Anyone wondering if President Cyril Ramaphosa would attempt to placate the Trump administration got their answer at Thursday night’s State of the Nation Address — where Ramaphosa staked out a very different set of South African values.
It has been a peculiar fortnight when it comes to South Africa’s place in the global order. Pretoria has suddenly found itself squarely in the sights of the Trump administration, singled out for special threats and aggression.
Fourteen soldiers from South Africa’s peacekeeping mission in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are coming home in body bags in our biggest military loss since the Battle of Bangui in 2013, raising elemental questions about the purpose and meaning of our military activities abroad. And, on social media, Rwandan President Paul Kagame issued an extraordinary provocation to President Cyril Ramaphosa over Rwanda’s role in the conflict, warning: “If South Africa prefers confrontation, Rwanda will deal with the matter in that context any day”.
Ramaphosa, in other words, was going into Thursday evening’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) with a lot on his plate and plenty of eyes on him — and that’s beyond his overflowing domestic inbox.
He didn’t mention Rwanda, and the situation in DRC received relatively short shrift in his speech.
But what Ramaphosa made a point of doing was to stake out a set of national values which are worlds apart from those of the Trump administration.
‘Global fundamental shifts under way’
The world is changing fast, Ramaphosa told the nation shortly after taking the lectern at Cape Town’s City Hall on Thursday.
In what must be read as particularly referring to recent events in Washington, the President said: “We are witnessing the rise of nationalism and protectionism, the pursuit of narrow interests and the decline of common cause”.
He continued: “We will not be bullied.”
South Africans, Ramaphosa said, stand for “peace and justice, for equality and solidarity. We stand for non-racialism and democracy, for tolerance and compassion. We stand for equal rights for women, for persons with disability and for members of the LGBTQI+ community. We stand for our shared humanity, not for the survival of the fittest.”
Although his target was not specified, it was a repudiation of everything the Trump administration has shown the world thus far.
At a time when US President Donald Trump is tearing up climate change research and pulling the US out of critical global climate accords, Ramaphosa pledged South Africa’s commitment to the transition to clean energy — but specified that it would take place “at a pace and scale that our country can afford”.
In remarks delivered off the cuff, which do not appear in the prepared text of his speech, he paid particular attention to the need to further harness Chinese, Indian and Middle Eastern tourism markets. Ramaphosa did not mention the West.
He hinted at the need to seek out and bolster alternative relationships in these unprecedented times: “We will work to strengthen our trade relations around the world and to leverage our strong and diverse global alliances to make our economy more resilient.”
But, stressed Ramaphosa, right on brand for a lifelong mediator by temperament, South Africa wanted to be “at peace with the world”.
He was unapologetic, however, about Pretoria’s support for the people of Palestine — “who, having endured decades of illegal occupation, are now experiencing indescribable suffering”.
Yet he stopped short of directly criticising Israel. South Africa’s approach to The Hague over Israel was glossed by Ramaphosa as necessary compliance with international law: “South Africa has acted in accordance with its obligations under the Genocide Convention by instituting proceedings against Israel at the International Court of Justice.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa, Speaker Thoko Didiza (left) and Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane, chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, outside the Cape Town City Hall ahead of Sona 2025 on 6 February. (Photo: Kopano Tlape / GCIS)
G20 a chance for an international charm offensive
South Africa’s hosting of the G20 this year comes at an uncannily useful moment, as countries scramble globally to understand what the realignment of US foreign policy — and, on a fundamental level, US values — will mean in real terms for trade, war and international relations.
Foreign policy experts have suggested that this is, in fact, the perfect time for “non-Western middle powers” — that’s us — to flex their muscles and explore different kinds of international coalitions.
“The work we do and what we stand for needs to be explained to many key players,” said Ramaphosa.
“With a view to explaining the many positions that we have taken and in particular the objectives we wish to achieve during our presidency of the G20, I have decided to send a delegation of government and other leaders to various capitals on our continent and across the world.”
In essence, what Ramaphosa is outlining is a global charm offensive. It will cost money, and there will be concerns about that. But one can also see the merit of the idea: to establish South Africa, in these times of flux and chaos, as a serious player in global affairs; and to counter what is now starting to resemble a bona fide smear campaign against South Africa from Washington.
There will be plenty of people who will argue, legitimately, that it is hypocritical for South Africa to be presenting itself as a global human rights prefect when the reality is that back home, millions of South Africans live in inhuman conditions and are subject to brutalising levels of crime and violence.
Every Sona contains elements of fantasy; a wish list; pie in the sky — and the 2025 Sona was no different.
No doubt South Africa will continue to fall short in hundreds of different ways of the lofty vision Ramaphosa sketched of what we hold dear as a nation.
But in these strange and troubled times, to hear a world leader reinforce the value of “empathy and compassion” felt not just refreshing but urgently necessary. If only South Africa could now live up to that domestically.
@Daily Maverick
