Like it or not, SA is closer to the West than the ghosts of Soviet past May 17, 2023 at 05:00AM
If you are a lover of comics then it is likely that at some point you have read the French cartoon series, Asterix.
The comic is about standing up for freedom and self-determination against a powerful bully. With its outlandish and intentional stereotypes, it provides an apt analogy that even a child can understand in the never-ending story of global politics.
In every book there is a similar theme. Asterix and his supporters are always better prepared than their foes and are able to think on their feet in highly pressured situations.
Asterix, with an outsized moustache and massive nose, has two important weapons at his disposal. The first is his friendship with Obelix, the super strong dimwit who is the brawn to Asterix’s brain. The second weapon is a magic potion that gives Asterix superior strength for short periods of time that allows him to defeat any foe.
The protagonist hails from a self-sufficient village in the corner of Gaul, the ancient name for Western Europe incorporating the likes of France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Their village, as the cartoon goes, was the last remaining Gaulish stronghold against the Roman Empire led by Julius Caesar and his hapless stooges on their expansionist crusade.
In the world of Asterix, the righteous always win.
Albert Uderzo, who drew the iconic strips, lived through the Nazi occupation of France, so he had a keen understanding of the realities of a brutal occupation.
Given the events of this past week, with allegations of South Africa either selling or giving arms and ammunition to Russia being made by the United States, I couldn’t help but wonder where our president, Cyril Ramaphosa, and his administration, would find themselves in an Asterix series.
Do they think they are Asterix standing up against the US and the West as a bulwark of some kind on a righteous mission? Or would the village be a reference to Ukraine where we would be mere stooges of Russia, led by its Caesar, Vladimir Putin?
Many of those who were openly angry about US ambassador Reuben Brigety’s claims that South Africa is arming Russia and are sympathetic to that country, believe we are a superhero figure on some kind of ideological quest.
Brigety’s claims had not been outright denied by the South African government at the time of writing.
Perhaps many of you reading this were struck by the level of hostility among much of the political, so-called intelligentsia and government class in South Africa against the US and Europe, which together make up the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato).
A clear schism has developed between this chattering class — often living on taxpayer-funded salaries — and economic analysts and private enterprise, who do not.
The latter appear to be more realistic in understanding how the world works, while the former appear to live in a bubble where ideology rules over all. It is those who live on the taxpayer dime who influence state policy and direction.
It is this divorce from reality that is leading the hostility against the US, which is most certainly not a saint, but is a friend to South Africa.
Unlike Russia, the US has provided us with a platform to build our economy through initiatives such as African Growth and Opportunities Act (Agoa). This makes up about 25% of all our trade with the US, which collectively sits at about R400 billion.
Total trade with Russia sits at about R24 billion.
The US has since 2004 partnered with our government to “support HIV prevention, care and treatment programmes” in the aftermath of the ANC’s now abandoned deadly HIV/Aids denialist position.
Equally troubling to me, is that the government and academic elites who take on a pro-Russian stance appear quite comfortable with the idea that South Africans needs to endure some pain, economic or otherwise, for our government to hold its position of being a non-aligned actor — when we clearly are not — in what they often call a proxy war between Nato and Russia.
One such individual said it would be worth the pain if we aligned our ideology with Russia. When I challenged him to walk away from his income in solidarity with his belief, because this is what would happen to most South Africans if we pivoted towards supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and became a global pariah, the commitment was no longer as strong.
There is an argument by the pro-Russian chorus, who say, “it’s not only about the economy, stupid”. They say there are other elements of our country’s relationship that bind us.
History is one, they say. Russia, then the Soviet Union which included Ukraine, trained and supported the ANC in exile. Because of this, the narrative goes, we must forever be beholden to Russia.
But since the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has turned from a one-party communist state to a near dictatorship — and not the benign type.
Instead of supporting revolutions against dictatorship and crony-capitalism as they claimed to do during the Cold War era, Russia has become what it despised.
Political adversaries, journalists and activists have either fled into exile, been incarcerated on trumped up charges, murdered in broad daylight or poisoned by polonium or other state-sponsored concoctions. Meanwhile, state contracts and power rests with a small wealthy elite and connected oligarchs.
Our government leaders appear to find it hard to accept that on every major front — culture, sport, law, economics and history — we are in step with the West.
Perhaps the figure that speaks to the reality of who this country has a closer affinity to is South Africa’s trade with Nato-aligned countries, which sits at R1.131 trillion.
The last Russian vehicle sold in South Africa was the Lada, arguably the most uncomfortable four-wheel drive ever developed. We now, or at least did until recently, send them vehicle components of Western-branded vehicles manufactured here. We do not consume Russian goods, we do not consume Russian entertainment, and there has never been a moment when South Africans have run a #FillUptheStadium event for a Russian musician. We do not even drink Russian-made vodka.
It is only the Russia of old that we have a cultural affinity with, and this is mostly found in the upper-income and educated classes of society that have interests in Russian ballet, Russian literature, its deeply complex history and Russian art.
In recent years, all Russia has tried to export culturally to South Africa is its form of crony-capitalism through, for example, the failed Rosatom nuclear deal.
We are — and this is what annoys many in the governing ANC tripartite alliance and its talking heads trotted out for television and print — a Western-focused country.
Call it a product of our history, but the reality remains: we have much more that binds us to Western nations than divides us. Even our weapons industry develops armaments to Nato specification.
To the anti-West bloc of the ANC, a party on the ropes with a clear possibility of being out of power in less than a year, this reality signifies that the national democratic revolution, built on Soviet-era slogans, is probably dead.
Even our Constitution, which is embraced and respected by most political formations in this country, incorporates Western liberal ideals in its text.
Let us imagine the ANC’s support of Russia was warranted. If our government wanted to play the dashing hero, they would need to have their “village” in order. But rolling blackouts, high unemployment, a weakened rand and an economic recession are exactly what you do not want. Our government is wholly unprepared to become openly hostile to any country. You need economic stability and muscle to do this.
It really is about the economy, stupid.
South Africans have by and large embraced Western values, the most prominent of them being self-determination, individualism and freedom.
Besides having a nimble and inventive private sector that has had to find its profits and create jobs despite a hostile government, this is best captured in the number of people in the country who have taken it upon themselves to generate renewable energy, fix roads, and build bridges, because of state failures. We know that our villages, towns and cities will only succeed if we take our future into our hands.
Perhaps a more sombre understanding of the famed French comic is this: South Africans are Asterix and our country is the Gaulish village, while the ANC-led government is the morally bankrupt Roman Empire trying to force an ideology and culture on a people who clearly reject it.
Our magic potion just might be the ballot box.
Let us hope, just like in the comic, that the righteous win.
Jonathan Erasmus is a regular contributor to The Witness, and a researcher at the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse. He writes in his personal capacity.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Mail & Guardian.
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