The Democratic Alliance (DA), South Africa\u2019s former opposition party and now the ANC\u2019s main coalition partner, has distanced itself from President Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s recent comments about Russia. While Ramaphosa called Russia a \u201cdear ally\u201d and \u201cvalued friend\u201d during a meeting with Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of a BRICS summit in Kazan, DA leader John Steenhuisen made it clear that his party \u201cdoes not consider Russia or Vladimir Putin as an ally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The differences between the DA and the ANC are not limited to foreign policy. Internal disagreements, including over issues such as the teaching of the Afrikaans language in some schools and the management of Justice Minister Thembi Simelane, are already undermining the stability of the coalition. The DA disagreed with Ramaphosa’s remarks, stressing that it could not support the idea of \u200b\u200ban alliance with an authoritarian regime accused of violating international law, in reference to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite criticism from his coalition partners, Cyril Ramaphosa has maintained his pro-Russian stance. During his meeting with Putin, he stressed the importance of discussions between BRICS members on “geopolitical issues”, as well as economic issues such as trade, climate change, peace and security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tensions over relations with Russia expose deeper divisions within the South African government, particularly between the ANC and its partner, the Democratic Alliance. These disagreements, combined with other disputes over internal issues, risk undermining the cohesion of the coalition, calling into question the sustainability of this political partnership in the months ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Democratic Alliance opposes Ramaphosa’s pro-Russian positions The Democratic Alliance (DA), South Africa\u2019s former opposition party and now the ANC\u2019s main coalition partner, has distanced itself from President Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s recent comments about Russia. While Ramaphosa called Russia a \u201cdear ally\u201d and \u201cvalued friend\u201d during a meeting with Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of a BRICS […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,38,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-business","category-policy"],"yoast_head":"\n