Double standards: How SA applies rules unequally - Kenneth Kgwadi

Key topics:South Africa punishes US and Israeli diplomats, ignores Iranian postsANC foreign policy favours Iran, Russia, China over citizens' interestsUS-South Africa ties boost economy; Iran ties bring no local benefits.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox every morning on weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..By Kenneth Kgwadi*.It has become very usual for South Africa under Cyril Ramaphosa’s ANC that its foreign policy and mechanisms managing the country’s relations with others have been applied inconsistently, and this continues to place South Africa in harm’s way. South Africa took action against the ambassadors from Israel and the US for different accusations against them. The Israeli representative, Ariel Siedman, was given 72 hours to leave the country, whilst the American Leo Brent Bozell III was demarched. However, the Iranian ambassador has not been reprimanded or had actions taken against him for their undiplomatic posts on the X platform.Through its official X account, they posted pictures of several coffins draped in the colours of the US flag through the much-talked-about Strait of Hormuz with a provocative caption, “The only American thing that can pass through the Straight of Hormuz.” To date, there has not been any sign that the ANC-led government would take some time to rebuke the unbecoming behaviour of the Iranian representatives in South Africa. We may not see anything of that sort due to the cosy relations between the two nations, which have come at a huge cost for South Africa and its people.From observing the country’s foreign policy episodes, it is safe to say that it currently exists to defend everything that Iran, Russia and China. This is achieved at the expense of poor South Africans, who are supposed to be the priority when carrying out the foreign policy and engaging with other countries..Read more:.TCS: South Africa at a diplomatic crossroads as US pressure mounts on Iran.There is a wrong but deliberate misconception by the ANC and its supporters that the US desires to cause trouble for South Africa. It is complete nonsense. What exists between the two countries is tension caused by various factors and political actors. While the majority of the people from both countries materially benefit from the stable relations of the two countries, a few others are working to collapse the relations which started more than 100 years ago and have shaped the two countries for the better.There are over 500 business establishment owned by the US in the South African soil providing more than 250 000 employment and business opportunities to ordinary South Africans. In retrospect, let us ask ourselves critically as to how many businesses owned by Iranians are in South Africa and how does South Africans benefit from that relations? Generally speaking, foreign policy of any nation should safeguard the national interest, promote trade and economic and take these national interests to the global stage. In South Africa’s case, they seem to be hellbent on advancing the Iranian foreign policy instead of defending its country’s national interest.Those who are stuck in history and keep claiming that their current actions are inspired by the past relations should remember the direct and influential role that the American government and its people played at the beginning of the 1980s to dismantle the echelons of the apartheid system in South Africa. Europe played a role in decapitating apartheid, and so did many other countries on every continent.As this piece has already acknowledged the enormous role played by the international community in dismantling the echelons of the apartheid system, it becomes a significant oversimplification of the historical fact for the ANC to opportunistically invoke Iran as a loyal anti-apartheid ally. Just like other countries at that time, Iran secretly traded oil and weapons with the very same apartheid regime throughout the 1980 but the ANC does not remind its audience of that regard. Formulating the country’s foreign policy direction based on the past association is shortsighted and will not contribute towards various aspects of the country’s development.While South Africans should be thankful to the generosity shown by the world during their difficult experience, they should not support or associate with governments which are have deformed from freedom fighters to oppressor such as Iran, Zimbabwe and others. It is necessary to stand against such authoritarian regimes and coerce them to adopt democratic and ethical values. Zimbabwe, our neighbour, has become so obsolete due to the ANC’s passiveness, which they adopted especially during the Jacob Zuma era, to date, for unknown reasons. Zimbabwe and its people have been in dire need of rescue. South Africa is complicit in all the atrocities that have been subjected to the Zimbabweans in their country, as well as those who are in our country who periodically experience physical and psychological violence.There is a great need for South Africa to begin positioning itself as the most influential political actor on the global stage, rather than creating unnecessary nemesis that will render it useless and redundant. In the current conflict in the Middle East region, South Africa cannot begin to talk because it is no longer seen or regarded as “non-aligned”, to which they always claim that they are. Many countries in Africa and Europe are sympathetic to the Palestinian struggle, but they have not taken any vacuous decision, such as associating with Hamas, because they understand the political and economic ramifications..Read more:.How ANC’s Iran alliance exposes a dangerous foreign policy gamble: Ilan Preskovsky.The countries in the Middle East, such as Qatar, which are reputable in the conflict resolution area, have not taken such a decision to drag Israel into the ICJ because they prioritise their own national interest. They know that such a decision would have long-term economic, political or security risks. It has been proven until now that the decision to go to the ICJ was a waste of taxpayers' money because it did not even come close to addressing the problem..*Kgwadi is a political scientist. He is a research fellow at the Middle East Africa Research Institute (MEARI).

Double standards: How SA applies rules unequally - Kenneth Kgwadi

Related Stories

Middle East tensions threaten first SA rate hike since 2023

Ray Hartley - BRICS loses its clout

Hague Group boss Gandikota-Nellutla exposes her anti-Israel agenda: Kenneth Kgwadi

Kenneth Kgwadi: The misplaced outrage over the ‘Palestinian flag row.’