Africa is just as important as Ukraine, says Naledi Pandor

Africa must be more assertive so its development issues are not forgotten amid the global focus on the war in Ukraine, says Naledi Pandor, the minister of international co-operation and relations. 

Speaking to the Sunday Times this week, Pandor said it was worrying that the war sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year often overshadowed other issues.  

“Conflicts around the continent are rendered invisible, issues of development which are key for us are no longer a priority global discussion, and so I keep asserting that, ‘Don’t forget the continent,’” she said. 

Pandor said issues in Libya, Chad, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe and Mozambique were equally important to the Ukraine war. 

“All these are now gone and all everybody wants to discuss is this conflict, and I worry about that. Africans must never accept to be marginal, because we are not. We are treated as marginal because I think we are insufficiently assertive.

I don’t want to be stupidly cheeky but I do think we need to hold our ground

—  Naledi Pandor

“I don’t want to be stupidly cheeky but I do think we need to hold our ground.”

The UN says at least 8,450 civilians have been killed so far in the Ukraine war, the largest conflict in Europe since World War 2.  The war has sparked economic hardship around the world and raised fears of nuclear escalation.

South Africa has refused to criticise Russia for  the invasion, and has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to a summit of the Brazil, Russia, India China, South Africa group (Brics) in Durban in August.

Pandor, who took office in 2019, spoke to the Sunday Times after returning from a visit to Cameroon, where she met her counterpart Lejeune Mbella Mbella. She expressed concern that agreements signed during such visits were often never implemented. 

“I am worried that not all our departments act on agreements that we sign. We established an interdepartmental forum last year, when we begin to look at the various departments and steps taken in each of the departments to implement the agreements. 

“There are areas in which we need to see more actions. We do have agreements that just lie fallow and are not implemented, and I am really worried about that, so I have been talking to the director-general and said we have to become better at sending out reminders to departments.”  

Pandor, a leading ally of President Cyril Ramaphosa, admitted that sometimes she forgets to be diplomatic.

I sometimes have to be nice when I don’t feel like it’s merited, so it does challenge my own personality

—  Naledi Pandor

“I was brought up to speak my mind, but I try and do it kindly and sometimes I forget. I think I am too direct sometimes; it can be a fault but it’s my character. I don’t always understand it, because I sometimes have to be nice when I don’t feel like it’s merited, so it does challenge my own personality.” 

She said there were heads of state whom she admired and was “thrilled” to meet.

“Among those that I love is President Alassane Ouattara of Ivory Coast, because of what he is doing on development in his country.  He’s really focused on the economy, effective utilisation and refining of their natural resources.  He is not letting himself be bullied around coffee, which is a huge product for them. He’s realised the efficacy of a natural wealth.”  

Pandor says the nature of her job forces her to interact with heads of states.

“In fact, I am never one to bother presidents. It was very rare for me to meet heads of states, even our own I just get on with my job. But now, because of foreign affairs I am with president Cyril Ramaphosa a lot.

“I’ve heard of ministers who go to president’s and ask for this and that, but I have never done that, it’s not my experience."

Respect for human dignity and peace are among the values that guide South Africa’s foreign policy position, she said.  

“President Mandela articulated this perspective we hold dear as a nation, that wherever we can, we draw people together, and that South Africa will not promote division, because our own experience taught us that we can sit around the table and find common ground.”  

Pandor said all countries, including “major economic powers”, must begin to regard one another as equals. “I know we are not as big a player as the major economic powers, but that does not mean you cower in a corner and just appropriate everything that a very powerful set of countries might want to impose on you.”