Former President Thabo Mbeki says the late Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aziz Pahad would have been shocked by the allegations made by US President Donald Trump against South Africa. Delivering the inaugural Annual Aziz Pahad Peace, Security and Human Rights Dialogue in Pretoria, Mbeki says Pahad spent many years explaining the policies of the ANC post apartheid.
He says Pahad was always striving for equality and the protection of human rights.
“I’m quite sure Aziz would have been shocked when he read this executive order by the President of the United States, that, in shocking disregard, the citizens right the Republic of South Africa recently enacted the Expropriation Act to enable the government of South Africa to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation, because he spent so many years explaining what the ANC stood for, that you could have a false statement like this,” says Mbeki.
Mbeki has focused on the posture of the US President Donald Trump, as the world is changing with China, Russia and other countries becoming more influential.
Pahad passed on in 2023 and has been hailed as a diplomat par excellence.
Mbeki says South Africa must lead efforts to ensure that Africa responds timely to the ever evolving global balance of forces.
He delivered a keynote address at the inaugural dialogue to preserve the legacy of the extraordinary diplomat and former foreign affairs deputy minister.
He says Pahad never feared responsibility.
The former president also touched on the current tension between the US and South Africa.
International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Ronald Lamola, says South Africa will remain firm on its principle positions.
Mbeki’s speech focused on the Trump administration and its overall impact in the world, as the trade war intensifies and the dynamics between Pretoria and Washington.
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