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South Africa in Remission: the Foreign Policy of an Altered State

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2008

Graham Evans
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Extract

This article examines the extent to which the foreign policy of South Africa has altered since the inauguration of the Government of National Unity (GNU), following the historic, non-racial multi-party elections in May 1994. Has the African National Congress (ANC)-led regime succeeded in its stated aims of ‘normalising’ relations with the outside world while simultaneously forsaking traditional assumptions and perspectives about the national interest, and how best to define, defend, and promote it? Or has the understandable preoccupation with, and demands of, internal reconstruction led to a situation where foreign policy is ‘on hold’, in the sense that little attention has so far been directed at substantive questions concerning the norms, values, and conventions implicit in the strategic culture and policy inclinations of the ‘ancien régime’? In other words, what are the elements of continuity and change?

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 34 , Issue 2 , June 1996 , pp. 249 - 269
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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References

1 See Thomas, Scott, The Diplomacy of Liberation: the international relations of the African National Congress of South Africa, 1960–1985 (London, 1995).Google Scholar

2 Meli, Francis, South Africa Belongs to Us: a history of the ANC (London, Harare, and Bloomington, 1988), p. 46.Google Scholar

3 Ibid. p. 55.

4 For an excellent account of the ANC during this second phase, see Alden, Chris, ‘From Liberation Movement to Political Party: ANC foreign policy in transition’, in The South African Journal of International Affairs (Johannesburg), 1, 1, Spring 1993, pp. 63–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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7 For an account of the deterioration in USSR/ANC relations from 1990 onwards, see Vladimir Shubin, ‘Reflections on Relations between the Soviet Union/Russian Federation and South Africa in the 1980's and 1990's’, in ibid. No. 37, 1994, pp. 24–31. Moscow only informed the ANC about Neil van Heerden's visit at the last minute, and claimed that officially he was supposed to be just in transit to Tokyo. This prompted a sceptical ANC official to ask: ‘What happened to geography? How is the way to Japan via Moscow?’ Ibid. p. 28.

8 Geldenhuys, Deon, ‘The Head of Government and South Africa's Foreign Relations’, in Schrire, Robert (ed.), Malan to De Klerk: leadership in the apartheid state (London, 1994), p. 287. Quoting F. W. de Klerk's speeches during 1990–1, Geldenhuys emphasises that the President shared the old vision of South Africa as the ‘undisputed economic engine of Southern Africa’, and as occupying a ‘leadership role which history has carved out for us on a continent facing many problems’.Google Scholar

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11 Alden, loc. cit. p. 75.

12 Calland, Richard and Weld, David, ‘Multilateralism, Southern Africa and the Postmodern World: an exploratory essay’, in Southern African Perspectives, No. 38, 10 1994, p. 1.Google Scholar

13 See Birchall, Robin, ‘South Africa and the European Union: between Lomé and bilateralism’, in South African Institute of International Affairs, International Update (Johannesburg), 1 07 1995.Google Scholar

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16 Comment made by Dr Phillips, Ian (ANC-MP) at a conference on ‘South Africa and Peacekeeping in Africa’,Johannesburg,13–14 July 1995.Google ScholarJan Smuts House News (Johannesburg), 3, 2, 11 1995, p. 6.Google Scholar

17 The Nigerian question continues to vex policy-making and its attentive public in South Africa. The GNU's difficulty involves resolving the tension between a formal commitment to Nigeria's democratic opposition, stemming from a belief in the indivisibility of human rights, and a pragmatic grasp of the dangers of diplomatic isolation within Africa which might well be a by product of Mandela's high-profile rôle in calling for economic sanctions to be imposed on General Abacha's régime. In essence, this dilemma is an example of the classic ‘choice’ between framing foreign policies in accordance with what justice demands or what circumstances permit. That South Africa is now a ‘normal’ state in this regard can be seen in the attempt by the Foreign Ministry to abort a conference organised by prominent Nigerian dissidents by refusing to grant entry visas to many of Abacha's opponents in April 1996. For an account of the divisions within the ANC leadership over what is desirable and what is possible in this regard, see Johnson, R. W., ‘ANC Presses Pretoria to Abandon Anti-Abacha Line’, in The Times (London), 1 04 1996, p. 9.Google Scholar

18 The Sowetan (Johannesburg), 4 10 1994.Google Scholar See also, Gutteridge, William, South Africa's Continuing Defence Dilemmas (London, 1995), Research Institute for the Study of Conflict and Terrorism, Project No. 4, p. 2.Google Scholar

19 Reuters Report (London), 17 05 1995.Google Scholar

20 For an account of the Evans/Suttner controversy and the Maphai/Vale initiatives, see Weekend Argus (Cape Town), 5 12 1993,Google Scholar and Sunday Times (Johannesburg), 12 02 1994,Google Scholar as well as Weekly Mail (Johannesburg)Google Scholar and The Guardian (London), 05 1995.Google Scholar

21 See Ohlson, Thomas and Stedman, Stephen John, with Davies, Robert, The New Is Not Yet Born: conflict resolution in Southern Africa (Washington, DC, Brookings Institution, 1994), pp. 277–81.Google Scholar