Zane Dangor, Director General of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation. (Photo: PHILL MAGAKOE / AFP)
South Africa has no reason to sever its ties with Iran, drop its genocide case against Israel or scrap black empowerment laws.
Zane Dangor, director general of international relations and cooperation, said in an interview with Reuters this weekend, however, that this does not mean that South Africa is not “uncritical” towards Iran.
Dangor’s remarks about Iran come after Brent Bozell, America’s ambassador to South Africa, said in an interview with News24 earlier this month that South Africa could improve its strained diplomatic ties with the US if it reconsidered its relationship with Iran.
However, Dangor said that South Africa cannot be drawn into “the kind of sphere of influence politics into which great powers want to draw us”.
Bozell reminded earlier this month that pres. Donald Trump’s administration has made five demands to the South African government. The five requirements relate to the Expropriation Act, black economic empowerment (SEB), hate speech in relation to the song “Kill the Boer”, farm murder and a review of South Africa’s foreign policy.
Dangor said in the Reuters interview that South Africa is keen to improve ties with Washington, but “let’s talk about areas we agree on”.
“We are not going to allow the domestic issues they put on the table to become part of it,” Dangor said, however.
Shortly after his remarks, Bozell was summoned by the South African government to explain what were described as “undiplomatic comments” about the country’s policies and courts.
The Department of International Relations said that while South Africa values active public diplomacy and ties with the US, this must still be done within the framework of established diplomatic etiquette and international protocol.
Ronald Lamola, minister of international relations and cooperation, further rejected Bozell’s criticism of black economic empowerment (SEB).
“We emphasize that BEE is not, as the ambassador claimed, reverse racism. It is a fundamental part of the reconstruction of South Africa’s complex history.”
According to Lamola, the US cannot dictate to South Africa how to handle its internal affairs.
“If we can’t tell President Donald Trump how to apply policy in the US, he can’t dictate to us how to deal with our domestic issues of sovereignty either.”