Is South Africa’s foreign policy contradictory or a balancing act?

South Africa’s stance on global issues in the last year has confounded many. Some analysts say it is a balancing act.

Cape Town, South Africa – The South African foreign service has had a hectic year of navigating several tricky diplomatic endeavours.

It began with South Africa doing joint naval drills with Russia and China in February 2023. 

By March, authorities in Pretoria were saddled with a dilemma: execute the International Criminal Court’s warrant for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes related to the war in Ukraine when he attended the BRICS Summit that August, or risk being seen as noncommittal to the rule of law. Ultimately Putin’s withdrawal from the summit – after an awkward trip by a few African leaders led by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to Ukraine and Russia – saved Pretoria from having to decide.

Within months, the US ambassador to South Africa accused it of sending weapons to Russia via the ship Lady R. Not long after, South Africa’s Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor had a call with the chairperson of Hamas’s political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, followed by a visit to Iran to strengthen relations with it. By December, South Africa had hauled Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing it of genocide in its war in Gaza.

Then this January, Ramaphosa drew criticism when he hosted the leader of the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), General Mohamed Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, who has been accused of human rights abuses in Sudan, where a war is raging between the RSF and the army.