ActionSA condemns the ANC government’s disgraceful stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine

3 March 2022  

ActionSA condemns yesterday’s abstention by South Africa in a vote on a United Nations General Assembly resolution denouncing the Russian invasion of Ukraine and calling for their immediate withdrawal.

South Africa joined a list of just 39 nations that opposed or abstained in the vote, compared to an overwhelming majority of 141 nations that voted in support of it. This is a disgrace.

The unjustified Russian invasion of Ukraine is a clear violation of the international legal principle of territorial sovereignty and will result in the suffering of millions of innocent people on all sides of the conflict.

The refusal to denounce this war places South Africa on the wrong side of history together with a list of countries known for their human rights violations and disdain for democratic and free-market principles, including China, Cuba, and North Korea.

ActionSA was founded on respect for democracy, human rights, and the Rule of Law, both domestic and international. These values are entrenched in the South African Constitution and should underpin all our foreign policy consideration.

Indeed, in 1993 Nelson Mandela committed to a post-apartheid foreign policy based on “our belief that human rights should be the core concern of international relations” and “considerations of justice and respect for international law.”

South Africa’s refusal to denounce the Russian invasion of Ukraine is just the latest example of how foreign policy under the ANC government has departed from these principles.

Since the presidency of Thabo Mbeki and his quiet diplomacy on Zimbabwe, we have seen our government drift further and further away from the principles embedded in our Constitution. Today, South African foreign policy appears to be based on political expediency and the ANC’s allegiance to its communist allies.

Time is running out for South Africa under the ANC, a party that has repeatedly demonstrated its rejection of the values and principles on which our democracy is built.

ActionSA urges all South Africans who love our country, but hate what is being done to it, to stand against the ANC and join the law-abiding and peace-loving citizens of the world in condemning the actions by the Russian government.

Issued by Herman Mashaba, President, ActionSA, 3 March 2022