Cape Town – President Cyril Ramaphosa has defended the government against accusations that its foreign affairs policy is inconsistent.
Speaking on Thursday night at the Cape Town Press Club for the first time, he defended the government’s neutral stance in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
According to News24, Ramaphosa said he had been advocating for peace in that conflict, adding that the government had been participating in “what we call confidence-building measures”.
“We have interfaced with Russia at close range to enable the freedom of prisoners of war to [the] point where we looked at names of individuals of both countries. We never closed the doors of engagements to the two countries. We are highly respected for the neutral role we have played despite being criticised,” he said.
EWN reports that he told the Press Club that South Africa’s decision to launch a genocide case against Israel was a matter of human rights and respect for international law.
“Human rights is the bedrock of our foreign policy position. If there are any inconsistencies, I would like that to be pointed out because we are led by a very human rights posture and culture that we have sought to pursue. We now sit on the human rights council in Geneva and we play an important role in advancing human rights in the world,” he said.
“We are a small country in terms of population and also in terms of economy size, but we do punch way above our weight… South Africa is highly respected. Its voice is sought out on a number of issues. We led our continent and campaigned for basic human rights items such as Covid-19 vaccines which were not immediately made available,” he said.
He also spoke on the ongoing issue of load shedding, saying the government was addressing the crisis, calling it the government’s “biggest challenge other than unemployment”. Though he could not give a date for the end of load shedding, he said interventions were improving the situation on an ongoing basis.
Of the National Health Insurance Bill, he said he was applying his mind to the draft legislation, which was on his desk, but he emphasised that it would be signed into law.
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