SA’s foreign policy on track – Zuma

Published on July 20, 2012 by News24   ·   No Comments

South Africa’s Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s clinching of the top AU post is a sign that the country’s foreign policy is on track. President Jacob Zuma was speaking in China, where he is attending a bilateral forum.

 

South Africa will chair it until 2018. “I think South Africa has been doing okay all the time, the fact other people have not seen it is unfortunate. There key moments in the foreign policy that noticeable, like where we come from in Addis Ababa, that is one moment where everybody realises that the country is doing well and the China/Africa meeting is another.”

 

As the co-chair of China-Africa Forum, South Africa will champion infrastructure development on the continent. China has issued a R20 billion credit line for Africa.

 

It has led to fears that China is  recolonising Africa economically.

“I think that is what has made Africa to say let us relate China as a collective, so that we are able to balance the manner in which the benefit is two way. If Africa is not able to negotiate the best deal with china, it is Africa’s problem. China is not saying we are coming to colonise, they say here we are, we have resources, let us partner.”

The Forum for China-Africa Cooperation is a collective consultation and dialogue mechanism. It was launched in 2000 to enhance trade.

President Zuma meanwhile was given an honorary professorship by Peking University in Beijing.