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South Africans or self-interest first?

3rd February 2017

By: Riaan de Lange

     

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I woke up to bad news recently, being immediately reminded of a television series that has undisputed longevity and is an embodiment of both innovation and trailblazing. It is the BBC’s 1980s classic, ’Allo ’Allo! Unless you are of a single-digit age or a recent arrival to the third rock from the sun (yes, another terrific television series) or a Rip Van Winkle of sorts, then you would no doubt have been entertained by at least one, if not all, of the 84 episodes. If not, there is no time like the present.

What made the series so incredible was that all the actors spoke English, but did so with different accents and mannerisms so as to convey, and sometimes accentuate, their nationality, be it French, German, British or, on occasion, Italian. A favourite character of mine was Captain Crabtree, a British spy posing as a French police officer who spoke poor French, which was accentuated by incorrect vowel sounds, rendering him nearly incomprehensible. He is famed for his “Good moaning!” – an all-day greeting. A classic example of his gibberish: “I was pissing by the door when I heard two shats. You are holding in your hind a smoking goon. You are clearly the guilty potty!” But then he himself conceded: “I admit my Fronch cod be butter.”

The television series revolved around Rene Artois, a French cafe owner who tries to survive World War II but is caught between the Gestapo and the Resistance and forced into working with, and for, both. But this is not his only struggle – he also struggles to hide from his wife evidence of his affairs with his waitresses. Talk of multitasking, something which men are not famed for but which Artois managed admirably.

The memories flooded back on that morning – on January 23 – when I heard that Artois, or rather actor Gorden Kaye, who is famed for playing him, had passed away. You will be missed. Thank you for the memories.

Interestingly, the more things change, the more they remain the same. This year, it is 78 years since the start of World War II and, with hardly any exception, the same countries are either confronting one another or attempting to align themselves. Worryingly, the previous military conflict was an escalation of imposed international trade barriers and restrictions. Currently, international trade tensions are starting to brew. (Do you know the day on which World War II started? I do; well, at least I was guaranteed at a point in my history exam, not because I studied it, but because it was my father’s birthday – September 1, 1939.)

So, why are tensions brewing? January 20 saw the inauguration of Donald Trump as US President. His campaign slogan, which is now his motto, was ‘Make America Great Again’. Days earlier, on January 17, British Prime Minister Teresa May announced her 12-point plan for Brexit “to make the UK great”. There was a time, not so long ago, when Britain professed to be Great Britain. So, you might say that May intends to put the ‘Great’ back in Britain.

But as a good infomercial would say, “that’s not all; there is more”. On January 23, May launched her ten-point industrial strategy, designed to boost the post-Brexit UK economy. Hours later, Trump, in his first full day in office, withdrew the US from the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, leaving Eurocrats fearing that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a series of trade negotiations being carried out mostly in secret between the European Union (EU) and the US, could be next. Trump is also expected to implement other major changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) and could even walk away from this agreement.

It is about ‘America first’ for Trump, who, in his inauguration speech, used the words ‘America’ and ‘American’ more than any other US President did during his inaugural address – 35 times. This is quite significant, considering that Trump’s was the third- shortest inauguration speech since that of JF Kennedy.

But political change is afoot not only in the US and the UK, but also in France, which is scheduled to hold elections on April 23, which, if opinion polls are to be believed, could see Marine Le Pen ascend to the Presidency. She is on record as having said that, should she be inaugurated as President, one of her first actions would be to schedule a referendum on France leaving the EU – Frexit, if you will. It is about French interests first. For her part, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is doing all she can to keep the EU intact, but she is becoming increasingly unpopular because of her migrant policies and is facing a federal election, which must take place before October 22. It is all happening.

So, true to form, the ’Allo ’Allo! modern-day cast is reassembling, with a special guest star, if it was a television series, being the People’s Republic of China. On second thoughts, there is another one, Russia. Interestingly, all northern hemisphere countries, but then again, when they all engaged last time around, militarily, that is – with the exception of Japan – it became known as World War II.

There is an apparent spread of populism (currently more noticeable in the northern hemisphere), which is not appreciated by all, especially the political establishment. Hillary Clinton called Americans of such persuasion “the deplorables”. It reminded me of Sylvester Stallone’s movies, The Expendables. It is quite evident that ‘the deplorables’ want to dispense with the status quo and to do so without any delay. It is all about national interest and the regaining of national pride and the country’s right to determine its own destiny.

How does this augur for South Africa? Is anyone even paying attention, or is attention being focused elsewhere? The TTIP is hanging in the balance and Nafta is also at risk. What about the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa)? Surely, realistically, it cannot survive intact.

But, as I stated earlier, this is not only confined to the US. The UK’s May released a 12-point industrial plan on January 23, following the earlier release of her ten-point Brexit strategy. At the time of writing, she was scheduled to fly to Washington DC to meet with Trump. Rumour has it that a trade agreement between the two countries is in the offing.

With the UK and its overseas territories (you might still know them better as ‘colonies’) planning to leave the EU (when Article 50 is triggered in March), where does this leave the 2016-signed Southern African Development Community (SADC) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)?

As both a beneficiary of Agoa and currently a signatory to the SADC EPA (which replaced the Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement of 2000), what is South Africa doing to protect its hard-fought gains entrenched in these agreements? Do South Africa’s ‘leaders’ have any plans or even an inclination to make South Africa great again? Well, depending on your political persuasion, you might argue that South Africa was never great. If so, will South Africa ever be great?

With the changes in the world occurring at such a rapid and unprecedented rate, should South Africa’s leaders not ‘involve’ themselves, as a matter of course? Does South African Airways still have direct flights to Washington DC and London, or can flights be chartered to these destinations? Does South Africa have the luxury to merely sit idly by? I think not. What happened to the philosophy of ‘making things happen’? Or could it be that South Africa’s political establishment’s interests lie elsewhere? Is it a case of, while the northern hemisphere is pursuing public interests by placing its people first, in South Africa the converse is true?

In recent weeks, the foreign media have been reporting of those countries with which the UK is considering concluding trade preferences and trade agreements (for both goods and services), and it is no big surprise that South Africa does not feature on that list. The countries mentioned are Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia and the US. (The first three ought to be of interest, as they share a similar history to that of South Africa.)

But then, for its part, South Africa seems to be intent on not engaging on matters of trade. South Africa has not ratified, and is unlikely to ratify, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), which, as of January 20, required only three WTO members to ratify it for it to enter into force. At the time of writing, an International Forum for National Trade Facilitation Committees was scheduled for Geneva, Switzerland, from January 23 to 27 for countries that have ratified the TFA.

It is as if South Africa is withdrawing, or rather, has withdrawn, from the international stage, preferring to engage domestically. Why is that? This is contrary to the immortal words of Kennedy at his inauguration in 1961: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” A reminder: the converse does not, and cannot, hold.

But South Africa’s international disengagement is not going unnoticed. On January 19, www.fin24.com reported that Eurasia Group president and founder Ian Bremmer had ranked South Africa tenth on his geopolitical risks of 2017 list in Time magazine in January. Bremmer stated: “The deeply unpopular President Jacob Zuma, beset by corruption allegations, is afraid to pass power to someone he doesn’t trust. The resulting infighting over succession stalls any momentum toward crucial economic reform in the country and limits South Africa’s ability to offer leadership needed to stabilise conflicts inside neighbouring countries.”

Is this placing South Africans first?

A word to the wise, as Michelle Dubois from the Resistance, in ’Allo ’Allo!, is famed for saying: “Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once.” South Africa’s political leaders need to seriously and urgently consider the interests of all South Africans, who they profess to lead, and not their own narrow self-interests, for if they do not, then, as Italian Captain Alberto Bertorelli reminded his Gestapo allies when their plans went awry: “What-a mistake-a to make-a.”

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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