SA at odds with Obama
Jan. 22nd, 2009 10:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mahnmutSouth Africa was on a collision course with the new president of the United States, Barack Obama, because of his more enlightened approach to addressing human rights, DA foreign affairs spokesperson Tony Leon said on Wednesday. Leon told the 100 Club in Cape Town that Obama, inaugurated on Tuesday, offered the opportunity for America and the world to look for rights-based and multilateral solutions to the globe's many crises.
"South Africa, by rights and by inclination, should be a willing and vigorous partner in the plan to reinvigorate a more just world order," he said. Instead, SA's recent votes and voice in international councils and forums, such as the United Nations, had "put us in the company of the rights-delinquent nations and authoritarian regimes of the world".
"Earlier in January it was revealed, for example, that South Africa refused to support a declaration by the United Nations General Assembly calling for the decriminalisation of homosexuality," said Leon. "What we practise at home, in our constitution and via progressive legislation we contradict abroad for fear of offending some of the most retrogressive authoritarian countries in the world.
"Shortly before Christmas, South Africa's foreign policy was again in the news in Washington - and again for all the wrong reasons.
"Under the headline 'South Africa's Crime' the highly influential Washington Post decried our government's enablement of Robert Mugabe's 'destruction of neighbouring Zimbabwe, at the cost of thousands of lives'."
"South Africa, by rights and by inclination, should be a willing and vigorous partner in the plan to reinvigorate a more just world order," he said. Instead, SA's recent votes and voice in international councils and forums, such as the United Nations, had "put us in the company of the rights-delinquent nations and authoritarian regimes of the world".
"Earlier in January it was revealed, for example, that South Africa refused to support a declaration by the United Nations General Assembly calling for the decriminalisation of homosexuality," said Leon. "What we practise at home, in our constitution and via progressive legislation we contradict abroad for fear of offending some of the most retrogressive authoritarian countries in the world.
"Shortly before Christmas, South Africa's foreign policy was again in the news in Washington - and again for all the wrong reasons.
"Under the headline 'South Africa's Crime' the highly influential Washington Post decried our government's enablement of Robert Mugabe's 'destruction of neighbouring Zimbabwe, at the cost of thousands of lives'."
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Date: 2009-03-13 06:36 pm (UTC)The reason why the SA government is supporting monsters like Mugabe is that our leaders have a long history of friendship with him in the past, and it used to be a good partnership at the times of the struggle against white domination and colonialism. But today, Mugabe has really become a monster, and instead of denouncing him, Mbeki & Co. have kept supporting him for two reasons: 1) out of sentimental reasons for their friendship in the past and 2) because of the omnipresent cronyism in African politics, where all leaders are like close cousins and they support each other no matter what monstrosities some of them are doing.
As to the future, I think SA will be forced to depart from this policy of silent conformism with Mugabe and some other idiots who rule throughout our continent. Because the interest of having the strong powers on their side will prevail over the irrational brotherly feelings. I think, or should I say, I hope, Mugabe's chair is shaking big time now...
And thanks for commenting. Where have you been?