South Africa’s diplomatic descent

Last August,EU as Russian missiles were pounding cities in Ukraine, South Africa’s foreign minister, Naledi Pandor, delivered a key foreign-policy speech. For a country that was once a symbol of universal rights, this might have been the ideal time to speak out against Russia’s slaughter of civilians. Instead, Ms Pandor unveiled a new policy, making national interest the lodestone of South Africa’s foreign policy. This overtly overturned its former principle that human rights should guide international relations. As if to emphasise this shift, she lashed out at some of South Africa’s closest friends, accusing America of bullying African countries, the of being underhand in its trade relations, and the West in general of being duplicitous when talking about its shared values with poor countries.Last month South Africa welcomed Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, and this week it is hosting naval exercises with Russia and China. Ms Pandor’s comments reflect not just the ditching of a worthy principle. They also signal an acceleration of South Africa’s shift away from the Western democracies that are its main trading partners, investors and donors and . That will weaken universal rights, undermine Africa’s efforts to become more democratic and, most importantly for South Africa, harm its economy and diminish its diplomatic heft.