Africa at heart of SA foreign policy – Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa has rebuffed a suggestion by Mkhonto we Sizwe Party parliamentary leader John Hlophe that SA’s foreign policy was not centred on Africa. A Business Day report says during a question-and-answer session in the National Assembly, the President was adamant that ‘Africa stands at the centre of our foreign policy’ which was rooted in the promotion of pan-Africanism. Hlophe wanted to know how Ramaphosa could justify SA’s foreign policy ‘which often seems more aligned with Western interests than with the needs of the African continent’. He also wanted to know what steps the President had taken to ensure that SA remained a leader in promoting African unity and self-determination. Ramaphosa said SA was firmly committed to strengthening the AU, the Southern African Development Community, as well as instruments of peace, stability, integration and development in the region and the continent. ‘Our country plays a leading role in several continental platforms and issues. We are the chair of the presidential infrastructure initiative. We are currently the AU champion on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.’ He said SA was working closely with other countries on the continent towards the full implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, which was set to eliminate trade barriers. ‘We continue to work within the AU to end several ongoing conflicts on our continent to restore constitutional and democratic government to countries that have recently experienced coups.’