South African Institute of International Affairs national chairperson Moeletsi Mbeki said on Thursday the African National Congress (ANC) has failed dismally in prioritising the country’s leadership role on the African continent.

Mbeki was speaking during an Institute for Security Studies webinar on exploring pathways for the constructive evolution of South Africa’s international relations, where he expressed concerns that if the country had a continuity of ANC dominance in foreign policy under the Government of National Unity, then it was going to continue to fail.

He noted that South Africa had failed as a leader in Africa, while succeeding economically under leadership from the private sector, which he said was not owing to the ANC government’s help.

He said there was definitely an apparent continuity in terms of foreign policy, partly because all the other political parties had been pointing out, in their manifestos at least, that they were not interested in issues of foreign affairs and foreign relations.

“There was a bit of backtracking by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) about its open borders policy, that South Africa must open its borders to everybody from Africa, but beyond this, there was little interest in foreign policy,” he said.

He explained that ANC had had a history of long involvement with the international community in the struggle against apartheid, noting that foreign policy had consequently always been an important part of the ANC going back to the founding of the breakaway Pan African Congress.

Mbeki highlighted that foreign policy was thus second nature to the ANC.  

“South Africa’s leadership role on the African continent should [also] be a priority for South Africa, and the ANC government has failed dismally in that department. The South African government’s foreign policy in Africa has failed,” he averred.

MILITARY

Mbeki stated that the ANC had, for instance, destroyed the South African military.

“I was reading somewhere that the World Bank recommends militaries spend 2% of gross domestic product, South Africa’s military spending is 0.07% of GDP. The consequence of this is we are getting our army being hammered by the Rwandans in the Eastern DRC,” he explained.

Mbeki said South Africa was not a military leader in Africa, and added that it was actually a liability to the continent.

He said South Africa needed a strong military, instead the country had an “old people’s army”.

“The average age of a South African soldier, I am told, is 40 years old. The average age of an American private is 19 years old,” he said.

Mbeki explained that the country’s air force was grounded owing to lack of maintenance, saying there were soldiers in the Eastern DRC who did not have attack helicopters to protect them.