SA has played a large role in peacekeeping in Africa, as in Burundi in 2001, where soldiers in Bujumbura protected politicians returning to participate in a transition government. Picture: AFP
THE inauguration on Friday of Muhammadu Buhari as Nigeria’s president presents a fresh opportunity for SA and Nigeria to repair their frayed relationship. But it also provides a chance for SA to alter its timid and ambivalent policy approach to Nigeria.
Relations between the two countries since apartheid have been dominated by clashes and tensions over a range of issues: from the bitter fallout in the Mandela presidency, following the order by autocratic former Nigerian leader Gen Sani Abacha to hang Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other human rights activists; to problems stemming from the countries’ competing aspirations for continental leadership, including Nigeria’s opposition to Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s bid for appointment as chairwoman of the African Union (AU) Commission and tit-for-tat spats over immigration policies.
The relationship was recently tested to the limit by the manner in which the Nigerian authorities responded to the deaths of 84 South Africans following the collapse of a church building in Lagos. And Abuja recalled its ambassador to SA in protest against last month’s xenophobic attacks against African immigrants.
South African and Nigerian officials like to describe ties between the two countries as a "strategic partnership". This is questionable. The reality is that this is a dysfunctional relationship.
Judging by the mutual distrust, recriminations and, increasingly, the resentment that have characterised the relationship, it seems not even the binational commission — set up in 1999 to bolster political, economic and diplomatic co-operation between the two countries — has improved the quality and effectiveness of bilateral engagement.
One of the underlying causes of this dysfunction is that Pretoria, in its desperate quest to gain acceptance in Africa after decades of apartheid isolation and destabilisation, has pursued a policy of appeasement towards Abuja.
This explains why SA has consistently failed to stand up to Nigeria when its national interest has been undermined.
NIGERIA’s policy towards SA has been characterised by a combination of blackmail and misplaced overconfidence.
Abuja has exploited four contentious issues to exert pressure on Pretoria in an attempt to extract political, diplomatic and economic concessions.
First Nigerian governments and citizens have endlessly used every opportunity to remind South Africans of the support Nigeria gave to the African National Congress (ANC) and its contribution to the liberation struggle.
Undoubtedly, Nigeria played a pivotal role in the international campaign against apartheid. South Africans should be thankful for, and should not forget, the support they received. But Nigeria was not the only African country that actively mobilised against apartheid. Others did too, such as Tanzania, Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Zambia and Algeria.
Since 1994, the ANC government has done a great deal to contribute to development and stability on the continent, reciprocating the support it received during the anti-apartheid struggle.
It played a leading role in building a new continental architecture, as shown by its active championing of the AU and New Partnership for Africa’s Development, as well as hosting the Pan-African Parliament.
SA has also expended considerable amounts of taxpayers’ money on initiatives to broker peaceful settlements as well as on United Nations and AU peace missions in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Comoros, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Liberia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and Sudan.
Through development finance institutions such as the Industrial Development Corporation and the Development Bank of Southern Africa, SA has been at the forefront of infrastructure and industrial development efforts on the continent. SA has served as a generous fiscal anchor and provider to the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu), ensuring much-needed economic stability in its Sacu partners — Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland. It has also increasingly served as a provider of aid on the continent. For a developing country with pressing domestic socioeconomic challenges, SA has demonstrated exemplary leadership in discharging its regional and continental obligations.
Second Nigeria has used its large and growing market as a bargaining chip against SA. This posture has become pronounced since last year when Nigeria supplanted SA as the largest economy in Africa.
The threat to shut down South African businesses in Nigeria if the xenophobic violence in SA did not stop fits neatly into this scheme of things. Linked to this has been a tendency to accuse SA of practising protectionism: making it difficult for Nigerian businesses to operate in SA when South African businesses are allowed to operate freely in Nigeria.
BUT SA has welcomed the emergence of Nigeria as the biggest African economy. A prosperous and stable Nigeria is vital to Africa’s success. SA should contribute to Nigeria’s economic development. And that is precisely what South African companies in Nigeria have been doing.
SA offered to help Nigeria develop its automotive industry, even though that would make it our competitor in this sector.
SA has world-class companies that operate in Nigeria on merit. It is unfair that they have at times been picked on while multinational firms from other countries have been left alone. The South African government has the obligation to safeguard these companies. SA also ought to challenge the baseless assertion that it engages in protectionism against Nigerian firms. Nigeria has for a number of years enjoyed a massive trade surplus with SA.
Third some Nigerian officials and commentators have previously portrayed SA as an "un-African country" that not only lacks the experience to navigate the complexities of the African continent, but also lacks the credentials to be an authentic African representative.
SA may not be an uncontested leader in Africa but it has made a significant contribution to Africa’s development over the past 20 years. It has played a key role, especially during the Mbeki era, in raising the continent’s profile and in promoting its interests in global forums.
SA’s foreign policy activism and extensive diplomatic presence on the continent attest to the key priority it attaches to Africa in its external relations. And SA’s soft power, even though it has somewhat declined, is still admired in large parts of the continent.
Fourth Nigeria has frequently criticised SA for mistreating its citizens. This relates to concerns about the "criminal stereotyping of Nigerians" and Nigerians who have died in SA, reportedly murdered by the police and other South Africans.
There are many law-abiding Nigerians who have made SA their home and who are making a positive contribution in the country. However, it cannot be denied that there are also Nigerian nationals who have been involved in criminal activities, sometimes working in cahoots with South African citizens. The government is within its rights to clamp down on such criminality.
SA has correctly attached a great deal of importance to its ties with Nigeria. It is a critical relationship that holds the huge promise of driving development in Africa and improving the continent’s position in the global political economy. But, if it is to work, the partnership must be based on honest, unambiguous and robust engagement.
Pretoria should not be apologetic when it pursues its national interest. With the incoming Buhari administration, it has an opportunity to recast its relations with Abuja.
• Soku is an associate professor at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business.
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