South Africa, the 29th AU summit dilemma
New rules adopted by the AU compelling countries to be represented at the bi-annual summits by either the head of state, prime minister or deputy president complicate things for South Africa. Some may sympathise with a more inwardlooking South Africa at a time of internal strife within the ruling party, but a no-show could be damaging for its image.
THE 29th African Union (AU) summit that takes place in Addis Ababa from 27 June to 4 July is likely to be the first in many years without a South African president in attendance.
If President Jacob Zuma doesn’t turn up for the heads of state meeting on 3 and 4 July, it will be because of timing; the summit coincides with the crucial African National Congress (ANC) policy conference from 30 June to 5 July — an event the embattled Zuma can’t afford to miss.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa is also unlikely to attend the AU summit in Zuma’s place — as one of the frontrunners to replace Zuma as ANC leader in December, the policy conference is equally important for him.
New rules adopted by the AU compelling countries to be represented at the bi-annual summits by either the head of state, prime minister or deputy president complicate things for South Africa. Some may sympathise with a more inward-looking South Africa at a time of internal strife within the ruling party, but a no-show could be damaging for its image.
Since former AU Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma stepped down earlier this year without contesting a second mandate, South Africa has shied away from occupying other important posts in the organisation.
On a global scale, Zuma has been largely absent in talks concerning Africa’s relations with the rest of the world. Many of the current initiatives to take the AU forward are driven by leaders like Rwandan President Paul Kagame and AU Chairperson President Alpha Condé of Guinea.
Then again, is there anything for South Africa to gain in an institution like the AU that seems to move away from South Africa’s ideals like, for example, fighting for the independence of the Western Sahara? Also, most of the issues and conflicts the AU is dealing with are fairly far removed from South Africa. Focus is increasingly on the Sahel region, South Sudan, Somalia, as well as trying to stabilise Libya.
The latest ANC policy document on foreign policy, to be discussed at the party’s upcoming conference, emphasises the continued need for African unity.
It does this despite lamenting the ‘realignment’ of forces in the AU and seeing the inclusion of Morocco in the organisation as a symptom of internal divisions and foreign intervention on the continent.
ANC insiders on foreign policy also say the party still believes in continental integration — especially in the ‘unpredictable and uncertain world’ that its policy document speaks of. In this, the ANC and South Africa are in line with continental thinking.
When it comes to the AU, both the Department of International Relations and Cooperation and the ANC believe that the tenure of Dlamini Zuma helped focus and professionalise the AU.
And according to one policy maker, where South Africa in the past assisted the AU with the construction of the African Peace and Security Architecture, it is now focusing on the African Governance Architecture.
As chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) for one year, starting in August, South Africa will have the opportunity to show this commitment to African integration.
At a round-table discussion in Pretoria last week on South Africa’s role in SADC, University of the Witwatersrand academic Anthoni Van Nieuwkerk said South Africa believed its commitment to SADC served the national interest — even if this remained a vague notion, often linked to elite interests of former liberation movements across Southern Africa.