As the world moves from a unipolar system to a multipolar one, former president Thabo Mbeki has questioned whether Africa, and particularly South Africa, is ready to position itself in the multipolar world order.
Delivering his keynote address at the Inaugural Annual Aziz Pahad Peace, Security and Human Rights Dialogue in Pretoria on Monday. The dialogue was organised by the Department of International relations and Cooperation (Dirco) in recognition of the contribution of the late former Dirco Deputy Minister Pahad.
Mbeki described Pahad as the most experienced international government senior official in the three previous administrations of the country, saying he would have been very much disturbed by the executive orders that were recently signed by the US president Donald Trump, particularly the drastic increasing of tariffs to influence the use of US dollars in the world.
He then questioned the current South African leadership’s preparedness to position the country in the seemingly coming multipolar system, which he said will soon replace the unipolar world order that currently exists, where the United States of America bully everyone because of its financial and military power.
Mbeki said that with China and Russia growing their economic and political interests in the world, particularly in Africa, the question remains whether Africa especially is ready to position itself in the new world order.
“In light of all this, what does Africa do? Minister, Dirco must lead us to that. One US writer said: The post World War Two world order is gone. Western dominance is slipping away. The current world economic order is on the way out. Where does this position us and Africa if this is true”? asks Mbeki
The former president also questioned what would be Africa’s response when Trump announced the US policy on Africa based on the intelligence report, which suggested that the ISIS group is rapidly expanding in Africa. He said the report is likely to inform Trump’s Africa policy as it warns of new attacks on the US and its citizens in the world by Al Qaeda and ISIS groups
“What are the implications of this assessment to Africa? Concludes Mbeki.
Pahad served as Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister both under the late former president Nelson Mandela and former president Mbeki from 1994 to 2008. He was close to Mbeki, and when he (Mbeki) was recalled in 2008, Pahad also left the government. He died in 2023.
He played a major role in convincing the late Iraq ruler Saddam Hussein to allow the international nuclear weapons expert to inspect to determine whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction as alleged by the US then-president George Bush. The report found no weapons of such nature in Iraq.