South Africa–Middle East Relations

The support which our liberation struggle enjoyed from Saudi Arabia in particular, and the entire Arab world, not only helped secure the defeat of Apartheid. It brought us the opportunity to improve the lives of our people, through our reconstruction and development program[me]. And our freedom is serving us well.

Nelson Mandela²

It is argued, passionately, that self-interest must determine everything we do, as self-interest drove those in our country who sold weapons to the genocidaires of Rwanda. This is an obscene and barbaric creed to which we should never subscribe.

By the same token, we cannot stand aside as Palestinians and Israelis kill one another in a seemingly interminable conflict. Equally, we dare never abandon the path that we have chosen for our own country, to build a South Africa that truly belongs to all who live in it. Neither can we relax our striving for the victory of the African Renaissance — for the sake of the children and of our future.

Thabo Mbeki³

Introduction

South Africa is not unique in finding the Middle East the most challenging and emotionally charged area of its foreign policy. Its relations with this region that unites Africa, Europe and Asia have tested every tenet of South Africa’s foreign relations. Chief amongst the many challenges is how to balance the schools of realism (maturity) and of idealism (morality) effectively.

In economic dealings with this market of more than 300 million people, South Africa comes smack up against the developed countries of Europe, North America and Asia. Having been shunned by the bulk of the Middle Eastern countries until a decade ago as a result of a political and economic embargo placed by the Arab League on the apartheid regime, South Africa, in its new democratic form has been playing catch-up. No quarter is asked or given in competing for access to these wealthy markets and trying to attract petro-dollar investment.

South Africa can never lose sight of the reality that three-quarters of its liquid energy requirements come from this region. In turn, the Middle East is also the most promising market for South Africa’s arms industry, which was conceived under apartheid and has now developed into a lucrative source of foreign trade.

Politically, South Africa has had to balance matters of national interest with morality and ideals. It has had to determine its own policy in the face of pressure from the Western powers. This has required a very delicate and nuanced balance between behaving like the country with the most sophisticated constitution on earth, and acknowledging its solidarity with countries that stood shoulder to shoulder with the oppressed masses of South Africa in the liberation struggle. Again, as a country whose liberation was assisted by the support of an international community repelled by the inhumanity of the apartheid regime, South Africa is required to set high standards of human rights. Many of the countries of the Middle East do not meet these standards, and yet South Africa has to engage them and to acknowledge the range of interpretations of Islam that prevail in this region.

With the majority of South Africans adhering to one of the world’s three major monotheistic religions, political developments in the region of their origin will inevitably have a major domestic impact. To date, the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), has addressed sensitive international issues, such as the long-standing conflict between Israel and Palestine, in terms of its non-racial, inclusivist principles. Palestine, Israel, Iraq, Lebanon are key points of attention, while Afghanistan is of particular interest to the Muslim leadership in South Africa. (Discussion of the latter falls outside the scope of this article.)

The South African Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) divides the Middle East into two sections: the Levant, comprising Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq; and the Persian Gulf, made up of Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

Levant representation in South Africa

Levant

Israel Embassy

Palestine Embassy

Jordan Embassy

Lebanon Embassy

Syria Embassy

Iraq Embassy (dormant)

Missions in Levant

South African representatives in the Levant

Levant

Ramallah Rep Office

Tel Aviv Embassy

Amman

Embassy

Lebanon Embassy

(honorary)

Damascus Embassy (about to be opened)

Introduction

Levant representation in South Africa

Levant

Missions in Levant

South African representatives in the Levant

Levant

Missions in the Gulf

South African representatives in the Gulf

Gulf states