Department of international relations & co-operation director-general Zane Dangor has lashed out at US President Donald Trump, accusing him of bringing “unprecedented challenge” to rules of the international legal order and said the use of force was becoming acceptable.
He stressed there were no means to hold the most powerful and their friends accountable, while the weaker were held accountable through unlawful unilateral sanctions.
“It’s not undiplomatic to say the president of the US in his second term has brought an unprecedented challenge to the customs and rules of the international legal order and the institutions that safeguard it. Some have called it a lawless approach, so I’ll use that as a way of describing it,” Dangor said during his address at the Cape Town Press Club on Monday.
He reflected on how South Africa was engaging diplomatically in the “current political global turbulence”. Relations between the US and South Africa have been fraught with tension in recent years, driven by disagreements over SA’s foreign policy, the discredited “white genocide” lie and property rights, among others.
The US ambassador to SA Leo Bozell III was demarched — a formal diplomatic rebuke — in March over his remarks at a conference in Hermanus, Western Cape. Among other things, Bozell said the US was running out of patience with South Africa over clashing foreign and domestic policy positions. This, he said, could lead to large US corporations divesting from the country.
What is the way to achieve democratisation? Is it through diplomacy? Is it through engagement? That’s our preferred route, but we now see the use of force is becoming almost acceptable
— Zane Dangor, Dirco director-general
The US ambassador, however, seemingly backtracked on his comments about the courts, taking to his official account on X to say he respects the independence of the South Africa’s judiciary. He had previously said he does not care that South African courts had ruled the Kill the Boer chant did not constitute hate speech.
Dangor on Monday referenced Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s remarks in January, when he spoke of a rupture in the international system and “attributed it to the stance of a global hegemon”.
There had always been global hegemons in the international community, “so for many of us, it’s the rupture we agree with, we see the rupture”.
Regarding the unlawful kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by the US in January, ”the question that arises from that is whether that is allowed when disagreements can lead to the use of force to take out a sitting head of state”.
“What is the way to achieve democratisation? Is it through diplomacy? Is it through engagement? That’s our preferred route, but we now see the use of force is becoming almost acceptable,” Dangor said.
The attack by the US and Israel on Iran was a breach of the UN Charter “because the UN Charter is very clear in article 2.4, which prohibits the threat or use of force against any state. The response by Iran by attacking its neighbours was also a breach of article 51”.
“You’re seeing a lot more laissez-faire approaches to what is permissible with the use of force than we’ve seen in any time in the previous 22 years. We also have the International Court of Justice case. You had the events of October 7, where there were attacks by Hamas and other armed groups, but the response by Israel was, in our view, at that point an unfolding genocide, and we were duty-bound under the Genocide Convention to approach the court. We always state to people: if you think it’s genocide, you are duty-bound to prevent it.”
You cannot appease the kind of hegemons who [have] disregard for international laws, norms and human rights ... What is necessary is to build a collective of states and ideas who work on the institutions that will protect us all. That’s the approach that we’re taking
— Dangor
Dangor said there are no means to hold those most powerful and their friends accountable. “The weaker are held accountable at an individual level or through sanctions, often unilateral sanctions, which are also unlawful, but the powerful can act with impunity. We’ve seen that.
“I’m not going to go into the details on the differential treatment, where certain presidents with warrants of arrest are prohibited from traveling, and justly so, and others are welcomed and given standing ovations. Same institutions, same warrant of arrest, same countries, generally.”
The International Criminal Court has issued separate arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin (March 2023) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (November 2024), charging them with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Putin is wanted for unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine, while Netanyahu is accused of using starvation as a weapon of war and other crimes in Gaza.
Putin has kept a low profile on international travels while Netanyahu has been visited the White House on numerous occasions since Trump’s return to the Oval Office.
“You cannot appease the kind of hegemons who [have] disregard for international laws, norms and human rights because they will in any way do as they please. What is necessary is to build a collective of states and ideas who work on the institutions that will protect us all. That’s the approach that we’re taking.”
Business Day
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