DIRCO’s Hollow Denial

Statement by Ryan Smith MP – DA Spokesperson on International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO):

Despite evidence compiled by international journalists which detail interference by the Russian Federation in South African democracy, the Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), Thandi Moraka, today denied any wrongdoing by the Russian Federation and dismissed these claims as farcical during a parliamentary questions session.

Overwhelming reports by both a 2024 study by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), and international journalists in possession of leaked documents from the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), have detailed targeted cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns leveled against South African opposition parties, amounting to an attack on our country’s national security.

Deputy Minister Moraka, however, said that these reports were not real, essentially protecting Russian interference in South African democracy.

This further demonstrates South Africa’s foreign policy under the African National Congress (ANC) which has adopted a dangerous Orwellian approach of truth-is-lies, and where our country approaches international relations by flatly denying reality and operating in a world that only exists in the ANC’s imagination.

Deputy Minister Moraka also refused to démarche the Russian ambassador to South Africa given these damning claims, and dodged a question as to whether she would condemn Russian aggression as the single largest threat to the security of South Africa’s largest bloc trading partner, the European Union.

This further demonstrates the ANC’s dangerous disconnect with South African non-alignment and the national interest which should prioritise upholding our constitutional principles of freedom, democracy, and human rights, while securing prosperous trade relations and economic growth.

Deputy Minister Moraka has refused to protect South Africa’s economic interests by dismissing the threat of very real Russian aggression to one of our country’s most important trade allies.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) condemns this subversion of reality which continues to undermine South Africa’s foreign policy and our legitimacy as a credible actor on the international stage.

We call on DIRCO, once again, to adhere to the Government of National Unity’s statement of intent and advance strategic non-aligment while being mindful of the liberal democratic principles which must guide South Africa’s foreign affairs.

It is deeply concerning to see a sitting cabinet minister in such a critical portfolio openly deny our global reality.

Today’s session has only reinforced what many South Africans have come to understand: that the ANC exists in a world far removed from the realities of its people, or from the very real dangers posed to countries with whom we should show solidarity.

This is a foreign policy devoid of reality, and crafted in the ANC’s vacuum of constitutional principle.