[Opinion] ANC’s Iran posture is undermining SA’s national interests

Starting 2026 with naval exercises off the shores of the Western Cape with China, Russia, and Iran foreshadows a doubling-down in neglecting the founding values of democratic South Africa, in favour of the ideological values of the African National Congress (ANC).

While Pretoria’s ANC-dominated political leadership, even in a ten-party coalition government, continues to claim a non-aligned lens and to frame policy within “Global South” parameters, these reflect long-standing ideological orientations.

After President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered Minister of Defence Angie Motshekga to request Iran’s withdrawal from the Will for Peace naval exercise, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) posted on social media, suggesting the Iranian corvette Narghi was participating in the “sea phase” alongside vessels from Russia, the UAE, and the Chinese destroyer Tangshan.

Reports indicate South Africa engaged United States (US) diplomats before Iran’s supposed withdrawal, discussing perceptions in the US. The high-level decision not to worsen matters came too late and apparently did not materialise.

US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Senator Jim Risch posted on X: “South Africa’s ANC-led government’s foreign policy hides behind a claim of non-alignment, yet its military hosts drills with America’s chief adversaries.” He acknowledged and condoned President Donald Trump’s aggressive treatment of the South African government as “an adversary of America” and advocated stronger action.

Anti-government protests

Nearly two hours later, Trump posted on Truth Social that countries that trade with Iran will face 25% tariffs “on any and all business” conducted with the US. This however was not in response to the naval drills, but to the anti-government protests in Iran.

This aggressive treatment by Trump began with the signing of the Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa executive order in February 2025, which cited South Africa’s domestic policy but explicitly criticised its ties with Iran: “South Africa has taken aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies, including… reinvigorating its relations with Iran to develop commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements.”

Currently, six separate bills in the US Congress pertain to South Africa. Four explicitly take issue with its relations with Iran or “authoritarian regimes and global actors hostile to United States national interests and democratic values.”

Iran ranks 154th out of 167 countries on the 2024 Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index, classified as authoritarian, and scores 2.5 on functioning of government; 3.33 on political participation; 2.5 on political culture; 1.47 on civil liberties; and 0 on electoral process and pluralism. On the 2025 Global Gender Gap Report, Iran ranks 145th out of 148, including 136th in women in parliament (less than 5%) and 148th in their labour-force participation (roughly 14%).

Democratic values

By comparison, South Africa ranks 43rd and the US 28th on the Democracy Index (both flawed democracies), while South Africa ranks 33rd and the US 42nd on the Gender Gap Report. These metrics suggest South Africa aligns more with US national interests and democratic values than with Iran’s.

South Africa’s National Interest framework document emphasises steering foreign policy by the Constitution and Bill of Rights including advancing constitutional democracy, human rights, equality, non-racialism, and non-sexism. Yet these appear as mere suggestions rather than pillars.

To understand the ANC’s posture toward non-democratic states, contemporary policy must be situated within enduring leitmotifs of South African foreign policy since 1994 under ANC leadership. Despite administrative changes, continuity persists across the Mandela, Mbeki, Zuma, and Ramaphosa eras, shaping the normative language where the ANC frames South Africa’s engagement with the international community. This includes concepts such as South-South cooperation, resistance to hegemony, post-colonial solidarity, Marxist anti-imperialism, and Global South solidarism. Engagement with Iran is thus an extension of this tradition inherited by the Government of National Unity (GNU).

The ANC’s solidarity with a fellow developing, anti-imperialist Global South country has trumped concerns about South Africa’s liberal values of democracy, human rights, and non-sexism. For Iran, ties with South Africa, a self-proclaimed champion of the Global South as demonstrated by its moral posturing on the global stage, advanced its interests, strengthened Global South relations, led to its BRICS invitation, and enabled naval exercises.

Share interests

With the ANC controlling foreign policy, both countries share interests in frameworks such as the Indian Ocean Rim Association, Non-Aligned Movement, and Afro-Asian solidarity.

Amid mass anti-government protests in Iran erupting in late December 2025 across all 31 provinces and over 100 cities, including Tehran, the ANC’s values are tested. Failure risks collective punishment for South Africa and all who live in it. Despite hundreds killed and dozens detained, the Presidency spokesperson issued a brief fence-sitting statement urging “maximum restraint.”

On the same day, 15 January 2026, the US Embassy to South Africa issued a more assertive statement criticising the SANDF and Minister Motshekga for defying the directive to exclude Iran from the Will for Peace naval exercise, while noting simultaneous state-sponsored casualties in the protests.

The embassy concluded: “Permitting Iranian military forces to operate in South African waters — or going to Tehran and expressing solidarity — isn’t ‘non-alignment’: it’s choosing to stand with a regime that brutally represses its people and engages in terrorism.”

If you are a democracy-loving South African, you should agree that the US is correct in criticising close ties with Iran. The authoritarian regime offers no value to South Africans and does not pursue constitutional national interests.

“For all of us…”

Despite US illiberal tactics (the use of coercive economic tools), its intentions seek a liberal outcome for South Africa. As then-US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce stated on 17 March 2025: “It is not to punish or to target people or countries. It’s a nature of changing policy and creating better environments for all of us… and that’s the case here with South Africa as well.”

Article originally appeared here.