South Africa’s opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), now sees the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party’s close ties to China as a vulnerability that the DA aims to exploit. Evidence of this new strategy came in December when the DA mayor of Pretoria, Solly Msimanga, made an independent trip to Taiwan, sparking immediate outrage from the Chinese government, the South African foreign ministry, and the ANC, who all decried it as a violation of South Africa’s commitment to the “One China Policy.”
Independent Johanessburg-based journalist Ufrieda Ho has been following the political drama set off by Msimanga’s Taiwan visit and how China is fast becoming a divisive political issue in South African politics. She joins Eric and Cobus to explain why Msimanga’s visit was so controversial both at home and abroad.
Recommendations
- “Msimanga’s Taiwan Trip Causes a Diplomatic Stir,” Virginia Keppler, The Citizen, December 28, 2016
- “South Africa’s Ruling ANC Looks to Learn from Chinese Communist Party,” Jennifer Findlay, TIME, November 24, 2014