South Africa is not just the strongest industrial nation on the continent, it is also making a name for itself internationally as a diplomatic powerhouse and the voice of the Global South.
South Africa's opinion matters; analyst Steven Gruzd has no doubt about that. "South Africa is an important player on the international stage and especially in Africa. It is sought after by other countries," the program director for African Governance and Diplomacy at the South African Institute of International Affairs told DW. "It certainly is a strong advocate for issues that are relevant to Africa -- be it trade, or conflict or humanitarian issues."
South Africa strives for peaceful conflict resolution, both within Africa -- such as in the 2022 civil war in the Ethiopian region of Tigray -- but also worldwide. In the war between Russia and Ukraine, South Africa tried to take a leading role as a mediator; President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke to Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy and traveled to Kyiv and Moscow with an African delegation for talks in June 2023.
The country has also maintained its neutral stance. South Africa and Russia have had close ties since the Cold War, which has led to its consistent abstention from many United Nations General Assembly votes, a choice that many Western states find incomprehensible.
Taking Israel to the UN court
South Africa also caused a stir during the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, accusing Israel of genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in a lawsuit filed with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. On May 24 this year, the ICJ, the United Nations' highest court, ordered an "immediate" halt to Israel's Rafah offensive, thus complying with the urgent application by South Africa.
But the country "has also been called out for inconsistency in the way that it has wholeheartedly supported the Palestinians but has refused to call Russia out for some of its desecrations of the UN Charter," said Gruzd, adding that there is "no monopoly on hypocrisy and double standards."
Despite criticism from the West, particularly the United States, South Africa pursues a pro-Palestine policy while keeping as many communication channels as possible open, he said.
Learning from a troubled past
Lwazi Somya New, policy manager of the civil society organization Southern African Liaison Office, argues that South Africa's history means it sees itself as having a uniquely moral obligation to human rights and international law.
She also criticized the lack of international recognition for what she called a "principled stance." In contrast to his predecessor Jacob Zuma, she argued that the incumbent President Ramaphosa is returning to the principles of international relations from the young democracy's early days.
After overcoming apartheid and years of international isolation, the South African government under Nelson Mandela committed itself to a foreign policy through which the country aimed to rejoin the "family of nations," Gruzd said, before adding that South Africa now plays a global role because its democratic institutions have strengthened the state.
A global force
This is particularly evident in its active involvement in the African Union, as well as the fact that it is the only African country in the G20 and a member of the BRICS group of emerging economies. That association, which now includes nine countries engaged in economic cooperation, is now demanding a greater say at the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization.
The BRICS countries even founded their own development bank in 2014, and South Africa is particularly committed to reforming financial institutions to increase their ability to handle the challenges of developing countries.
The country is also trying to represent the interests of Africa and the Global South in the Non-Aligned Movement, the BASIC climate change coalition (which includes Brazil, South Africa, India, China), the World Trade Organization and other trade and development bodies. This, according to Gruzd, shows that South Africa is committed to reforming the current structures of the international system.
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Finding a 'vacuum' in the world order
According to Sanusha Naidoo, analyst at the Institute for Global Dialogue in Pretoria, South Africa is not only concerned with economic relations and political influence in the BRICS alliance, but also with the question: "How does it try to reduce some of the transactional costs that underpin our economy?" In other words, gaining improved access to goods and services that are offered in the countries' currencies, she added.
The BRICS' New Development Bank is intended to raise loans, thereby reducing costs and the risk of heavy dollar dependence, she explained.
Not all BRICS countries share common democratic values, Naidoo admitted, but the industrialized western countries are experiencing downward trends and the state network is becoming increasingly fragile.
South Africa and its partners are looking for a "vacuum" in the prevailing world order where leverage for better cooperation can be applied, she said.
This article was originally written in German.
