Ramaphosa gets bad vibes from Putin — but European leaders stream into SA

South Africa could host French President Emmanuel Macron instead of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the BRICS Summit in August. That rather unorthodox but intriguing possibility reflects the ambiguous place South Africa finds itself in diplomatically as it struggles to shift Western perceptions that it supports Russia in its war against Ukraine.

This week SA, though much criticised for its pro-Russian stance on Putin’s war against Ukraine — and facing US sanctions because of it — looked, at least momentarily, more pro-West than pro-Russia.Russian President Vladimir Putin meets South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum on 18 June 2023. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Ramil Sitdikov / host Photo Agency / RIA Novosti / Handout)[/caption]

In St Petersburg, Ramaphosa seemed to have a rather bad encounter with Putin, which was good for his reputation in the West, while at home he hosted the Dutch and Danish prime ministers on a productive visit and then headed to Paris to participate in Macron’s high-level summit on reforming the global financial system to better address poverty and climate change.

No doubt in Paris he discussed with Macron the French leader’s unorthodox wish to attend the BRICS Summit.

If Macron does come instead of Putin, he would be one in a steady flow of European leaders to South Africa recently, with more than 20 heads of state or government, or ministers, visiting in a month.

Apart from Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who made a rare joint visit to SA this week, underscoring their European solidarity and membership of the European Union (EU), Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa met Ramaphosa in Pretoria earlier this month and next week German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will visit.

Several other European ministers have also been here over the past few weeks and later this year SA and the EU will hold a summit in South Africa. “There’s lots of traffic,” said one European ambassador

The unconventional Macron

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna was also in South Africa this week. She told journalists that she had informed her counterpart Naledi Pandor that Macron was available and interested in attending the BRICS Summit to pursue dialogue with the bloc’s members. BRICS comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, but Colonna made it clear that Macron would not attend if Putin did.

Pandor responded that it would be an “innovation” if Macron attended, but that it would be up to Ramaphosa as the current BRICS chairperson to decide who to invite.

Meanwhile in Moscow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the RIA news agency that Moscow had informed South Africa that it would be inappropriate to invite Macron, as the leader of a Nato country, to the BRICS Summit.

Macron is an unconventional leader who sees himself as a global bridge builder. Since Ramaphosa has attended several G7 summits as a guest, it shouldn’t be so strange for Macron to attend a BRICS Summit. However, he might also have just been yanking Putin’s chain, reminding the world of the embarrassing predicament the Russian leader finds himself in, where South Africa does not want him to attend the BRICS Summit.