From apartheid to Ubuntu: Transition, transaction and transformation in South Africa’s post-apartheid foreign ministry

ABSTRACT

South Africa’s democratic transition had direct bearing on the country’s participation and status in the international arena. The transformation of South Africa’s foreign ministry from the period of apartheid to that of Ubuntu signifies one of the unique cases of institutional adaptability in the wake of regime change. To support this claim, the adaptive strategies of South Africa’s foreign ministry (whether under the moniker of the Department of Foreign Affairs or that of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation) since 1990 are analysed by focusing on the various shifts in emphasis (especially, to the African Agenda and the diplomacy of Ubuntu), changes in political and bureaucratic leadership, the ministry’s institutional restructuring and transformation, and new emphases on inter-governmental relations and co-operative governance.

KEYWORDS:

• South Africa
• foreign ministry
• African Agenda
• post-apartheid
• Ubuntu
• democratic transition
• transformation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Note on contributor

Jo-Ansie van Wyk is Professor of International Politics, Department of Political Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa. She is, amongst others, the co-editor (with Lesley Masters) of the South African Foreign Policy Review. Volume 3. Pretoria: Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA), 2019.

ORCID

Jo-Ansie van Wyk http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4950-7171

Notes

1 The terms foreign ministry and ministry of foreign affairs are generic international terms referring to the governmental ministry dealing with a state’s international environment. The South African foreign ministry has, since its inception in 1927, been called the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and, since 2009, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO).

2 See, for example, Muller M, ‘South Africa. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs: From isolation to integration to coherency’, in Hocking B (ed), Foreign Ministries. Change and Adaptation. New York: Palgrave, 1999, pp. 188–206; Muller M, ‘The institutional dimension: The department of foreign affairs and overseas missions’, in Carlsnaes W & M Muller (eds), Change and South African External Relations. Midrand: International Thomson, 1996, pp. 51–72.

3 Putnam RD, ‘Diplomacy and domestic politics: The logic of two-level games’, International Organization, 42, 1988, pp. 427–69.

4 See, among others, Holsti K, Why Nations Realign: Foreign Policy Restructuring in the Postwar World. London: Allen & Unwin, 1982; Hocking B (ed), Foreign Ministries. Change and Adaptation. New York: Palgrave, 1999; Halperin MH & PA Clapp, Bureaucratic Politics and Foreign Policy. Second Edition. Washington: Brookings Institution Press, 2006.

5 Ibid.

6 Republic of South Africa, Transitional Executive Council Act, 1993 [No. 151 of 1993], accessed 14 May 2018, <http://www.saflii.org/za/legis/num_act/teca1993336/>.

7 Graham M, The Evolution of the ANC’s Foreign Policy Towards Southern Africa, 1960–1999. A dissertation submitted in part-fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD in History, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom, 2011, pp. 125–42, accessed 21 August 2019, <http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/1962/2/Graham%2C_Matthew.pdf>.

8 South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR), Race Relations Survey 1993/94. Johannesburg: SAIRR, 1994, pp. 464–65.

9 Graham M, The Crisis of South African Foreign Policy: Diplomacy, Leadership and the role of the African National Congress. London: I.B.Tauris, 2015.

10 DFA, South African Foreign Policy Discussion Document, 1996, accessed 14 May 2018, <http://www.sahistory.org.za/sites/default/files/south_african_foreign_policy.pdf>.

11 South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR), Race Relations Survey 1993/94. Johannesburg: SAIRR, 1994, p. 617.

12 Muller M, ‘The institutional dimension: The department of foreign affairs and overseas missions’, in Carlsnaes W & M Muller (eds), Change and South African External Relations. Midrand: International Thomson, 1996, pp. 52–59.

13 Spies JJ, ‘The new DFA and Parliament: The challenges of restructuring’, in Landsberg C, le Pere G & A van Nieuwkerk (eds), Mission Imperfect. Redirecting South Africa’s Foreign Policy. Johannesburg: Foundation for Global Dialogue & Centre for Policy Studies, 1995, p. 68.

14 See, for example, ANC, Foreign Policy Perspective in a Democratic South Africa, 1993, accessed 30 May 2018, <http://www.anc.org.za/content/foreign-policy-perspective-democratic-south-africa>.

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16 SAIRR, Race Relations Survey 1991/92. Johannesburg: SAIRR, 1992, p. 458.

17 Muller M, ‘The institutional dimension: The department of foreign affairs and overseas missions’, in Carlsnaes W & M Muller (eds), Change and South African External Relations. Midrand: International Thomson, 1996, p. 59.

18 Mills G, The Wired Model. South Africa, Foreign Policy and Globalisation. Cape Town: Tafelberg, 2000, p. 261.

19 Ibid., p. 262.

20 Mills G, ‘South African Foreign Policy: The Year in Review’, in South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), South African Yearbook of International Affairs 1996. Johannesburg: SAIIA, 1996, p. 3.

21 Evans LH, ‘A Critical Reflection on the GNU’s Foreign Policy Initiatives and Responses’, in Landsberg C, le Pere G & A van Nieuwkerk (eds), Mission Imperfect: Redirecting South Africa's Foreign Policy. Johannesburg: Foundation for Global Dialogue & Centre for Policy Studies, 1995, pp. 29–31.

22 Hughes T, Composers, Conductors and Players: Harmony and Discord in South African Foreign Policy Making. Johannesburg: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, 2004, p. 19.

23 Ibid., p. 19.

24 Alden C & G Le Pere, ‘South Africa’s Post-apartheid foreign policy: from reconciliation to ambiguity?’, Review of African Political Economy, 31, 100, 2004, p. 287.

25 DFA, Transformation of the Department, Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs, 15 March 1999, accessed 30 May 2018, <https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/6084/>.

26 Hughes T, Composers, Conductors and Players: Harmony and Discord in South African Foreign Policy Making. Johannesburg: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, 2004, p. 19.

27 Nzo A, ‘Statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to the parliamentary Portfolio Committee on foreign affairs, 14 March 1995’, in Landsberg C, le Pere G & A van Nieuwkerk (eds), Mission Imperfect, p. 84.

28 Evans LH, ‘The new DFA and Parliament: The challenges of restructuring’, in Landsberg C, G le Pere & A van Nieuwkerk (eds), Mission Imperfect: Redirecting South Africa's Foreign Policy. Johannesburg: Foundation for Global Dialogue & Centre for Policy Studies, 1995, pp. 72–73.

29 Philips I, ‘The new DFA and parliament: The challenges of restructuring’, in Landsberg C, G le Pere & A van Nieuwkerk (eds), Mission Imperfect, p. 62.

30 Pahad A, ‘Speech by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Senate on 25 May 1995’, in Landsberg C, G le Pere & A van Nieuwkerk (eds), Mission Imperfect, p. 139.

31 Hughes T, Composers, Conductors and Players: Harmony and Discord in South African Foreign Policy Making. Johannesburg: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, 2004, p. 3.

32 PMG, Minutes of the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs, 21 June 2000, accessed 30 May 2018, <https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/4577/>.

33 Muller M, ‘The institutional dimension: The department of foreign affairs and overseas missions’, in Carlsnaes W & M Muller (eds), Change and South African External Relations. Midrand: International Thomson, 1996, pp. 60–62; Alden C & G Le Pere, ‘South Africa’s Post-apartheid foreign policy: from reconciliation to ambiguity?’, Review of African Political Economy, 31, 100, 2004, pp. 284, 286.

34 Lee D, I Taylor & P Williams (eds), The New Multilateralism in South Africa’s Diplomacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.

35 Wheeler T, ‘The Challenges of Restructuring’, in Landsberg C, G le Pere & A van Nieuwkerk (eds), Mission Imperfect, p. 68; Nzo A, ‘Address by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the National Assembly, 18 May 1995’, in Landsberg C, G le Pere & A van Nieuwkerk (eds), Mission Imperfect, p. 114.

36 PMG, Minutes of Economic Affairs Select Committee Meeting, 30 August 1999, accessed 25 May 2018, <https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/4661/>.

37 SAIRR, Race Relations Survey 1994/95, p. 422.

38 PMG, Minutes of the Joint meeting of the Joint Standing Committee on Defence, Foreign Affairs Portfolio Committee, and Security and Justice Select Committee, 2 November 1998, accessed 25 May 2018, <https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/6712/>; Williams C, ‘Political imperatives and military preparations: New insights into why South Africa’s 1998 intervention in Lesotho went awry’, South African Journal of International Affairs, 26, 1, 2019, pp. 25–51.

39 DFA, Annual Report 2002/2003, 2003, p. 86, accessed 29 May 2018, <http://www.dirco.gov.za/department/report_2002-2003/p3_80-139.pdf>.

40 Alden C & G Le Pere, ‘South Africa’s Post-apartheid foreign policy: from reconciliation to ambiguity?’, Review of African Political Economy, 31, 100, 2004, p. 286.

41 Siko JA, ‘Democratic’ foreign policy making and the Thabo Mbeki presidency: A critical study. Unpublished D Litt et Phil in Africa Politics, University of South Africa, Pretoria, 2014, pp. 236–38.

42 van Nieuwkerk A, ‘Government departments and the challenges of integrated foreign policy-making’, in Landsberg C & L Masters (eds), From the Outside In: Domestic Actors and South Africa’s Foreign Policy. Johannesburg: Fanele, 2017, p. 29.

43 Siko JA, ‘Democratic’ foreign policy making and the Thabo Mbeki presidency: A critical study. Unpublished D Litt et Phil in Africa Politics, University of South Africa, Pretoria, 2014, p. 238.

44 Ibid., pp. 236–38.

45 Minty A, Department of Foreign Affairs Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs, 12 March 2003, accessed 21 August 2019, <https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/2220/>.

46 Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Annual report of the African Renaissance and International Co-operation Fund 2005–2006, 2006, p. 3, accessed 29 May 2018, <http://www.dirco.gov.za/department/report_2005-2006/african_renaissance.pdf>; DFA, Annual Report 2004/2006, 2006, p. 51, accessed 29 May 2018, <http://www.dirco.gov.za/department/report_2005-2006/report50-91.pdf>.

47 DFA, Annual Report 2004/2006, 2006, p. 51, accessed 29 May 2018, <http://www.dirco.gov.za/department/report_2005-2006/report50-91.pdf>.

48 DFA, Progress on Transformation. Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs, 24 October 2001, accessed 20 August 2019, <https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/950/>.

49 Ibid.

50 Ibid.

51 Ntsaluba N, ‘Introduction by the Director General of the Department of Foreign Affairs’, in DFA, Strategic Plan 2004, 2004, p. 16, accessed 15 May 2018, <http://www.dirco.gov.za/department/stratplan04/1p11_19.pdf>.

52 DFA, Progress on Transformation. Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs, 24 October 2001, accessed 20 August 2019, <https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/950/>.

53 Ibid. The terminology used here was used in the document cited.

54 Siko JA, ‘Democratic’ foreign policy making and the Thabo Mbeki presidency: A critical study. Unpublished D Litt et Phil in Africa Politics, University of South Africa, Pretoria, 2014, p. 126.

55 See, for example, Steytler N, ‘The dynamic relationship between devolution and constitutionalism in South Africa’, in Fombad CM & N Steytler (eds), Decentralisation and Constitutionalism in Africa. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019. Only published on 5 September 2019. Page numbers not known. Google Books version does not include page numbers.

56 Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Reply to Question 45 (CO53E) Published in National Council of Provinces Internal Paper No: 1-2017 of 7 March 2017, accessed 2 June 2018, <http://www.dirco.gov.za/docs/2017pq/pq45ncop.htm>.

57 Ibid.; DIRCO, 2013, Measures and Guidelines for the Enhanced Coordination of South Africa's International Engagements, Practical Guidelines and Procedures for the Conclusion of International Agreements, accessed 20 August 2019, <http://www.dirco.gov.za/docs/2013/measures_guidelines_book.pdf>; DIRCO, 2015, Guidelines for the Hosting and Preparing for International Events in South Africa, accessed 20 August 2019, <http://www.dirco.gov.za/department/international_events_booklet_1.pdf>; Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, 2017, Reply to Question 45 (CO53E), National Council of Provinces (NCOP) Internal Question Paper 1-2017 of 7 March 2017, accessed on 20 August 2019, <http://www.dirco.gov.za/docs/2017pq/pq45ncop.htm>; Mxakato-Diseko NJ, ‘Branch multilateral: Global governance’, Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on international relations and cooperation on 30 July 2014, accessed 20 August 2019, <https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/17358/>.

58 Ntsaluba N, ‘Introduction by the Director General of the Department of Foreign Affairs’, in DFA, Strategic Plan 2004, 2004, p. 19, accessed 15 May 2018, <http://www.dirco.gov.za/department/stratplan04/1p11_19.pdf>.

59 DFA, Annual Report 2007/08, 2008, p. 35, accessed 21 August 2019, <http://www.dirco.gov.za/department/report_2007-2008/annualreport07-08.pdf>.

60 DFA, Strategic Plan 2005–2008, 2005, p. 7, accessed 2 June 2018, <http://www.dirco.gov.za/department/stratplan05-08.pdf>.

61 DFA, Annual Report 2003/2004, 2004, p. 70, accessed 29 May 2018, <http://www.dirco.gov.za/department/report_2003-2004/part2.pdf>.

62 Minty A, Department of Foreign Affairs Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs, 12 March 2003, p. 11, accessed 21 August 2019, <https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/2220/>.

63 Ibid.

64 BusinessTech, ‘One graph showing South Africa’s credit rating history: 1994–2017’, 29 November 2017, accessed 21 August 2019, <https://businesstech.co.za/news/finance/213641/one-graph-showing-south-africas-credit-rating-history-1994-2017/>.

65 Siko JA, ‘Democratic’ foreign policy making and the Thabo Mbeki presidency: A critical study. Unpublished D Litt et Phil in Africa Politics, University of South Africa, Pretoria, 2014, pp. 256–61.

66 Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), Building a Better World: The Diplomacy of Ubuntu, 2011, p. 35, accessed 29 May 2018, <https://www.gov.za/sites/www.gov.za/files/foreignpolicy_0.pdf>.

67 National Planning Commission (NPC), National Development Plan (NDP) 2030. Our Future – Make It Work, 2012, pp. 235–57. Accessed 10 June 2019, <http://www.dac.gov.za/sites/default/files/NDP%202030%20-%20Our%20future%20-%20make%20it%20work_0.pdf>.

68 Ibid., pp. 241–42, 253.

69 Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), Building a Better World: The Diplomacy of Ubuntu, 2011, accessed 29 May 2018, <https://www.gov.za/sites/www.gov.za/files/foreignpolicy_0.pdf>.

70 Qobo M & N Nyathi, ‘Ubuntu, public policy ethics and tensions in South Africa’s foreign policy’, South African Journal of International Affairs, 23, 4, 2016, p. 424.

71 Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), Building a Better World: The Diplomacy of Ubuntu, 2011, p. 4, accessed 29 May 2018, <https://www.gov.za/sites/www.gov.za/files/foreignpolicy_0.pdf>.

72 Qobo M & N Nyathi, ‘Ubuntu, public policy ethics and tensions in South Africa’s foreign policy’, South African Journal of International Affairs, 23, 4, 2016, pp. 421–36.

73 International Criminal Court (ICC), The Prosecutor v. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, ICC-02/05-01/092019, 7 July 2017, p. 15, accessed 21 August, <https://www.icc-cpi.int/Transcripts/CR2017_04432.PDF>.

74 High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Pretoria), Democratic Alliance v Minister of International Relations and Cooperation et al, Case no 83145/2016, 22 February 2017, accessed 21 August 2019, <http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAGPPHC/2017/53.pdf>.

75 Republic of South Africa, Foreign Service Bill [B 35-2015], Pretoria: Government Printer, 2015.

76 Nkoana-Mashabane M, Foreign Service Bill, 2016. Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation, 16 March 2016, accessed 2 June 2018, <https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/22219/>.

77 Ibid.

78 Republic of South Africa, Foreign Service Bill [B 35-2015], Pretoria: Government Printer, 2015.

79 Matjila J, DIRCO Strategic Plan 2012/2017, Presentation to the NCOP Select Committee on Trade and International Relations, 14 March 2012, p. 29, accessed 2 June 2018, <http://pmg-assets.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/docs/120314dirco-edit.pdf>.

80 DIRCO, Annual Report 2013/14, 2014, p. 158, accessed 29 May 2018, <http://www.dirco.gov.za/department/annual_report_2013-2014/annual_report_2013-2014.pdf>.

81 DFA, Annual Report 2011–2012, 2012, p. 88, accessed 21 August 2019, <http://www.dirco.gov.za/department/report_2011-2012/annual_report_2011-2012.pdf>.

82 Nkoana-Mashabane M, Remarks by H.E Ms Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, on the occasion of the joint launch of the South African Council on International Relations (SACOIR) and the South African Association of Former Ambassadors, High Commissioners and Chief Representatives, 16 July 2015, accessed 2 June 2018, <http://www.dirco.gov.za/docs/speeches/2015/mash0716.htm>.

83 DIRCO, Annual Report 2014/2015, 2015, p. 8, accessed 29 May 2018, <http://www.dirco.gov.za/department/annual_report_2014_2015/annual_report_body2014_2015.pdf>.

84 Groenewald AJ, ‘A strategic and integrated approach to South African Peace-Building: The case of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO)’, Mini-dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree Master in Public Administration at the North West University, 2018, p. 3. <https://repository.nwu.ac.za/handle/10394/31578>.

85 DFA, Annual Report 2002/2003, p. 84; DFA, Annual Report 2007/08, 2008, pp. 34–35, accessed 29 May 2018, http://www.dirco.gov.za/department/report_2007-2008/annualreport07-08.pdf>.

86 By 2017, the number of programmes were again decreased, due to budgetary constraints and policy alignment, from (by then again) five (administration, international relations, international cooperation, public diplomacy and protocol services, and international transfers) to four with the rationalisation (i.e. downscaling and integration elsewhere) of Programme 5 (International Transfers). See DIRCO, Annual Report 2016/2017, pp. 36–122.

87 DIRCO, Annual Report 2015/16, 2015, pp. 24–25, accessed 29 May 2018, <http://www.dirco.gov.za/department/report_2015_2016/annual_report%202015_2016.pdf>.

88 See, for example, The Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and Others v The Southern African Litigation Centre and Others, [2016] ZASCA 17, 15 March 2016, accessed 21 August 2019, <http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZASCA/2016/17.pdf>; Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa, Buthelezi & another v Minister of Home Affairs & others, (242/12) [2012] ZASCA 174, 29 November 2012, accessed on 21 August 2019, <http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZASCA/2012/174.pdf>.

89 The Presidency: Department of Planning Monitoring and Evaluation, 2013.

90 PMG, Minutes of Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation Meeting on Oversight Visit to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, 11 June 2013, accessed 21 August 2019, <https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/15996/>; National Planning Commission, National Development Plan 2030. Our Future – Make It Work, 2012, pp. 235–56, <https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/ndp-2030-our-future-make-it-workr.pdf>.