The recent debates in our country sparked by the unsuccessful tariff negotiations with the US were ultimately about what really lies in the 'national interest'. But this is undefined. And the diversity of our society, and thus our politics, makes it unlikely that we will ever be able to agree on what the 'national interest' really is.
The recent debates in our country sparked by the unsuccessful tariff negotiations with the US were ultimately about what really lies in the 'national interest'. But this is undefined. And the diversity of our society, and thus our politics, makes it unlikely that we will ever be able to agree on what the 'national interest' really is.
Last week, speaking at the Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation Winter Dialogue, the President's curiously untravelled envoy to North America, Mcebisi Jonas, gave an important presentation.
Among his many points, about how the world is literally changing around us no matter what happens in Washington, was that we need to determine what is in our "national interest".
As he put it: "For South Africa, an effective response to the global crisis requires us to be clear-eyed about our own national interest."
He is, of course, entirely correct. And it could be argued that one of the problems we have had in attempting to negotiate with the Trump administration is that we have not been entirely clear about what this is (of course, the fact we have ended up with a 30% tariff from the US suggests there was never going to be room for negotiation)....
