The Congress of South African Trade Unions notes with extreme dismay the United States (US) Embassy’s strange media festival that is clearly intended to ridicule and undermine South Africa’s hard-won constitutional sovereignty. Whilst the sober majority of South Africans will simply blue tick these as juvenile antics best ignored, they cross all norms of internationally acceptable behaviour for a diplomatic mission.
We appreciate South Africa’s constitutionally enshrined rights to freedom of speech and the media are internationally acclaimed as attested by our ranking at number 27 in Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, as compared to the US’ alarming rank of 64. However, these should not be abused by any diplomatic mission, more so to spread blatantly false information about South Africa. It is ironic that the US State Department did not hesitate to expel South Africa’s former Ambassador to the US for a single online comment yet sees no wrong in their Ambassador running a media campaign against his host government.
The litany of complaints by the US Ambassador makes little sense and bears less relation to reality. The Ambassador complains that South Africa has not responded to the US’ Five Asks, then states that government’s response is wholly inadequate or a complete rejection of US demands, then meanders off to say that two of the Asks have been resolved, two are close to being concluded and one is a just a weird obsession with a song that the African National Congress led Alliance and most South Africans stopped singing in 1994 with the advent of democracy.
South Africa is a sovereign member of the international community and a constitutional democracy, not some vassal state or an unruly bunch of natives who should be told what is good for them. The not-so-subtle threats to South Africa of further consequences must end. Bullying has not worked with Canada or Greenland amongst others; it will not work with South Africa.
The US Embassy should embrace internationally acceptable diplomatic norms and engage with the South African government on how bilateral relations can be reset. Matters of legislation, policies and budgets are the sole domain of the South African people and exercised through their democratically elected government. Tweeting inanities may be entertaining but does nothing to enhance relations.
Whilst the US Embassy is free to meet whomever it pleases. It would do well to grasp that associating with extreme fringe and Whites only groupings who seemingly miss the dark days of apartheid, does immeasurable damage to the standing of the US in the eyes of ordinary South Africans who carry the scars of apartheid’s very real horrors.
We encourage the US Embassy to embrace South Africa in all its diversity, visit a police station in a Black or Coloured township if they are keen to understand our unacceptably high levels of crime or meet the Black, Coloured and White workers at Premier Group’s canning factories and neighbouring farms in Tulbagh who are on the verge of losing their jobs due to the punitive tariffs imposed upon South African exports to the US.
COSATU appreciates that the Embassy’s antics do not reflect the values of ordinary Americans, in particular students, workers and churches, who stood with the liberation struggle against apartheid. We are heartened that despite these attempts to humiliate South Africa; American investors, tourists and even immigrants are voting with their feet and coming to enjoy South Africa, with all our challenges.
The Federation commends the mature and strategic patience exercised by President Cyril Ramaphosa and the South African government. We stand with government as it navigates these complex times.
Issued by COSATU
Matthew Parks (COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator)
Mobile: 082 785 0687
Email: matthew@cosatu.org.za