{"id":59074,"date":"2024-01-06T15:52:21","date_gmt":"2024-01-06T15:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-should-not-support-its-friends-it-should-serve-its-interests"},"modified":"2024-01-06T16:10:32","modified_gmt":"2024-01-06T16:10:32","slug":"south-africa-should-not-support-its-friends-it-should-serve-its-interests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-should-not-support-its-friends-it-should-serve-its-interests","title":{"rendered":"South Africa should not support its friends \u2013 it should serve its interests"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter urged South Africa to support countries based on its interests rather than friendships.<\/p>\n

De Ruyter shared his views on international affairs during a Nuuspod discussion<\/a> about his new life in the United States.<\/p>\n

In August 2023, De Ruyter joined Yale\u2019s Jackson School of Global Affairs as a senior fellow for the 2023 to 2024 academic year.<\/p>\n

As part of his new position at Yale, he engages in discussions with global thinkers and leading academics.<\/p>\n

He quickly realised South Africa is a small country that does not feature much in the United States. \u201cWe are irrelevant to the average American,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He quoted former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who said, \u201cAmerica has no permanent friends or enemies, only interest\u201d.<\/p>\n

De Ruyter said a country should not support another country because of friendship. Instead, it should base its support on serving its interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cSouth Africa has many friends. However, we do not always strive to serve the country\u2019s interests,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A good example is South Africa\u2019s recent decision to file a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.<\/p>\n

South Africa is accusing Israel of crimes of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza through its war in the area.<\/p>\n

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation said South Africa was gravely concerned with the plight of civilians caught in the present Israeli attacks on Gaza.<\/p>\n

Israel said it would fight South Africa\u2019s claim at the International Court of Justice that it is guilty of crimes of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.<\/p>\n

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby also voiced strong criticism of South Africa\u2019s legal case against Israel.<\/p>\n

Kirby said South Africa\u2019s suit against Israel is \u201cmeritless, counterproductive, and completely without any basis in fact whatsoever\u201d.<\/p>\n

While there are strong views on both sides regarding the merits of the case, many people questioned why South Africa decided to get involved.<\/p>\n

The ANC has long-standing ties with the Palestinians because of the similarities with Apartheid. However, the latest move can have negative consequences for the country.<\/p>\n

As with Russia, it has shown an allegiance with a group with whom it has very few commercial ties.<\/p>\n

As a result, it risks angering many powerful nations and strong commercial partners, like the United States and Europe.<\/p>\n

South Africa is, therefore, positioning itself with global friends which will not help advance its interests. It also risks souring relations with its biggest economic partners.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter urged South Africa to support countries based on its interests rather than friendships. De Ruyter shared his views on international affairs during a Nuuspod discussion about his new life in the United States. In August 2023, De Ruyter joined Yale\u2019s Jackson School of Global Affairs as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":59073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-59074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nSouth Africa should not support its friends \u2013 it should serve its interests - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter urged South Africa to support countries based on its interests rather than friendships. ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-should-not-support-its-friends-it-should-serve-its-interests\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"South Africa should not support its friends \u2013 it should serve its interests\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter urged South Africa to support countries based on its interests rather than friendships. ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-should-not-support-its-friends-it-should-serve-its-interests\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-06T15:52:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-06T16:10:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2024\/01\/sm_1704544584.023475.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"432\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-should-not-support-its-friends-it-should-serve-its-interests#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-should-not-support-its-friends-it-should-serve-its-interests\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"South Africa should not support its friends \u2013 it should serve its interests\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-06T15:52:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-06T16:10:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-should-not-support-its-friends-it-should-serve-its-interests\"},\"wordCount\":436,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-should-not-support-its-friends-it-should-serve-its-interests#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2024\/01\/sm_1704544584.023475.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-should-not-support-its-friends-it-should-serve-its-interests#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-should-not-support-its-friends-it-should-serve-its-interests\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-should-not-support-its-friends-it-should-serve-its-interests\",\"name\":\"South Africa should not support its friends \u2013 it should serve its interests - 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