With the recent BRICS conference, President Ramaphosa referred to Vladimir Putin as "our valued ally." While I have defended, and still do defend, South Africa’s non-aligned stance regarding the war in Ukraine, because of the obvious contribution of NATO expansion to the conflict, it appears that Ramaphosa is interpreting non-alignment as being "pro-Russian”. By implication, this suggests that BRICS is by definition "anti-Western."
This position might reflect the ideological leanings of certain senior ANC members, who are always eager to make anti-Western statements without recognizing South Africa’s dependence on Western trade. I can’t help but wonder how Ramaphosa internalizes such rhetoric. A simple glance at South Africa’s foreign trade reveals an undeniable fact: that our trade with Russia is smaller than our trade with Angola.
There is no substantial exchange of goods and services between South Africa and Russia, a country that is, in effect, landlocked and literally situated on the other side of the world. What exactly is there in this relationship that deserves so much value?
South Africa’s most promising students don’t go to Russia to study science or technology, they rather go to Western countries such as Britain, Australia, France, America and the USA. Unlike India, South Africa lacks a significant diaspora with cultural ties to Russia, and unlike China, one can’t justify the realism on the grounds that our economy is reliant on Russian trade. Nor is there a shared energy infrastructure, as exists between Hungary and Germany, or significant linguistic ties, as seen among the former USSR countries.
Given that several ANC leaders were trained in the former USSR, it's understandable that there are emotional historical ties, but this is irrelevant. It overlooks the fact that Russia is no longer the Soviet Union as several Russian experts such as Prof. Steven Cohen have written about. Russia has notably implemented several reforms to distance the country from its Soviet past. A striking fact is that the works of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag is mandatory reading in Russian schools and that Russi
Whatever emotional ties to the past may exist, in geopolitics they are often set aside, as a nation must balance its moral values with its strategic interests when choosing its international relations.
Read the rest of this piece at Hügo's Newsletter.
Hügo Krüger is a South African born Structural/Nuclear Engineer, writer and YouTube podcaster, commentating on topics relating to Energy and Geopolitical Matters, Hügo is married to an Iranian born Mathematician and Artist; the couple resides in Paris.
Photo: South Africa's President Ramaphosa speaking at a recent BRICS conference.
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