“South Africa has a choice in what partners to prioritise. But so too does the United States,” said US Representative John James in a firm voice during a congressional hearing discussing US-South African bilateral relations on 27 September 2023.
This issue of choosing partners or sides is not new in the US-South Africa relationship. Despite positive diplomatic relations early on between the US and SA, some of South Africa’s “friendships” led to disagreements. In the mid-1990’s Nelson Mandela adopted a “friends toward all” approach to foreign policy. As a result of this policy, Mandela had a lot of friends including Cuba’s Fidel Castro, Palestine’s Yasser Arafat, and Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, as well as leaders in Russia and Iran, all of whom supported the African National Congress (ANC) in their struggle to overcome Apartheid.
The US did not approve of Mandela’s plans to visit Libya in 1997 but Mandela responded with his infamous finger-wagging retort: “How can they have the arrogance to dictate to us who our friends should be?”
Today, the dispute over friends is largely around South Africa’s current BRICS partners Russia and China. And to a smaller extent, Iran, a soon-to-be BRICS member after being officially invited to join the bloc at the recent BRICS Summit hosted by SA.
South Africa’s history is an important part of its international diplomacy. ANC Cadres recall the support they got, or didn’t get, from certain countries during their fight for freedom. Moscow provided the ANC with money and military training. Thabo Mbeki, Mandela’s deputy president and his successor as president, went to Moscow for military training, chiefly in sabotage work.
When Mandela met Iranian Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in 1992, he called him “my leader” and praised the Iranian government and nation for their support of their struggle against apartheid. Mandela further explained how the Islamic revolution was an impeccable example of a successful and valuable fight against oppression. The SA-Iranian diplomatic and economic relationship has expanded since then thanks in part to the strong Joint Commission of Cooperation established in 1995.
In contrast, from the Cold War until 2008, both the US State and Defense departments had Mandela and the ANC on the US terrorism watch list and US President Ronald Reagan supported the Apartheid government.
South Africa’s relationship with China is a bit different. Mandela announced before the end of his presidency in 1999 that he would normalise relations with China, despite Taiwan being a longtime ally and significant foreign investor. Chinese President Xi Jinping asserted that Mandela was “one of the founders of China-South Africa relations.” The Sino-SA relationship has flourished since Mandela’s term and SA has been China’s biggest trading partner in Africa for 13 years in a row.
