by LUKE ZUNGA
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – THE American President, Joseph Biden, spurned South Africa, the biggest economy on the continent, on his 2-day visit to Angola on the African Atlantic coast.
The US president completed his mission with a multilateral summit of Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia and Tanzania at Lobito Bay in Benguela province.
The Lobito corridor hosts an American funded US$550 million railway line from Lobito to Kolwezi in the DRC.
The American funded railway line will take a loop from Kolwezi in the Katanga province to connect with the Chinese built Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) railway line. It is welcome to see cooperation between the US and China on a project, rather than rivalry seen in the South China Sea.
But the US needs South Africa and South Africa needs the US.
The gait of President Biden was tame. He was not exuberant and perhaps felt the guilt of ignoring South Africa, the current chair of the G20 and a huge country with a wider coastal front which poses more risk to US interests for its leaning towards Russia and Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS+).
The BRICS + countries also include Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The BRICS complex will control the Indian Ocean, and parts of the Atlantic coastline, drawing new lines of power. The countries which have menacing control of the Indian Ocean are South Africa, India and Saudi Arabia with Iran in the Persian Gulf.
If there is World War 111, the Suez Canal could be paralyzed, and the South African coast could be an only alternative. The US could be playing into the hands of the African giant.
While the political South Africa is smarting herself from the snub, the business environment is more concerned.
Business wants South Africa to be closer to the United States to attract more foreign investments to grow the stubbornly sluggish economy. Business confidence and environment would be boosted by a leaning towards the US, such as to facilitate African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and other benefits.
Both countries are not comfortable. South Africa might prefer engaging the new president elect, Donald Trump, rather than an outgoing Biden.
Biden’s policies are the centre of controversy, such as the war in Ukraine and the butchering of Palestinians by Israel using American weapons amid shrouded defence arrangements.
Biden caused the fall of Kamala Harris’ electoral bid. For South Africa to succeed it needs a stronger foreign diplomatic front. The current South African foreign minister, Ronald Ramola, is seen as leftist Limpo Pin, militant and immature, who championed the International Court of Justice (ICJ) case against Israel for which he seemed to have been rewarded.
A more mature diplomat is required and there are many in South Africa who can play that role.
There are others who decry the American approach of seeking bootlickers. South Africa is not that country and must be free to seek its own friends.
The United States supported the South African apartheid government, and had it not been for a crop of activists such as Jesse Jackson, the US was on the side of the oppressive white regime, much as it is with Israel.
Russia, on the other hand, supported the fight for freedom, provided military training and the AK rifles used were supplied by Russia. South Africa cannot be expected to distance herself from Russia. There is so much at stake on both sides, that is still to be vigorously engaged.
The book, ‘What Economists Are Missing – keeping you poorer’https://books2read.com/u/b5KwoG argues that countries must raise capital using technology, and not wait for foreign investors.
The mobile phone can raise billions to seed millions of citizens into high levels of manufacturing. There are many ways of raising capital.
The proposal for South Africa was delivered to various government departments from 2018 but the technocrat as usual ignored, forcing South Africa to rely on foreign investors.
Until South Africa raises its own capital, as suggested in the proposals, the US is vital as a source of capital and moral booster for foreign investors.
NB: The views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author, Luke Zunga, and not those of CAJ News Africa.
– CAJ News