Foreign policy tensions rise between ANC and DA

South Africa’s foreign policy is set to enter new territory where the two main players are pulling in different directions.

The ANC and the DA do not see eye-to-eye on the Palestinian conflict and the Russian attacks against Ukraine.

The ANC condemns what it believed to be genocidal intent by Israel in Gaza and took a neutral stand in the Ukrainian war.

Contradictory approaches on foreign policy

Both the ANC and the DA, which enjoy the largest and second-largest number of members in the government of national unity (GNU), follow contradictory approaches on foreign policy, a factor many people believe is a potential source of friction that could destabilise the new coalition government.

Since it gained power in 1994, the ANC opted for a neutral nonaligned foreign policy which it intended to continue under the GNU, while the DA is pro-West and opposed to ties with Russia, China and any country perceived as enemies of the West.

North-West University’s international relations analyst Dr Jan Venter said the ANC or South Africa’s foreign policy standpoint would shift towards moderation, which was not necessarily about being non-aligned.

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Comes down to factional influences

ANC policy came down to factional influences.

He argued some in the ANC agreed with the DA and those would influence the direction, hence there were discrepancies and differences among party members in the run-up to the GNU formation.

“I have a suspicion that Cyril Ramaphosa is much more moderate than the ANC’s standpoint. So, it will be a lot of politics behind closed doors, but there will be a shift in SA foreign policy. I think that we will, in the coming years, be a much more moderate force, but that does not mean some people will not make a strong statement in support of Russia or in support of China. I think that will be an example of how factions try to influence the ANC foreign policy direction,” Venter said.

This process would be one by which the ANC, the DA and the other parties in the GNU “adapt and give-and-take on their policy imperatives.

But they must somehow accommodate each other, that will draw everybody towards the middle that will see less and less economic and international policy differences.

“The ANC could be more strongly divided in future over its relationship with the DA and on the question of foreign policy,” he said.

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There would be deliberations behind closed doors within the ANC that could precipitate the formation of a stronger bond with the DA.

“But it will come at a cost. We will have to see what that cost is. I think the MK party, while it is still there, I don’t see it as a phenomenon that will last very long, will make hay of everything that the ANC and the DA do, so there will be a shift in support base for the ANC,” Venter said.

Ideological differences will interfere

Independent political analyst Goodenough Mashego said both the DA and the ANC were steeped in ideology and their ideological differences would surely interfere with governance and policy approach of the GNU.

The solution would be for the two to find common ground, but the DA should understand that foreign policy is dictated by the country’s constitution and its human rights culture.

He said while foreign policy was influenced by ideology, it was significant that commonality be found.

“Both parties must be able to talk to each other because you do foreign policy based on your understanding of the history of the conflict. You don’t jump into a conflict because you are funded by a certain organisation,” Mashego said.

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