Speech By Minister Ronald Lamola at the Second Annual Peace and Security Dialogue under the auspices of the Thabo Mbeki Foundation held on 4 September 2025
Minister Lamola, Speeches
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Former President,
Your Excellencies,
Esteemed Delegates,
Brothers and Sisters of Africa,
We stand today at a crossroads of history. In the current world of heightened uncertainty, and the return of dangerous might-makes-right policies, new possibilities may emerge, with pronounced risks. Yet we come from the vantage point that risks could be turned into both opportunities and promise, if only nations could swap confrontation with co-operation. This is not the time for despondency, we dare say.
One thing is certain: we will emerge from the fog, but it is dependent on us taking our African obligations seriously as contained in key strategic documents like the AU Constitutive Act, the APRM and the African Governance Architecture, and African Peace and Security Architecture
In the current world of heightened uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and trade wars induced by the US unilateral tariffs.
The natural question that will arise is what does it mean to be non-aligned in these heightened geopolitical tensions.
In our country some have even suggested that we should just dance to the tune of the US due to the impact of the tariffs to our economy, ignoring that the tariffs are not a uniquely South African phenomenon?
Our approach will continue to be based on a trinity of principles: Progressive Internationalism, Pan-Africanism, and Non-Alignment. These principles are the backbone of what has made post-apartheid South Africa.
Non-alignment is not neutrality. It is not a passive watching from the sidelines.
I know what some will say—that in a world of complex powers, this stance is either naive or a cloak for a hidden agenda.
In our country some are calling for the South African government its non-alignment policy and dance to the tune of the US.
But true non-alignment is the active, principled assertion of our right to think for ourselves. and be not just the subject and objects of others’, agendas. Instead, it is the shaping of our own agendas. As the old adage goes, nothing about us without us! While we welcome and are supportive of initiatives by the US and Qatar, among others, we stress the vital need for African initiatives to be recognised and taken seriously. We should ensure that these externally driven initiatives do not clash with the SADC-EAC-AU backed process. Externally driven initiatives must be reinforcing the African initiatives.
Driven by the understanding that non-alignment is the compass that ensures we navigate by our own stars – the stars of African dignity, development, and self-determination – and not by the constellations drawn by foreign powers. The path is not always straightforward, and the compass needle may tremble in a storm, but our destination is clear. We will continue to make tactical considerations informed by the material conditions prevailing at a particular moment.
But what gives this stance its moral force? This is where our second principle enters: Progressive Internationalism. This is the belief that our actions cannot be divorced from our deepest domestic values: human rights, social justice, and the rule of law.
We know that a just world is a sustainable world, and a system built on injustice is inherently unstable.
I hear the criticism that this is a noble but naive ideal, that in the messy reality of conflict, our moral compass must not be compromised.
They ask if we let the butcher buy peace with the lives of his victims. I say to you: the balance between justice and peace is not an equation to be solved, but a difficult tension to be managed.
And how do we focus this progressive vision? Through our third and most vital lens: Pan-Africanism. Pan-Africanism is the soil in which our freedom grows. It is the unwavering belief that our destinies are linked.
When conflict ravages one nation, it weakens the entire continent. When one economy thrives, it lifts others. We are not 54 separate islands; we are a vast forest. A blight on one tree, if ignored, can consume the whole. The strength of the forest is each individual tree; the strength of each tree is the forest.
This brings me to South ‘ ‘Africa’s own journey. Emerging from the darkness of apartheid, we chose reconciliation. We gather here not to pontificate but to collectively gather wisdom on what could be done differently.
Our quest to find peace in the Eastern DRC, Sudan, South Sudan, etc is informed by the fact that peace is a pro condition for development. We continue to engage with the stakeholders in Sudan to ceasefire and open lines of engagement.
South Africa as the Chairperson of the C5 continues to call all the parties in South Sudan to uphold the terms of the revitalised peace agreement.
This is the very essence of “African solutions for African problems.” I know this principle is feared by some, who worry it can become a slogan behind which tyrants hide. To them, I say: You have put your finger on our greatest test.
This principle is not a shield for dictators; it is a sword for the people. For as Wole Soyinka reminds us, “The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny.” It is a call to us—to the African Union, to our regional bodies, to our civil societies—to be the ones who hold our leaders accountable.
A truly effective African Union is the institutional heart of this vision, empowered to mediate, to enforce human rights standards, and to guarantee justice and accountability for all Africans.
Our continent still bleeds from the wounds of conflict. There are scores of conflicts raging across our continent, from the Sahel to the Great Lakes.
We need to address a phenomenon where countries with no minerals can exploit a conflict in a manner that enables them to be a net exporter of minerals they do not have.
The African continent must speak in one voice to ensure that the new scramble for critical minerals must lead to beneficiation at source.
This is where our trinity of principles becomes our shield and our spear.
We must see improvement in living standards. This is at the heart of South Africa’s economic diplomacy. Our Pan-Africanism demands Africans trade with each other, integrate our economies, and speak with one voice on the global stage.
I am aware of the challenges—the bureaucratic mountains and logistical canyons that have hampered the full realisation of the African Continental Free Trade Area. To fail in its implementation would be a failure of our very vision. We’ve to increase trade with SADC from the current 21 percent significantly.
Our economic prosperity demands that we not only work on top-down agreements but also empower the millions of men and women who trade across our borders in the informal economy. We must simplify their journeys and recognise their vital role. The AfCFTA is not just an economic pact; it is the physical manifestation of our unity.
And finally, our non-alignment gives us the courage to say “no” to any power, East or West, whose demands will render us a colonial outpost.
For the AFCTA to succeed we need to build the network infrastructure that will enable its success, the road networks, rail network, telecommunications, one stop border posts etc. We must enable integration through this network infrastructure.
The easy path is to choose pure idealism or pure cynicism. Our path is more challenging. It is the path of principled pragmatism, a framework that is tested and made stronger by every challenge. We choose to be like a baobab tree, with non-alignment deeply anchoring the roots of a system that prevents us from being toppled by the winds of global geopolitics.
Our Progressive Internationalism is the trunk, strong and principled, pointing always toward the light of justice. And our Pan-Africanism is the vast, sprawling canopy, offering shelter and sustenance to all who reside under it, interconnected and mutually supportive.
This is the balance we keep. This is the challenge we embrace. This is our solution to the might is right doctrine.
Patrice Lumumba said Africa must write its own history and in both north and south it must be history of glory and dignity. The situation in the Great Lakes demands nothing less.
I thank you.
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