Read more
Mbeki said that while the Trump administration's actions were regrettable, what was even more concerning was Africa's lack of readiness to reposition itself in the changing world.
Former president Thabo Mbeki. Picture: Gallo Images/Frennie Shivambu
Former president Thabo Mbeki has called on African countries to find inspiration from United States (US) Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s words to do what is right for the continent.
On Monday, the former president delivered the Aziz Pahad inaugural lecture at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco).
Mbeki spoke on the fractured relationship between South Africa and the US and called on Dirco to lead the way in how the country should position itself in light of the Trump administration’s actions.
WATCH: Mbeki criticises Rasool over Trump remarks
“Aziz would have been very shocked when he read this executive order that was issued on 7 February by US President Donald Trump,” said Mbeki.
Trump’s order states, in part: “In shocking disregard for the citizens and rights by the Republic of South Africa enacted an appropriation act to enable the government of SA to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation. This act follows countless government policies designed to dismantle equal opportunity in employment, education and business and hateful rhetoric and government actions fuelling disproportionate violence against racially disfavoured landowners.”
The former president said Aziz would have taken the Trump administration’s actions based on misinformation as a wake-up call for the country.
“Aziz would have been shocked to hear that because he spent so many years explaining what the ANC stood for and what it would mean for South Africa when it was liberated – that you could have a false statement like this actually propagated.
ALSO READ: Mbeki says he does not understand Trump’s ‘sudden shift’, here’s why
“He would also have treated that as a wake-up call that indicated that it was imperative to understand the world in which we engage foreign policy and international relations – to understand how any government could so readily accept a falsehood of that kind.”
Mbeki said that while the Trump administration’s actions were regrettable, what was even more concerning was Africa’s lack of readiness to reposition itself in the changing world.
“Does Dirco understand the world in which it engages in international relations for the people of SA? Does it have the internal capacity to develop this understanding? What is done practically to get this understanding? And what is done to relay policy to that understanding?
“It’s important so that whatever we do is based on an objective understanding of the world within which policy develops, which might have explained why a falsehood like this claim about the persecution of Afrikaners was accepted by an important government in the world.
ALSO READ: Will SA compromise with Trump? Fears standoff could spark economic freefall
“The serious challenge in this regard is that there is no evidence or sign anywhere that Africa’s political and intellectual leadership is not only conscious of the need to define our continent’s place in the emerging multipolar world, but is ready to act on this urgent matter.
“Given its performance on Africa’s challenges, it is doubtful that the AU would be up to this task. The spirit of pan-Africanism among our leaders has waned significantly over the years.”
Trump and Rubio have, on several occasions, insisted on placing American interests first.
In his opening remarks before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in January, Rubio said, “Placing our core national interest above all else is not isolationism; it is the common-sense realisation that a foreign policy centred in our national interest is not some outdated relic. For our country, placing the interests of America and Americans above all else has never been more relevant or necessary than it is right now.”
ALSO READ: Trump’s tough stance on SA could be a negotiation tactic
Mbeki said it was time Africa found inspiration in Rubio’s remarks and prioritised African interests first.
“It seems right that inspired by what Marco Rubio said; we must also insist that Africa must do what is in the best interests of Africa,” said Mbeki.
“It is obvious that an important part of what is in the best interest of Africa is its correct and timely positioning in the evolving multipolar world so that the emerging global order places our continent in a better position to address its many challenges including eradicating poverty and silencing the guns.”
Download our app