Des Erasmus
DIRCO has slapped down US Ambassador Brent Bozell after he accused South Africa of courting America’s adversaries, saying Pretoria’s non-aligned foreign policy must not be mistaken for neutrality or weakness.
“While the South African Government does not engage in public disputes with resident envoys, these remarks necessitate a clear reaffirmation of our guiding principles,” the international relations ministry said on Thursday.
“As a sovereign nation, South Africa pursues an independent foreign policy firmly anchored in the principle of non-alignment. Non-alignment must not be conflated with neutrality, we refuse to be drawn into geopolitical contestations or be pressured to take sides; instead, we prioritise inclusive dialogue, global peace, and our own national interests.”
The statement followed posts by Bozell on X in which he criticised South Africa for hosting Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Dr Saeed Khatibzadeh, while Deputy President Paul Mashatile was in Beijing for a working visit.
Bozell had posted: “The Government of South Africa rolls out the red carpet for Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, while Deputy President Mashatile is in Beijing deepening ties with China. Pretoria calls this ‘non-alignment.’ We call it what it is: a choice.”
In a separate post, he said: “Deputy President Mashatile in Beijing. Iran’s Deputy FM in Pretoria. Same week. South Africa can’t claim the mantle of non-alignment while actively courting America’s adversaries. These are choices, and they speak for themselves.”
Pretoria said it retained the right to maintain relations across the world.
“[W]e reserve the right to cultivate bilateral relations across the global spectrum. We note the inherent contradiction in being publicly scrutinised for engaging Iran and China, the very same states with which the United States itself continues to actively interact.”
It added that South Africa remained committed to engaging Washington through diplomatic channels and expected diplomatic protocols to be upheld.
On Tuesday, deputy DIRCO minister Thandi Moraka received Khatibzadeh for a bilateral meeting in Pretoria.
The visit came less than a week after South Africa welcomed a memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran aimed at ending the months-long conflict between the US and Iran, which has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and raised fears of a regional war.
Lamola said at the time the agreement “hopefully ends the unlawful use of force and violations of the UN Charter in this war”.
DIRCO said Khatibzadeh briefed Moraka on the latest developments regarding implementation of the MoU, while Moraka said South Africa stood ready to support efforts to ensure that momentum towards peace was not lost.
Both deputy ministers also welcomed the “conducive climate” created by the opening of the Strait, saying African countries had been adversely affected by its closure and that its reopening was important for the continent’s energy and food security.
Bozell was formally demarched by DIRCO earlier this year after his first major public intervention as US ambassador, in which he criticised successive courts’ finding that the “Kill the Boer” chant did not amount to hate speech.
Speaking at a BizNews conference in Hermanus in March, Bozell said Washington had been waiting for Pretoria to act on a set of demands that included “condemning rhetoric that incites hatred or glorifies violence”.
“We may not get clarity on the ‘Kill the Boer’ chant that we believe is hate speech. I am sorry, I don’t care what your courts say, it’s hate speech,” he said.
Lamola said at the time Bozell had been called in to explain his “undiplomatic remarks”, which Pretoria viewed as undermining South Africa’s judiciary, history and sovereignty.
Bozell later said on X that while his personal view remained that “Kill the Boer” constituted hate speech, the US government respected the independence and findings of South Africa’s judiciary.
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