Author: Abbey Makoe

At a time of great economic strife across the global community – triggered largely by the huffing and puffing of President Donald Trump’s approach to foreign policy – too many nations are reeling from the weaponization of tariffs as a diplomatic tool. Presiding over the world’s largest economy and unparalleled military might that borders on omnipotence, President Trump’s imposition of virtually indiscriminate tariffs have caused untold misery and enormous uncertainty among the developed as well as developing economies. Whilst the West remains understandably embarrassed by Washington’s punitive measures after decades of sustained diplomatic molly-coddling, the much struggling nations of the…

Patriotic Alliance (PA) Deputy President Kenny Kunene has vehemently defended his party and the DA’s recent visit to Israel – shrouded in apparent veil of secrecy – saying the country’s Government of National Unity (GNU) needs to recognize that every participating party in the coalition has its own unique manifesto. A four-member delegation made up two parliamentarians from the PA and two from the DA undertook a “fact-finding” mission to the Jewish state that has frosty bilateral relations with Pretoria. The four comprised of the PA’s Ashley Sauls and Lerato Mathopa and the DA’s Nicholas Myburgh and Bridget Masango. Details…

China, the world’s second biggest economy, is leading international retaliation against US President Donald Trump’s wholesale imposition of universal tariffs that has triggered an unprecedented global trade war. President Trump’s minimum baseline 10 percent tariff on all goods exported from elsewhere into the US, the world’s biggest economy, has set off fear, shock and uncertainty global trade has not seen in recent memory. Applying the cow-boyish theory of different strokes for different folks, President Trump’s executive order signed amid growing unilateralism saw each nation – big or small – hit with its own specific “reciprocal tariff” that Washington argues only…

Earlier this month, on March 5 to be specific, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) officially updated its website, renaming the “Taipei Liaison Office” to the “Taipei Commercial Office”. The significance of this move in light of bilateral relations between Pretoria and Beijing cannot be overemphasised. Taiwan, autonomous part of China, cannot enjoy undue diplomatic standing in South Africa or anywhere in the global community. This is because Taiwan is an integral part of China, and not a “country”. When the founding father of democratic SA, Nelson Mandela, came to acknowledge this factor, he instituted the One-China Principle.…

Anti-apartheid Struggle hero and a stalwart of the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM), Dr Gomolemo Mokae, has been murdered at his home Ga-Rankuwa Zone 1 home north of Pretoria. Dr Mokae’s lifeless body was found with evidence of a violent death. According to reports, a postmortem has revealed that the “People’s Doctor” was “shot on both arms and one bullet in the chest”. He was 64. Dr Mokae rose to prominence as a national spokesperson for the Azanian People’s Organization (AZAPO). He was a fierce critic of apartheid and consummate BC adherent who espoused Biko’s persuasive message of black solidarity and…

The very public fallout between US President Donald Trump and his visiting Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, at the White House has complicated Europe’s implicit plan to prolong their proxy war with Russia. Even for Diplomacy 101, Zelensky failed spectacularly. The diplomatic decorum requires at its fundamental basis the ethos of humility, calmness and erudite exposition at all material times. Others have described diplomacy as the art of telling someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to trip, a far cry from the ill-advised confrontation between an out-of-sorts visitor and his hosts in the White…

Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi, visiting South Africa for the G20 meeting of the organisation’s foreign affairs ministers, has heaped praise and expressed gratitude for the hospitality of his hosts, the SA government. Of greater significance, Minister Yi acknowledged the hosting of the G20 summit for the very first on the African soil, just his host, President Cyril Ramaphosa, had done earlier whilst delivering keynote address to the geopolitical gathering. Said Minister Wang: “This year represents an Africa moment at the G20. After welcoming the African Union as a full member, the G20 is going to have a summit…

Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine whose country has been turned into an epicentre of the West’s proxy war against Russia. Throughout this week’s NATO Summit, and in its immediate aftermath, talk of a peaceful negotiation to end the war in Ukraine was evident through its absence. It was a sad reflection of the Western-led gung-ho diplomacy at the centre of the so-called “rules-based world order”. The appetite for continued global dominance is a force behind the West’s military and diplomatic determination to maintain the global status quo. It masks their unilateralism that has replaced a multipolar world order based on the…

Until this week’s fallout between the DA and the ANC, the light at the end of the tunnel was beaming with brightness. And now, suddenly, and menacingly, it looks like the light is that of an oncoming train. Theirs was a tricky courtship. Their quick marriage – albeit based on convenience – was blissful. Indeed, the honeymoon was looming. Now, the end is nigh. The marriage officer, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, must be wondering which part of the vows the newly-weds missed. He might never. In South Africa, you marry in church but never divorce in the same place. Permanent…

Seventy years ago, China launched “Five Principles of Peaceful coexistence” aimed at ameliorating the dangers and threats posed by growing unilateralism in the international world order. With a greater emphasis on mutuality and equality, the principles provide a whole set of basic norms for peaceful coexistence among countries across political, security, economic and diplomatic domains. The five principles, which are consistent with purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, have become the cornerstone of China’s foreign policy. A “peaceful coexistence” is a formula for a “shared future” and “win-win” international relations architecture that the founding fathers and…