The presidency’s limp-wristed reaction to Vladimir Putin’s brutal war against Ukraine has left a contemptible stain on the founding moral principles our constitution and foreign policy so proudly proclaim. Like apartheid and Nazism, what is happening in Ukraine is a crime against humanity, abhorred and condemned by most of the world, including the AU.
Sadly, the government’s stance has put SA in the same category as those who failed to condemn Nazism and apartheid. Like the apartheid regime, Putin’s Russia will henceforth be vilified and isolated as “the skunk of the world”. Given its own tragic experience, SA should be a torch-bearer against the horrible war crimes now being committed under Putinism.
Yet, the government has chosen to sup with the devil, as it were. Worst of all, it has rendered itself vulnerable against the comprehensive global sanctions imposed against Russia and its cohorts. This foreign policy faux pas is hard to understand and will no doubt have severe consequences, particularly for our future economic relations with the West.
Gerrit Olivier
Former SA ambassador to Russia
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