This series of Tweets by the ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula are an attempt to explain to the party’s policy to its members.

Essentially the ANC thinks the USA is attempting to be a hegemonic power and the UN Charter must be seen in this light and not regarded as sacrosanct. Hence this convoluted sentence: “The test on adherence to the UN Charter on the sovereignty of States must be asserted but not in isolation to such geopolitical issues that undermine the very claim to national sovereignty and the national security of all countries involved.”

This stand flies in the face of the purpose of the UN, established after the Second World War precisely to protect all nations – large and small – from aggression. It is a principle that cannot be watered down when it is inconvenient, as the ANC suggests.
Martin

Tweet by ANC Secretary General Cde: @MbalulaFikile

 “The historical relationship between the Russia and Ukraine signifies the complexities underpinning the formation of Nation States. Very importantly, States generally emerged through conquest, annexation and subjugation.

“For the greater part of the 20th Century, Ukraine was integral to the USSR until its collapse in 1991. `In contrast we underwent a difficult national reconciliation period, to politically engineer a new society through amongst others the Truth and Reconciliation Commission . The national question with regards unity is a complex one, and in ~Ukraine that has been compounded by the history between Russia and Ukraine, particularly the USSR period.”

The ANC National Conference made the following observations with regards the Russia – Ukraine war: “The ongoing war in Ukraine has far-reaching strategic geopolitical and economic consequences for the peoples of the world. This can no longer be described simply as a Russia- Ukraine war – it is primarily a conflict between the US and US-led NATO and Russia in pursuit of the objectives of the so-called Wolfowitz doctrine.

According to this doctrine, the US should not allow that any country in the world should have the possibility, in the post-Cold War period to challenge US interests, especially its hegemony. In this regard, US geopolitical strategy has identified Russia and China as the two powers that must be contained, according to the Wolfowitz doctrine which undergirds US foreign policy.

We have been opposed to wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Ethiopia and so forth.

President Cyril Ramaphosa participated in the African Leaders Peace Mission, meeting with both President Zelensky and President Putin, to try to end the war as a matter of urgency. President Ramaphosa briefed us on the peace mission and that it was by and large a success, particularly to the extent that the message of peace was effectively communicated to both leaders.

The test on adherence to the UN Charter on the sovereignty of States must be asserted but not in isolation to such geopolitical issues that undermine the very claim to national sovereignty and the national security of all countries involved.

The test to global peace will be on how the international community navigate these geopolitical realities, with ever tilting balance of power signified by the rise of China as a super power, amongst others.

As the ANC we re-iterate the message conveyed to Russia and Ukraine by the African leaders that the war must be ended as a matter of urgency.