The foreign policies of the ANC and the DA, as the main parties in the government of national unity, appear to be converging as they attempt to preserve the delicate coalition. While they seem to be going in the same direction in dealing with China and Russia on trade matters, there are some unresolved matters in their approaches towards the raging conflicts in Israel and Ukraine. The DA has yet to clarify its stance on the Middle East and Ukraine, as it loosens up on its dogmatic pro-West foreign policy approach and tries to familiarise itself with old, non-Western ANC allies.
ALSO READ: ‘ANC-DA relationship in Gauteng is mission impossible’ DA takes pragmatic approach However, DA leader John Steenhuisen indicated that the party would not follow a rigid ideological foreign policy outlook. Instead it would take a pragmatic approach that put the country’s interests first. While some expected the DA to be antagonistic towards China as it is a socialist country and to Russia as an old enemy of the West, Steenhuisen was optimistic about the two countries.
He commended China as a significant trading partner with a huge market that South Africa should exploit for its goods. The DA would act like India and decide what was in the country’s interests and act accordingly in dealing with foreign policy. Steenhuisen believed the country should leverage on opportunities available in the southsouth and north-south relationships and exploit both, instead of focusing on one side.
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