In the last week, two incidents occurred which serve to indicate the continuing struggle between South Africa’s two coalition partners—the African National Congress (ANC) and the pro-western Democracy Alliance (DA)—for control of the policy direction of the nation. On Oct.18, the ANC-controlled foreign ministry or Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) asked Taiwan to move its “unofficial embassy” out of Pretoria, and on Oct. 25, the DA-controlled Home Ministry announced that Ukrainian diplomats would be welcomed “visa-free” into South Africa, before the ANC had agreed to it.
First, an Oct. 18 posting by DIRCO refers to the “mischaracterization” of its engagements with Taiwan, adding that “what will be rebranded as a trade office” has been asked to move from the political center of Pretoria to the trade center of Johannesburg. In what is being characterized in the press as a “favor to China,” the Taiwan trade office has been given six months to comply. On Oct. 22, Taiwan foreign ministry spokesperson Jeff Liu rejected the request to remove its “representative office” from Johannesburg’s embassy row.
Second, on Oct. 27, Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber, one of the few ministries headed by a DA rep, posted on his X account that South Africa had decided to grant Ukrainian diplomats visa-free access. Two hours later, Presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya responded that the announcement had not been cleared by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office, saying: “It is unclear how the Minister can announce the signature of an international agreement without prior formal authorization to do so.” The whole thing played out publicly on X.
