South Africa’s Foreign Policy at a Crossroads

South Africa's legacy is being tarnished by a foreign policy driven more by symbolism than strategy.

Written By: Phenyo Matabane

The winds of geopolitical friction are no longer distant gales—they blow with full force through Pretoria, Jerusalem, and Washington. The foreign policy stance that South Africa took in recent months, not forgetting its overt hostility towards Israel and a growing diplomatic chill with the United States, has brought forth an uncomfortable truth where principle is being replaced by political theatre.

As we witness the United States Congress deliberating a bipartisan bill that brings to pose sanctions on certain South African Politicians—mostly those aligned with the revolutionary African National Congress (ANC)—a question here: is this a necessary correction in global accountability or a mere diplomatic retaliation?

To answer this, we must start with the main question that many citizens of this rainbow nation are too weary—or too afraid to ask: what does our country gain from its unflinching alignment with militant movements and regimes that thrive on destabilization?

South Africa’s Legal Misfire on Israel

In January 2024, a so-called bold move by the far left—South Africa filed a case at the International Court of Justice against Israel, with genocide in Gaza. The symbolic weight on this step can never be exaggerated, nor can its legal fragility. Israel has not been found guilty by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), while the court still issues provisional measures. Yet the ANC government has been twirling this legal enigma as moral vindication.

South Africa’s moral positioning rings hollow. It is not consistent or universally applied. Where was this passionate pursuit of justice when Iranian rockets fell on Israeli civilians, or Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad bombed his people with chemical weapons? Not a single resolution. Not a single statement. Not even diplomatic indignation. This is not morality; this looks like a selective outrage.

One cannot claim that they are morally principled if that morality applies only when politically convenient. This geopolitical opportunism in issues of the Middle East should be rejected by South Africans—it is not justice.

The Gaza Trap and the Weaponization of Civilian Suffering

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is indeed staggering. More than a million displaced, and hospitals are even on the brink of collapse. Scarcity of food and water has found itself as a settler within the population. But the cause of this suffering must be named: Hamas, not Israel.

Let us be clear—Gaza was not occupied when Hamas took power. Israel unilaterally withdrew from the strip in 2005, dismantling settlements and evacuating its troops. Gaza was turned into a fortress of terror, with executions of rivals taking place on the streets, within two years, when Hamas launched a civil war against Fatah.

Fatah is a Palestinian nationalist and a social democratic political party, which was founded in 1957. Among its founders is the well-known Palestinian activist Yasser Arafat. It was formerly called the Palestinian Liberation Movement, which is now, with a huge stake is part of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization.

The concurrent humanitarian suffering must be addressed urgently, but blaming Israel alone is intellectually dishonest. Aid from donors is often stolen by Hamas, and much of the infrastructure built by international agencies is repurposed for military use. At the same time, citizens within the Gaza Strip are used as human shields.

The Israeli Defence Force (IDF), in 2024, discovered yet another UNRWA-built structure above a massive weapon cache. The UNRWA stands for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, which covers Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank.

So where is the ANC’s outcry when humanitarian aid is diverted by terrorists? Where is the outrage when civilians of Gaza are used as human shields? It is about time we stop moralising conflict with slogans and start understanding its dissonance.

The U.S. Bill: Sanctions or Sovereignty?

As we look at the proposed” U.S.-South Africa Bilateral Bill Review Act of 2024”, which is currently moving through the U.S. Congress. It seeks to reset bilateral relations and impose targeted sanctions on South African officials who are found to be implicated in undermining U.S. national interest and Israel’s security. This has drawn outrage from Luthuli House, with the ANC decrying U.S. “bullying Tactics”. But this is more complex than it seems.

The chairman of the committee where the bill passed has mentioned that it is not an assault on South Africa’s sovereignty, but it is a recalibration of strategic trust. When a U.S. partner openly endorses actors that are designated as terrorist organisations, consequences become inevitable. It is imperative to make clear that sanctions must not be wielded recklessly. South Africa remains a crucial strategic and economic player on the African continent.

Punitory measures must not be generalised but must be targeted; not vindictive but constructive. Amid all of this, the ANC must realise that global diplomacy is not a theatre of slogans. It is built on strategic alignment, reliability, and consistency. If one repeatedly sides with pariahs, their former allies inevitably begin to question the value of their handshake.

The Mirror of Silence: A Tale of Two Standards

South Africa’s moral legitimacy on the global stage is being compromised as the country has applied completely different standards to the Middle East’s democracies and dictatorships.

It is a crossroads phenomenon for the ANC government to navigate its policy on this, due to its history from the apartheid and the support groups which backed its revolution into the modern-day rainbow nation democracy. However, that does not mean Pretoria should be hypocritical in its stance. It must now choose between ideological entrenchment and diplomatic agility.

Israel is criticized for defending itself. Syria is ignored for butchering its people. Hamas is glorified as a resistance force, while Israel is accused of settler colonialism. This double standard is dangerous, and it emboldens tyrants while it continues to reward terrorism.

If South Africa wants a credible voice for justice, it must:

1. Condemn all forms of terrorism—including those committed by Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran-backed militias in Syria.

2. Hold Assad accountable for crimes against humanity, including chemical weapons use.

3. Acknowledge Israel’s right to exist and defend itself, even while pushing for restraint and accountability.

4. Re-centre diplomacy around fact-based neutrality, not ideological nostalgia.

South Africa once stood tall on the world stage—calling for sanctions against apartheid, leading peace missions, and promoting reconciliation. That legacy is being tarnished by a foreign policy driven more by symbolism than strategy. Marked by anti-Western rhetoric, cozying up to sanctioned regimes, and abandoning multilateral neutrality, we may find ourselves isolated from trade privileges, military partnerships, and global innovation flows. The ANC’s foreign policy finds itself cloaked in liberation nostalgia, stuck in Cold War alliances.

Conclusion: The Blind Spots

Silence can be defined as complicity. As Israel is vilified for waging a war it did not start, Syria is welcomed back into diplomatic circles while it committed some of our 21st-century worst atrocities. We need to ask ourselves the following questions: Is our outrage consistent? Are our alliances principled? Or are we trapped in a politics of performance—where real suffering becomes a pawn in a larger ideological chessboard?

We must decide as a country if we want to be a megaphone for selective memory or a force for global justice. Israel is not perfect. No state is. But it is a people under siege in a volatile region, trying—however imperfectly— to balance security with democracy. Looking at its recent strikes on the 15^th of July, where it hit the Ministry of Defence and the Syrian army headquarters in Damascus as a strategy to drive demilitarization near its border. It is time South Africa acknowledged this complexity.

Our foreign policy must shift from liberation nostalgia to pragmatic realism. It must defend human rights in Palestine and acknowledge Israel’s right to security. It must challenge U.S. hypocrisy and recognise strategic interdependence. Hold firm to sovereignty and honour global norms.

The U.S. sanctions bill is a warning, a warning that our global credibility is waning. The ANC must decide to either lead the country into principled leadership on a global stage or rhetorical isolation. As history watches, so does the market.

Phenyo Matabane is a consultant and economics master’s candidate, passionate about Africa’s development. He has served in student governance at the University of Pretoria and continues to support community-based projects in townships for the youth.