event. Mandela served only one term as president before retiring from political life.
The ceremony was rich in symbolism and emotion as heads of state from more than 160 countries sat in the amphitheatre of the Union Buildings.
Fighter planes and generals saluted the first democratically elected president and pledged their allegiance to him and the country.
In the moment between the singing of “Die Stem”, the apartheid anthem of the old and oppressive South Africa, and the singing of the healing song Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika, the anthem of liberation (of five African countries), the new South African flag unfurled.
From the Union Buildings, a helicopter took Mandela to the Ellis Park Stadium where South Africa’s soccer team was playing Zambia. There, he again called for the nation to work together for change.
What happened then, after a brief talk to the South African team during half-time, gave birth to the belief in the “Madiba Magic”.
He had arrived at the end of a goalless first-half but in the first minutes of the second half, South Africa scored two goals in quick succession and went on to win the match 2-1.
Much later, US president Barack Obama was to deliver remarks at a national memorial service for Mandela on December 10 2013.
- Bonang Mohale is the president of Business Unity South Africa and chancellor of the University of the Free State.
