Foreign policy change unlikely
2007-12-21 18:03
Polokwane - South Africa's foreign policy is unlikely to change much if Jacob Zuma becomes the nation's president, and it may take more of a back seat to burning domestic issues, such as poverty and unemployment.
Zuma, elected leader of the ANC on Tuesday, rarely strayed into foreign relations and has been vague about what policies he would pursue in the area.
As a result, Zuma may not be well known to many outside
South Africa, unlike Mbeki, who is a familiar face on the
international stage and viewed by some as a broker for rich
industrialised nations and the developing world.
Now the frontrunner to succeed Mbeki, who must step down as state president in 2009, Zuma will be watched closely by foreign
investors nervous over his leftwing backing. He has met investors at home and abroad to try to ease their concerns,
In a speech to the ANC conference that elected him, he vowed
continuity in policies that have stoked the longest period of
growth in the country's history.
"There is no reason for uncertainty or fear in any quarter,"
Zuma said.
Quiet diplomacy
Zuma suggested he would fall in line with the foreign
policies Mbeki's government has pursued for eight years,
particularly with regard to neighbouring Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has been accused of human rights abuses and an economic crisis has led millions of its
people to flee, mostly to South Africa. The economic meltdown
has prompted international calls for Mugabe to step down after
27 years in power.
Zuma may have dashed hopes that his administration would be tougher toward Mugabe, who is seen as a liberation hero in some African countries. He said Mbeki's "quiet diplomacy" on Zimbabwe was working and would continue.
"It's not going to be useful to us to stand on the rooftops
and criticise Zimbabwe," Zuma said, in a clear jab at Britain
and the United States, Mugabe's most vocal critics.
At home, Zuma will be under pressure to tackle poverty.
Zuma's supporters in trade unions and the communist party
have said they also want him to focus on job creation and
greater state intervention in the economy.
"Our priorities do need to be on South Africa and the
region," said Jeremy Cronin, the deputy general secretary of the
South African Communist Party and a member of the ANC's National
Zuma earned respect for negotiating an end to the ethnic
violence that erupted between the ANC and the Zulu-led Inkatha
Freedom Party in the early 1990s. But he is untested on the
international front and could look to others for guidance.
"Zuma is not a philosopher king. He is an organisation man,
so we are now going to be dealing with a more diverse group of
voices and people on foreign policy and in other areas," said
Steven Friedman, a South African political analyst.
(Editing by Michael Georgy)