NAIROBI, Kenya – Since the days of Nelson Mandela, South African leaders have rejected American criticism of their friendship with autocrats such as Fidel Castro of Cuba and Muammar al-Gaddafi of Libya, whose countries backed them in the most desperate moments of anti-apartheid struggle.
South Africans are now defending their loyalty to another autocrat, Vladimir Putin, and removing global outrage over his invasion of Ukraine.
At the United Nations on Wednesday, South Africa was among 24 African countries that refused to join the resolute vote condemning Russian aggression: 16 African countries abstained, seven did not vote at all, and one – Eritrea – voted against, campaigning. only with Russia, Belarus, Syria and North Korea.
The startling result reflects ambiguity on much of the continent, where, with a few exceptions, Ukraine’s war has been met with visible silence – in stark contrast to Western countries extending sanctions, seizing oligarchs’ yachts, insisting on war crimes, investigations and even open threats. to collapse the Russian economy.
“Russia is our friend to the end,” Lindive Zulu, South Africa’s social development minister, who studied in Moscow during the apartheid years, said in an interview. “We do not intend to condemn this relationship, which we have always had.
Many African countries have a long-standing affinity with Russia, dating back to the Cold War: some political and military leaders have studied there and trade ties are growing. And in recent years, a growing number of countries have signed contracts with Russian mercenaries and bought more and more Russian weapons.
Several African countries have condemned Russian aggression as an attack on the international order, particularly Kenya and Ghana. About 25 African countries voted in favor of a UN resolution condemning Putin’s actions on Wednesday. But the deep divisions in the continent’s reaction were obvious from the start.
Sudan’s deputy leader flew to Moscow on the first day of the conflict, exchanging warm handshakes with Russia’s foreign minister as military planes bombed Ukrainian cities. Morocco, a longtime US ally, offered a watery statement that irritated US officials, who remained silent.
in Ethiopia, Russian flags fluttered at a ceremony on Wednesday in honor of a famous 19th-century battle against Italian invaders, recalling the participation of Russian volunteers who sided with Ethiopian fighters.
African sympathies for Ukraine have also been diluted by reports of Ukrainian border guards forcing African students to stand in line while trying to leave the country, sparking a furor of racism and discrimination. Nigerian President Muhammadu Bukhari, who has 4,000 students in Ukraine, has denied the reports.
Mr Putin has partly bypassed condemnation in Africa, calling for Cold War jokes when Moscow backed African liberation movements and presented itself as a bulwark against Western neocolonialism. On Sunday, Russia’s foreign ministry stopped focusing on Ukraine to remind South Africa in a tweet of its support for the fight against apartheid.
But Mr Putin also divided African opinion through his own efforts to expand Russian influence on the continent through an unusual combination of diplomacy, weapons and mercenaries.
In an effort to regain some of the influence Moscow lost in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mr Putin hosted a glittering summit in the southern Russian city of Sochi in 2019, attended by 43 African heads of state. . The second Russia-Africa summit is scheduled for this autumn.
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March 3, 2022, 4:04 p.m. ET
But as the Russian economy strained under Western sanctions imposed after Crimea’s annexation in 2014, it could not afford the expensive lures offered by other African powers, such as cheap loans from China or Western development aid.
So it offers undisputed arms sales and the services of Russian mercenaries, many of whom are hired by the Wagner Group, a company affiliated with Yevgeny Prigogine, a close ally of Mr Putin, known as “Putin’s cook.”
In recent years, Wagner’s mercenaries have fought in civil wars in Libya and Mozambique, and are currently guarding the president of the Central African Republic, where they helped repel a rebel attack on the capital last year.
In January, Wagner’s fighters appeared in Mali as part of an agreement to fight Islamist insurgents that infuriated France, a former colonial power that announced last month that it was withdrawing its own troops from Mali.
The military junta that rules Mali denies inviting Wagner to the country, but the U.S. military says about 1,000 Russian mercenaries are already operating there.
Russia’s influence also stems from arms sales. Russia accounts for almost half of all arms imports to Africa, according to the Russian Arms Export Agency and organizations that monitor arms transfers.
The war between Russia and Ukraine: key things you need to know
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A Ukrainian city is falling. Russian troops gained control of Kherson, the first city to be conquered during the war. Overtaking Kherson is important because it allows the Russians to control much of Ukraine’s southern coast and push west toward the city of Odessa.
One of Mr Putin’s strongest defenders in recent weeks has been a powerful figure in Uganda, a major customer of Russian weapons. Lieutenant General Muhuzi Kainerugaba, son of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, said in tweet:
“The majority of humanity (which is not white) supports Russia’s position in Ukraine.
He added: “When the Soviet Union parked nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1962, the West was ready to blow up the world. Now that NATO is doing the same, they expect Russia to do differently. “
The reference underscores a shocking contradiction in Putin’s new embrace in Africa, said Maxim Matusevich, a history professor at Seton Hall University in New Jersey who is studying Russia’s relations with Africa.
“During the Cold War, the Soviets tried to sell socialism to African nations, while criticizing Western colonialism and imperialism,” he said. Russia is now committed to a new candidacy for influence in Africa, but led by right-wing nationalism.
A similar divide has emerged in Asia, where nations with authoritarian leaders or weak ties to the West have embraced Putin’s war or avoided criticism of Russian military aggression.
For Africans, war can hit their pockets hard. Last week, the Automobile Association of South Africa predicted that rising fuel prices will reach record highs in the coming weeks. Food is also becoming more expensive – Russia and Ukraine are major sources of wheat and fertilizer in Africa – at a time when many African countries are still rocked by the pandemic.
But war can also have an economic boom for Africa, albeit one that may take years to feel. As Europe deviates from Russian gas imports, it may turn to African countries that want to exploit recently discovered energy reserves.
Tanzanian President Samu Suluhu Hassan, who is seeking a $ 30 billion investment to discover a huge gas discovery in the Indian Ocean, said the invasion of Ukraine could provide an opportunity.
“Whether it’s Africa, Europe or America, we’re looking for markets,” she told The Africa Report, an online news outlet.
Elsewhere, however, Mr Putin is still taking advantage of his image as a thorn in the West’s side. Many South Africans remember that the United States supported the apartheid regime until the 1980s. South Africans have also viewed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Sitimbile Mbete, a senior professor of political science and international relations at the University of Pretoria.
However, in addition to historical ties with Russia, South Africa is motivated to call for diplomacy, not to fight, because this approach is in line with the country’s position on international conflicts over the past 30 years, she said.
“This is the lesson they learned from South Africa’s own struggle – that apartheid actually ended when the two sides sat down at the table,” Ms Mebet said. “When it came to that, the conflict ended only through negotiations and compromise.
The report was provided by Abdi Latif Dahir in Nairobi, Kenya, Ruth McLean in Dakar, Senegal, Lincy Chutel in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Aida Alami in Casablanca, Morocco.