Russia–South Africa relations

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Russia-South Africa relations
Map indicating locations of Russia and South Africa

Russia
South Africa
Envoy
Ambassador I I RogachevAmbassador M J Maqetuka

Russia–South Africa relations (Russian: Российско-южноафриканские отношения) are foreign relations between Russia and South Africa. Full diplomatic relations were established between both countries in 1942 as the Soviet Union. Russia has an embassy in Pretoria and a consulate-general in Cape Town. South Africa has an embassy in Moscow. Both countries are also members of BRICS.

History[edit]

Early relations[edit]

Russian soldier Lt. Col. Yevgeny Maximov (right) with Free State Gen. Kolbe (left) during the Boer War. A significant number of Russian nationals volunteered to fight with the Boers during the war.

In 1896, the Transvaal Republic established diplomatic relations with Russia. The Boer war was extensively covered by the Russian media and numerous books, articles, plays, pamphlets and poems were published about the war, usually with a pronounced pro-Boer slant. One Russian writer[which?] complained: "Wherever you go these days you hear the same story – the Boers, the Boers and only the Boers". The national anthem of the Transvaal Transvaal, Transvaal, My Country was frequently played by Russian orchestras, numerous committees were founded to collect money for the Transvaal, and church services offered up prayers for a British defeat. In countless newspaper serials and novels, the men of the kommandos were portrayed as heroes battling the arrogant British. Such was the popular enthusiasm that inns, restaurants, and cafés were given Afrikaans names and redecorated in the "Boar style" to improve business.

The British historian R.W. Johnson wrote: "Russian conservatives were pro-Boer not only for the usual nationalist, anti-British reasons but because they thought the Boers were like the best sort of Russians – conservative, rural, Christian folk resisting the invasion of their land by foreign (especially Jewish) capitalists." One Moscow newspaper[which?] in an editorial stated: "The deep historical meaning of this war is that faith, patriotism . . . the patriarchal family, primordial tribal unity, iron discipline and the complete lack of so-called modern civilisation have . . . become such an invincible force that even the seemingly invincible British have begun to tremble." However, through several hundred Russians did make their way to fight for the Transvaal, upon arriving they were often shocked by the corruption of the Transvaal government, its disorganized ways, and the casual brutality of the Afrikaners towards blacks.[1]

Apartheid era[edit]

The Soviet Union withdrew its Ambassador after the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960. After South Africa became a republic in 1961, relations were very cold. South Africa considered the Soviet Union an enemy because it financially and militarily supported communism on the African continent. During the South African Border War, the Soviets supplied and trained SWAPO and MPLA fighters. However, by the late 1980s, Russian interference in Africa minimized and relations between the two slightly warmed as the Cold War was ending.

Post-apartheid era[edit]

President Valadimir Putin (right) meets with President Jacob Zuma (left) at the 2015 BRICS summit. Russian-South African relations significantly warmed during the Putin-Zuma administrations.

Directly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, South Africa recognized the Russian Federation in December 1991 and established diplomatic relations on February 28, 1992 becoming the first African nation to do so.[2] In 1993 the two countries signed trade agreements which was followed by the signing of a military cooperation agreement in 1995.[3] The April 1999 visit to Russia by President Nelson Mandela started a period of warming relations between the two countries.[3]

During the presidency of Jacob Zuma Russian-South Africa ties warmed significantly as the Putin administration sought to move a strategic country away from the West and gain a foothold in Africa; for its part South Africa sought to distance itself from Western actions in Libya during the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.[4] South Africa joined the BRICS group of nations in 2010,[5] a key foreign policy goal of the Zuma administration,[3] with the active support of the Russian Federation.[4] This period also saw a period of closer ties with South Africa’s security apparatus as members of South Africa's State Security Agency traveled to Russia for training and the country sought to build its own satellite surveillance capabilities with Russian assistance.[5] During the Zuma administration bilateral agreements on agriculture, arts and culture, defence, education, energy, fisheries, mining, science and technology and transport were signed with Russia.[3] Through his presidency Zuma made a number of medically related trips to Russia to receive treatment for alleged incidents of poisoning.[6][7][8]

Despite a very slight cooling of relations during the administration of President Cyril Ramaphosa support for Russia remains strong amongst the political left in South Africa who support Russia's stance challenging the hegemony of the United States and what they see as a country that supports a global order based on international law and respect for the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs.[3]

Nuclear deal[edit]

As part of an effort to resolve the South African energy crisis the Russian government offered to build and operate up to eight nuclear power plants at a cost of R1 trillion (US$ 66 billion). Both the Russian government and the administration of South African president Jacob Zuma put pressure on the South African government to force through the deal by attempting to circumvent South Africa's procurement laws.[9] Then South African Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene gave testimony to the Zondo Commission that he was fired for not approving a US$100 billion version of the deal in 2015.[10] The deal was canceled by court order in April 2017.[4]

Alleged Russian electoral interference[edit]

Prior to the conclusion of the 2019 South African general election allegations that Russia was conducting an influence operation to support the reelection of the ruling African National Congress (ANC). The Daily Maverick[11] and Guardian[12] newspapers reported that Putin associate Yevgeny Prigozhin worked to undermine support for the Democratic Alliance and Economic Freedom Fighters whilst increase support for the ANC.[13] The Daily Maverick and Dossier Center report stated that Russian political analysis worked "under the auspices of Afric and the International Anti-Crisis Center"[11] to conduct an influence-buying and disinformation campaign.[11] The Russian embassy in South Africa denied the accusation and stated that the accusation does "not stand [up to] basic scrutiny."[14]

Russian invasion of Ukraine[edit]

In response to the 2014 Russia annexation of Crimea from Ukraine prior to the 2022 invasion the Zuma administration avoided criticizing Russia arguing instead that BRICS members should close ranks.[4]

The South African government was critical of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine calling on the country to "immediately withdraw its forces from Ukraine in line with the United Nations Charter."[15][16][17] In an effort to repair Russian-South African relations President Ramaphosa reportedly disciplined International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor for making the statement on behalf of the government.[18][19] Despite the invasion and resulting international diplomatic condemnation Russian-South Africa relations have reportedly remained strong[20] with South Africa being one of 35 countries to abstain from a subsequent United Nations vote demanding that Russia withdraw from Ukraine.[21]

Economic ties[edit]

South African exports to Russia are dominated by food products and capital equipment.[2]

As of 2022 South African companies have invested R77 billion (US$ 5.13 billion) in Russia.[22] This includes investments by major South African companies such as Naspers (owner of Mail.ru), AB Inbev (formally SABMiller) and Barloworld.[22] South Africa has invested a further R25 billion in the BRICS bank thereby further tying the country to Russia.[23] Russia's investments in South Africa in the same period amounted to R23 billion (US$ 1.5 billion).[24]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Johnson, R.W. (16 July 1998). "Rogue's Paradise". London Review of Books. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
  2. ^ a b "Russian Federation". www.dirco.gov.za. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  3. ^ a b c d e Sidiropoulos, Elizabeth; Alden, Chris (2019). "Russia-South Africa relations since 1992" (PDF). South African Institute of International Affairs.
  4. ^ a b c d Rumer, Andrew S. Weiss, Eugene; Rumer, Andrew S. Weiss, Eugene. "Nuclear Enrichment: Russia's Ill-Fated Influence Campaign in South Africa". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  5. ^ a b "BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) | South African Government". www.gov.za. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  6. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Seriously... - Poison – the mystery of South Africa's toxic new political conspiracy". BBC. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  7. ^ "No evidence Jacob Zuma was poisoned". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  8. ^ "I was poisoned and almost died when SA joined Brics, says Zuma". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  9. ^ Thamm, Marianne (2019-12-18). "ANALYSIS: How South Africans thwarted secret Putin/Zuma nuclear deal". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  10. ^ "South Africa's Zuma fired me for blocking Russian nuclear power deal: Nene". Reuters. 2018-10-03. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  11. ^ a b c Haffajee, Ferial (7 May 2019). "Scorpio - 2019 ELECTIONS: Exclusive: Did Putin's 'Chef' attempt to interfere in South African election?". Daily Maverick. Archived from the original on 16 May 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-19.
  12. ^ Harding, Jason Burke Luke (2019-05-08). "Documents suggest Russian plan to sway South Africa election". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 20 May 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-19.
  13. ^ "Documents show alleged Russian plot to interfere in South African elections: report". businesstech.co.za. 9 May 2019. Archived from the original on 11 May 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-19.
  14. ^ Russian Embassy in the Republic of South Africa (17 May 2019). "LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Report implicating Russia in bid to influence elections 'nothing more than clickbait'". Daily Maverick. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-19.
  15. ^ "South African Government calls for a peaceful resolution of the escalating conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine". www.dirco.gov.za. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  16. ^ Fabricius, Peter (2022-02-24). "WAR IN EUROPE: Pretoria calls on Russia to withdraw from Ukraine". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  17. ^ "SA tells Russia to withdraw from Ukraine 'immediately' | eNCA". www.enca.com. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  18. ^ Fabricius, Peter (2022-02-27). "WAR IN EUROPE: Pretoria scrambles to repair relations with Russia after calling for invasion forces to leave Ukraine". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  19. ^ Hunter, Qaanitah. "ANC, Ramaphosa double down on Ukraine fence-sitting as Pandor faces the music over Russia comments". News24. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  20. ^ Felix, Jason. "SA maintains 'cordial and friendly' relationship with Russia despite invasion of Ukraine". News24. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  21. ^ "UN General Assembly demands Russian withdrawal from Ukraine, South Africa abstains from vote". The Mail & Guardian. 2022-03-03. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  22. ^ a b "South Africa has billions locked up in Russia. These are the companies with exposure". BusinessInsider. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  23. ^ "How South Africa is tied to Russia through R25.5 billion in BRICS cash". BusinessInsider. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  24. ^ Davis, Rebecca (2022-03-07). "WAR IN EUROPE EXPLAINER: Untangling the narrative web surrounding South Africa's stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2022-03-10.

External links[edit]

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