Trade is vital and welcome, but it cannot trump what we value

The US president’s response to the signing of our Expropriation Act – which, it bears mentioning, is aligned with our Constitution – and our heroic International Court of Justice case against Israel’s brutal killing of Palestinians in Gaza has brought a spotlight to a topic that has long been contentious but inconclusively debated in South Africa: foreign affairs.

Most people will probably point to former president Thabo Mbeki’s legacy as the first person to have brought the significance of foreign affairs and international relations with countries both in Africa and elsewhere in the world into popular discussion.

What Mbeki appreciated was that it was important that South Africa’s blueprint of promoting human rights and democracy be the foundation of our international relations policies. In a 1995 foreign policy development document, Mbeki, then deputy president, asserted as much. “The advancement of human rights and the promotion of democracy are pillars on which South Africa’s foreign policy rests,” he said.

“Development assistance is, in many cases, linked to democratisation programmes, the observance of human rights and the exercise of good government. South Africa’s own recent experience in this field makes it an example many refer to as a model. Many governments expect South Africa’s adherence to these principles and values to be an example to other countries in Africa and elsewhere, inspiring them to democratise and to improve their human rights record.”

Nowhere does it stipulate that good foreign relations rest on a country yielding to the dictates of another country for fear of economic or trade sanctions. That is because doing so would plunge us back into the unsavoury annals of colonialism.

We need to be clear on the function of international relations. There have been suggestions that, at its core, it is about economic and trade relations, but I would argue that this is reductionistic and unsustainable. I say this because countries need more than just trade relations to exist, because one cannot prize money above the pursuit of peace, justice and stability.

In Africa, the African Union seeks to achieve greater unity, cohesion and solidarity among all the countries and nations on the continent. It aims to defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of its member states and accelerate political and social-economic integration.

Other than maintaining global stability, the world’s highest international relations body, the United Nations, has as its primary tenets helping nations work together to improve the lives of poor people, conquer hunger, disease and illiteracy, and encourage respect for each other’s rights and freedoms.

The World Trade Organization, which defines the global rules of trade, says its main goal is to “improve the welfare of people around the world by ensuring that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible”. I can’t imagine there is anything “free” about assailing a country’s sovereignty.

I am not so naive as to believe economic cooperation is not important. However, I also am not so cynical as to believe that it trumps countries’ autonomy. In short, no, it is not acceptable to betray our country’s values for “insert dollar amount here”. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.