South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) was in Russia “fighting” against neo-colonialism when Kremlin opposition politician Alexei Navalny died last week. This has emerged from a BizNews interview with Russian historian Professor Irina Filatova who says: “Just at the time when Navalny was killed, the ANC delegation was in Moscow. It was in Moscow at the meeting of the powers of the representatives of the parties which are fighting against neocolonialism…which is the influence of the Western world, economic, political, cultural, etc.” She also comments on the allegation made to BizNews that it was the Russian oligarch Viktor Velkselberg who once again bailed out the ANC and paid its debts. And she explains why an ANC election victory is so important to Russia. However, she adds that Russia would also work with former President’s Jacob Zuma’s MK and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
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Relevant timestamps from the interview
- 00:00 – Introduction
- 00:28 – Professor Filatova on how many politicians have died under mysterious circumstances
- 01:51 – The death of Alexei Navalny
- 02:12 – Why did he return to Russia
- 04:02 – The second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
- 06:33 – What it would mean if Putin is reelected for a fourth term
- 08:01 – ANC’s relationship with Russia
- 11:04 – ANC winning the elections and its importance to Russia
- 12:16 – Conclusions
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Highlights from the interview ___STEADY_PAYWALL___
Kremlin opposition politician Alexei Navalny died last week.
This has emerged from a BizNews interview with Russian historian Professor Irina Filatova who says: “Just at the time when Navalny was killed, the ANC delegation was in Moscow. It was in Moscow at the meeting of the powers of the representatives of the parties which are fighting against Neo-Colonialism, or what Moscow calls Neo-Colonialism, which is the influence of the Western world, economic, political, cultural, etc. These governments, such as representatives of Iran, China, etc., some of them are members of the BRICS, some are not, but their idea of fighting against colonialism is fighting against the West. And so the ANC delegation was there fighting against neocolonialism.”
Professor Filotova slammed the ANC for its lack of reaction to Navalny’s death. “And no comparisons ever came to their heads. They did not say anything about Navalny’s death. And no comparison with their own fight for freedom. They fought for democracy. They fought for freedom. They suffered in prisons. Their activists were killed. And this is remembered. This is what the ANC history is. But they are not capable of recognising the same pattern in Russia. They are not capable of recognising how repressive this government is, the government that invites them to fight against neocolonialism. It really boggles my mind. How can it be? There are some honest people among the ANC leaders after all. Why are they silent?”
Read more: Russia’s “Nelson Mandela” dead as Putin eyes Stalin’s record rule…
Asked to comment on an allegation made to BizNews that it was the Russian oligarch Viktor Velkselberg who once again bailed out the ANC and paid its debts, she said: “Well, I have definitely heard that the Russians did help to pay the ANC to pay its debt, but I don’t have any tangible proof of that. And if it was Velkselberg, maybe it will be reflected in some accounts, books of the ANC. We shall see that. But after all, The Chancellor House, the financial arm of the ANC, is part of the Velkselberg empire in South Africa, so there’s nothing illegal about that. What’s beyond that is a different matter whatsoever.”
As for how important it would be for Russia that the ANC stays in power, she said: “The ANC is the best friend, but so would be (Jacob) Zuma. I suppose that the Russians could work with EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters), but it is these parties that are important for Russia. For the moment, I think they are supporting the ANC, but I would not be surprised if they support the Zuma’s MK party too.
“And the EFF has been so friendly with the Russians, towards the Russians, that there couldn’t be any objections on the part of the Russians to their coming to power, but they won’t. So the best hope is the ANC, which is very pro-Russian, which would not really destabilise the economy to such an extent that Russian interests would be damaged. They need the South African economy to be stable and developing in their own interests too. And of course they need South Africa as a political ally and the ANC is the best of the possibilities.”
With Putin looking strong enough to be re-elected for the fifth term, Professor Filatova says his continued rule will not work out “very nicely” for the West.
Read more: 🔒 FT’s Gideon Rachman: The strange loyalty of Putin’s global fan club
“Look, Russia has now been turned into a system which is very unfriendly to the West, to the Western values. Putin has been hell-bent on showing to the West its own weaknesses. He was absolutely sure that it’s his historic mission to show the West that in reality it is incapable of keeping the world order in the way it has created it. And he called the West bluff. It is really not coping with what he’s doing now.
“It seems incapable of really helping Ukraine despite all the demonstrations of solidarity, despite all the promises both from the United States government and from Europe, but for now it is not quite working and on the ground the Russian troops are moving ahead.”
Dealing with the boast by Putin that he has beaten sanctions over the invasion two years ago of Ukraine, Professor Filatova says: “Russian economy is doing much better than the West was hoping when the sanctions were introduced….It doesn’t mean that it will last forever, because Russia is sending more and more troops to the front, and the patience will run out one day. It is also true that this economy that Putin has now created, it’s a military economy, and…it cannot continue forever.
“So there will be a time when this largesse, which the government now enjoys in terms of money, in terms of what it can do for creating the military economy, this will also end at some point. But for now, it seems quite enough to defeat Ukraine, (with) what Russia has got.”
Read also:
- Election campaigns 2024: MK, IFP, ANC just dipping into each other’s support – AI & Big Data needed to pull unregistered voters…
- ANC’s Russian relations: Will they learn anything from Navalny’s death? – Sara Gon
- 🔒 FT: Russian victories shake global leaders’ faith in Ukraine war prospects
