On obtaining power in 1994, there was a wide-spread expectation that South Africa’s foreign policy would confound the trend of realpolitik and support the underdog and oppressed wherever this situation was manifest in the world. Today African Solidarity triumphs over such high-minded ideals. The Omar al-Bashir incident is but the latest example of this trend where the Dalai Lama is banished but a tyrant like al-Bashir is lauded. How far has South Africa fallen from its ideals and sullied its image?
The democratic South Africa was conceived in a wave of optimism that finally there would be a nation which would buck the international trend and base its international relations on a firm foundation of human rights.
Main picture: Omar al-Bashir attending the AU Summit in Sandton