In his weekly address, President Cyril Ramaphosa is adamant that peace and an end to the war in Ukraine must be hashed out between Russia and Ukraine at the negotiating table, rather than through the barrel of a loaded gun.
He has also justified SA’s abstention from voting on a resolution at the United Nations last week by saying the text of the resolution did not strongly encourage a continuation of peace talks between the two nations and “the call for peaceful resolution through political dialogue is relegated to a single sentence close to the conclusion of the final text. This does not provide the encouragement and international backing that the parties need to continue with their efforts.”
The president outlined SA’s steadfast commitment to human rights and highlighted our own past in bringing an end to apartheid through a negotiated settlement as a route to bringing peace in Eastern Europe.
But Kate Dent writes that South Africa has a history of a poor voting record when it comes to UN resolutions on human rights. South Africa is willing to agree to a vote on human rights so long as what is being voted upon is in the abstract but when it becomes country-specific, we have often abstained.
Dent writes that South Africa often prioritises its economic ties with BRICS nations when it votes at the UN and on previous resolutions on Ukraine we have abstained so as not to destabilise our relationship with Russia.
“These positions are a betrayal of the country’s commitment to human rights in favour of a political and economic calculus to not upset Russia,” writes Dent.
While Adriaan Basson writes that the recent statement from the Nelson Mandela Foundation, which aggressively goes after the United States and the Western world for its previous invasions, is a classic case of whataboutism.
Basson writes that it shouldn’t have to be the case that any criticism or condemnation of Russia’s actions comes with a caveat explaining other human rights abuses or explainers on wars currently raging on in other parts of the world.
He concludes by writing with surety that Nelson Mandela would stand with Ukraine and its people and wholeheartedly support sanctions against Russia just as he and the ANC supported sanctions against the apartheid government.
Here’s a roundup of interesting opinions, analyses, and editorials:
SONGEZO ZIBI | SA’s position on the Ukraine conflict is naive, sentimental and wrong – Sunday Times Daily (for subscribers)
JUSTICE MALALA | Stop cheerleading for Russia, SA. It won’t return the compliment – Sunday Times Daily
RYAN SMITH: World should reject SA’s captured foreign policy – Business Day
Standing with Naledi Pandor and Ukraine – The Citizen (for subscribers)
War profiteers will kill us all unless we unite – New Frame
LUKANYO MNYANDA: Twenty years later and the BIG debate rolls on – Business Day (for subscribers)
