Strategic Review for Southern Africa, Vol 41, No 2 Nov /Dec 2019 L Gqiza and O Ogunnubi Change or Consistency? A Historical Overview of South Africa's Post-apartheid Foreign Policy Lona Gqiza School of Social Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa Olusola Ogunnubi Centre for Gender and African Studies, University of the Free State, South Africa Abstract This study examines the trajectory of South Africa's post-apartheid foreign policy by establishing the extent of change or consistency in its implementation since 1994. Under the ruling African National Congress (ANC), South Africa has emerged as a promising international actor, particularly within the Southern African region and on the African continent in general. The authors provide a historical analysis of the major trajectories of foreign policy articulation under the administrations of Presidents Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma spanning the period 1994 to 2018. In investigating the conception and execution of foreign policy under these dispensations, the authors unravel a consistent but skewed pattern of national role conception that underscores Pretoria’s vision to be a major actor in international affairs, both regionally and globally. We conclude that South Africa’s foreign policy during this period was marked by Mandela’s altruism, Mbeki’s Afrocentrism and the antediluvian signature of Zuma. 1. Introduction Following the African National Congress’ (ANC) electoral triumph in 1994, the Republic of South Africa arose as a formidable regional foreign policy actor. The democratic dispensation that emerged following one of the most epic global political struggles promised to promote peace and development and be committed to human rights. Its international relations stance also seemed to usher in a new era in Africa (Marthoz 2009: 1). According to Mthembu (2017), post 1994 was the time South Africa ceased to be known as a pariah state. Expectations were high for the newly democratic country; the international community expected South Africa to play a very active role in Africa and to a certain degree, the world stage. The fact that Pretoria has the second highest number of embassies after Washington DC demonstrates South Africa’s role and interest in global politics. It suggests that post 1994 South Africa has been an active player in the international arena. The post 1994 South Africa recognised itself as a very important actor on the continent that would act as a mediator and send peacekeeping troops to conflict-ridden areas. South Africa also launched ambitious plans to develop Africa and guide the reforms leading to the 1 Strategic Review for Southern Africa, Vol 41, No 2 Nov /Dec 2019 L Gqiza and O Ogunnubi rebirth of the African Union (AU) (Marthoz 2009: 1). This focus on Africa was accompanied by a strong commitment to the Global South and the forging of associations with other developing states such as democratic Brazil and India (Marthoz 2009: 1), particularly during the Mbeki era. South Africa committed itself to the development of the Global South by being an integral part of development associations such as IBSA and BRICS. Over the past two decades, South Africa has recorded some important victories and has become one of the most critical players in the international community. However, while the ANC had shown that it can disagree with the West, for example, during the apartheid era when a number of Western countries supported the racist white government, belonging to the South does negate the fact that the country’s telecom and banking corporations and multinational mining interests have substantial links, interests, and affinity with the developed Global North (Marthoz 2009). The critical question addressed in this research is: has there been change or consistency in South Africa's post-apartheid foreign policy? It is answered by means of an examination of the foreign policy trajectories of the Mandela, Mbeki and Zuma administrations spanning the period 1994 to 2018. The findings are used to draw conclusions on the future direction of South African foreign policy. The study is a comparative study based on a qualitative paradigm. It draws on multiple sources of secondary data drawn from journals, textbooks, newspaper articles, government publications, dissertations, and verifiable internet sources. Content analysis was used to organise, integrate, and examine the data and the Realist theoretical framework is adopted to make meaning of the analysed data. 2. South Africa’s Foreign Policy: A Historical Review Scholars such as Alden and Soko (2005), Landsberg (2006), le Pere and van Nieuwkerk (2002), and Prys (2009) have analysed South Africa's foreign policy- making as well as its application in Africa and beyond. They argue that the ANC - governed state has faced challenges at both micro- and macro-policy level. Their work analyses South Africa’s foreign policy development from 1994 into the 2000s, its achievements and failures, and progress made in many areas of development. Since 1994, the South African government has prioritised African development in its foreign policy and has assumed a leadership role on the continent. However, it has confronted some challenges in implementing such policy, which the literature mainly ascribes to overlapping commitments and multiple principles. These intersecting commitments have placed South Africa in difficult positions in the past. A clear example is when South Africa failed to arrest the former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir when it was ordered to do so by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Omar al-Bashir was charged in 2009 and 2010 with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Sudan’s Darfur region. This is important because South Africa is known for its advocacy for human rights and democratic values yet it failed to arrest and handover al- Bashir to the ICC. South Africa was part of the International Criminal Court and was advocating for the African Agenda. So this placement left South Africa in a peculiar position. Commentators believe South Africa chose Africa over the West as it disregarded the calls made by the ICC. There is general agreement that South Africa’s robust foreign 2 Strategic Review for Southern Africa, Vol 41, No 2 Nov /Dec 2019 L Gqiza and O Ogunnubi policy has been assisted by its relatively strong economy and substantial military power in Africa. However, while some scholars believe that the country is an African hegemon, others argue that it should be seen as a continental leader that is interested in the region’s development. It, therefore, eschews any hegemonic label, especially given that it does not hold preponderant material resources in the region. Thus, much remains to be done in order for South Africa to be identified as a powerful state at the global level. The primary advantage that the democratic government elected in 1994 had over its apartheid predecessors was support from the international community. This called for changes in all sectors of the country’s polity. The first democratic president, Nelson Mandela declared on the eve of the 1994 Presidential elections that human rights and democratic values and norms would guide the country’s foreign policy (Mandela 1993: 87). According to Alden and le Pere (2003: 12), "by incorporating experiences of the anti- apartheid struggle into the conduct of foreign policy, the ANC leader sought to imbue the practice of international affairs with an orientation towards the promotion of civil liberties and democratisation". After 1994, South African policymakers confronted the challenge of rendering the country functional following the devastation wrought by decades of isolation from the international system as a result of apartheid policies. The country’s foreign policy has come a long way since the apartheid era when the white minority used brutality to get its way. Mandela announced that ethical foreign policy would be adopted in order to establish the country as a model global citizen and to replace a racist, unjust, and authoritarian government with a non-racial, just, prosperous and democratic nation (Marthoz 2012: 2). From the Mandela administration to Zuma’s time in office, South Africa confronted massive challenges. It had to formulate its foreign policy from scratch, forge relations with states that shunned the apartheid government and join international organisations that the country was previously barred from. Furthermore, its foreign affairs bureaucracy had to be shifted from its previous focus on defending white supremacy (Ogunnubi 2014). Importantly, it also focused on redefining its foreign relations with states that had been complicit in apartheid South Africa's rogue policies. Finally, it had to redirect international economic relations that were affected by the United Nations (UN) sanctions (Marthoz 2012: 2). In 1945, South Africa was one of the 51 founding members of the UN. Membership now stands at more than 200. South Africa was readmitted to the UN in 1994. Since then, it has pursued a foreign policy that is based on the centrality of the UN in the multilateral system (Rodriguez 2013). Twelve years after South Africa was re-admitted to the UN, it was endorsed by the AU and elected by an overwhelming majority to serve as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the periods 2007-2008, 2011-2012 and more recently 2019-2020. It has used this platform to promote an African Agenda of peace, security, and development. South Africa has thus fully reintegrated itself into the international arena as a respectable member of the comity of nations and has played an active role in seeking to forge a new international order, especially with regard to Africa, as well as the Global South where it has partnered with other key players to launch an alternative international economic order (Marthoz 2012). The country has also 3 Strategic Review for Southern Africa, Vol 41, No 2 Nov /Dec 2019 L Gqiza and O Ogunnubi hosted international events such as the 2001 World Conference against Racism in Durban, the Rugby and Cricket World Cups, the FIFA Soccer World Cup in 2010 and the COP17 Climate Change Summit in 2011.