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President Ramaphosa missed an important opportunity during his annual State of the Nation Address to reaffirm South Africa’s historic foreign policy of non-alignment.
 
The South African government’s recent major foreign policy missteps have raised serious questions about the country’s purported non-aligned status. South Africa’s close ties with countries such as Iran, Russia, China, Venezuela and Cuba – all of which are hostile toward Western countries and particularly the United States – are increasingly creating problems for the country and could lead to political and even economic isolation in 2026.
 
President Ramaphosa waited until the very end of his speech to address South Africa’s foreign policy. While extensive reference was made to South Africa’s position in Africa and its commitment to basic international principles, the elephant in the room – namely South Africa’s strained relationship with the United States – was largely avoided.
 
According to Jaco Kleynhans, Head of Public and International Liaison at Solidarity, it is essential that President Ramaphosa clearly explain South Africa’s foreign policy and announce a coherent strategy regarding the country’s role in international relations. “Unfortunately, President Ramaphosa launched an unnecessary attack on the American government early in his address, which he repeated at the end. His conclusion on South Africa’s foreign policy was largely confined to a focus on the G20 Summit, relations in Africa, and South Africa’s solidarity with old allies such as the Palestinians and Cuba. Ramaphosa could have reached out more effectively to all of South Africa’s allies. While nearly every element of government policy was addressed during the SONA, far too little was said about foreign policy and international relations.”
 
According to Kleynhans, Solidarity specifically requested President Ramaphosa to explain in this year’s SONA how South Africa intends to reaffirm its non-aligned status. “South Africa’s foreign policy has not served the country’s economic interests in recent times – instead, it has undermined them. We had hoped that a strong and necessary message would be sent to the international community that South Africa will not be drawn into global conflicts or power struggles, but that, as a non-aligned state, South Africa would maintain healthy relations with as many countries as possible, with the aim of fostering stable relationships that could lead to mutual trade and investment. However, this did not happen, and therefore the SONA was a wasted opportunity.”
 

Issued by Solidarity