SA's foreign policy at a crossroads

This does not require abandoning old allies but it does require recognising that the world has moved on from the ideological certainties of the past

- Lungisani Mngadi

Adapt or die: South Africa, represented here by President Cyril Ramaphosa, addressing the BRICS Business Forum, has to strike a balance between idealogy and economics.

(Photo: GCIS)

South Africa's post-1994 foreign policy has long been both distinctive and contentious.

Shaped by the African National Congress's (ANC) liberation history, it has consistently emphasised solidarity with states and movements that supported the anti-apartheid struggle during the Cold War.

This historical orientation explains South Africa's enduring relationships with countries such as Cuba, Iran and Venezuela. South Africa has also established strong diplomatic alignment with the Palestinian cause.

For decades, this posture coexisted often uneasily with South Africa's deep economic integration into a Western-led global system dominated by the United States and its allies. The arrangement held because geopolitical tensions rarely translated into direct economic consequences.

Today, however, that equilibrium is increasingly strained. South Africa's foreign policy appears to be approaching a crossroads where historical loyalties, contemporary geopolitics and economic realities can no longer be neatly separated.

The ANC's liberation experience remains central to how South Africa interprets international politics.

During the Cold War the movement found material and political support largely from the Soviet bloc and from states positioned outside the Western alliance system.

These relationships were not merely tactical; they shaped a worldview rooted in anti-imperialism, nonalignment and solidarity among the Global South.

After 1994, this worldview translated into a foreign policy that often prioritised moral positioning and historical consistency over strategic alignment with dominant global powers.