Gayton McKenzie’s meeting with US ambassador raises concerns over South Africa’s foreign policy
McKenzie met with United States Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III on Friday at his residence.
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While the Patriotic Alliance (PA) has defended the meeting between its party leader, Gayton McKenzie, who also serves as South Africa's Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, and United States Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III, political analysts are raising concerns that the encounter undermines the country’s foreign policy position.
McKenzie met with United States Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III on Friday at his residence.
The meeting comes after International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola confirmed that Bozell had been démarched to explain his recent anti-diplomatic comments in public.
Bozell made the remarks during his attendance at a conference in Hermanus, Western Cape, on Tuesday, where he commented about the "Kill the Boer" chant.
Bozell said, "I’m sorry; I don’t care what your courts say. It’s hate speech."
McKenzie had visited Bozell on Friday in what the PA described as a meeting which took place in “a spirit of mutual respect” and open dialogue.
“He left the discussion encouraged and optimistic about the future of relations between South Africa and the United States. For some time, relations between our countries have experienced strain and misunderstanding,” the PA said.
“President Trump has repeatedly expressed concern about allegations of violence against white South Africans and claims of ‘white genocide’. The Patriotic Alliance believes the way forward is not denial or outrage, but honest engagement and clarity.
“We know South Africa is not a genocidal country. It emerged from one of the most bitter and divided pasts and built a constitutional democracy founded on human dignity, equality and the protection of life. But it is also true that violent crime, including farm murders and attacks in rural areas, causes deep fear and trauma,” the PA said.
Political analysts have said that the meeting between McKenzie and Bozell does appear to undermine the country’s geopolitical stance at face value, but more so, it undermines the ANC's interests.
Professor Bheki Mngomezulu said that when it comes to whether or not McKenzie had misstepped, this came down to several factors.
“It depends on how the meeting was convened, and who requested it? Was it from the side of the minister or was it from the side of the Embassy? That is the first question.
“And then the second question would be, when attending that meeting, did the minister get clearance from his principal, in this case, the president, or did he get clearance from DIRCO?
“Until we know the details, it will be difficult to either applaud him or reprimand him for this particular visit,” Mngomezulu said.
“At face value, it paints a bad picture, because then it means that we are speaking in tongues. The government has a clear foreign policy position when it comes to America, and therefore, the president will have to make sure that all the ministers toe the line, because once a foreign policy position has been taken, all the ministers are supposed to basically abide by this particular policy, and not do anything different from that.
Professor André Duvenhage echoed these sentiments, saying that he thinks it is a way of undermining the government of national unity from an ANC perspective.
“Without any doubt, because they are following the more pro-Israeli approach of the DA, and that type of line won't go down well with the ANC, and the current establishment, because the ANC believe they have the monopoly on foreign affairs.