Is South Africa a “rogue democracy”?

Dear President Bush,

What with all your known knowns, unknown knowns and unknown unknowns, we’re sure you’re absolutely overrun about now. We were however wondering if you could kindly email South Africa a copy of our president’s recent letter to you, apparently asking you to stay out of Africa, which he claims belongs to him.

As you will appreciate this will form part of the evidence at a divorce hearing wherein the plaintiffs, the people of Africa and South Africa are disputing his ownership. Mazeltov on your daughter’s wedding, may you only know simchas…then sign it.

Kind regards
Traps

(and please stop writing down everything I say Ms Jones…and could you put some clothing on my wife could walk in at any time….of course I love you…)

IOL, referring to an article by the Washington Post’s Michael Gerson, confirms that president Bush is currently drafting a response to President Mbeki’s alleged four page “butt-out” of Zimbabwe letter. The upshot of Mbeki’s correspondence was apparently to advise Washington to stay out of the Zimbabwean elections, and to castigate the United States for choosing sides.

Perhaps that should have read: castigating the United States for choosing a side other than Mugabe and the Zanu-PF.

Why would South Africans want America, or the international community for that matter, to stay out of Zimbabwe? In truth we wouldn’t. A proper resolution of that ongoing saga would provide a home for millions of exiles and ease the burden on our poorer communities. We would welcome their presence in seeing that the run-off was free and fair, and we would be most grateful to them for any aid or investment that they put into Zimbabwe post-Mugabe.

If you read the Times of London this week, China welcomed American assistance in the wake of their devastating earthquake, and has also sought Japanese military aid. If this world power is not afraid to seek outside help, why should Zimbabweans be afraid?

Accordingly, if such a letter was sent, I would assume that Mbeki speaks for a small and ever dwindling group of South Africans when he tells the world and America to take a hike on Mugabe.

Tony Leon, the Democratic Alliance spokesman on foreign affairs, has asked for a copy of the letter to be released. In light of the president purporting to represent the wishes of South Africa on Zimbabwe I believe that it is vital that we see the contents of this one (if it was sent).

If regard was to be had to the ongoing xenophobic violence, cost of housing upwards of 3 million exiles and the total destabilisation of the region because of Zimbabwe and our role in it, then any attempt by the president to continue alienating the international community in order to protect Mugabe has to be viewed in a very serious light.

It demonstrates an intention to continue with a highly unpopular approach to Zimbabwe, despite the cost to our country and irrespective of the feelings of the majority of South Africans and Zimbabweans – an approach that has created a humanitarian disaster in Zimbabwe and an economic nightmare in South Africa.

Gerson’s article goes much further than just the letter, setting out in detail South Africa’s foreign policy under the president.

Entitled The despots democracy it highlights what can at best be described as South Africa’s embaressing foreign policy. It really does not make for easy reading, particularly when one has regard to Burma and the heavy death toll which could have been limited but for our intervention, along with China and Russia, in vetoing a United Nations resolution.

That is just one of the many areas of concern. In terms of human rights issues dealing with rape and homophobia we are also seen to be wanting when it comes to our voting, always using any and all excuses to avoid doing the right thing.

Gerson is scathing towards the president in this regard and I can’t fault him on it. You would never believe that South Africa was a country where true democracy and freedom were only recent acquisitions.

Our disregard for the rights of others to achieve the same rights and freedoms is, if our foreign policies are to be believed, callous and illogical, particularly when you factor in the part played by the world community in achieving this multiracial democracy.

So not only is the world gaining an impression of South Africa as a country which does not like strangers domestically, but of a land that carries a foreign policy that rewards dictators and aggression.

Throw in the fact that the masses of this country are highly annoyed with the government for non-delivery and it would appear that our current government must be, internally and externally, one of the least popular in the world about now.

A rogue democracy implies unreliable and deceitful – can we argue with that with respect to our foreign policies? I don’t think we can. We were the country demanding sanctions and intervention to gain our freedom – now demanding the exact opposite for Burma and Zimbabwe. Where is our consistency in that regard?

We expect to be treated with dignity and humanity, yet we vote against resolutions calling for it with respect to others.

It is time for South Africa to start doing and being seen to be doing what’s right and decent -consistently.