The minimum you must know

South Africa overcame a long history of apartheid in 1994, when black South Africans voted in an election for the first time. Nelson Mandela was released from to become president of the country. South Africa has been diplomatically outspoken against apartheid ever since.

President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa used his annual address at the United Nations not to pattern "peace," and to call for an end to the Israeli "apartheid" towards the Palestinian people, which is the centerpiece of South African foreign policy. South Africa brought the leaders on all sides of the Gaza matter before the International Court, which called for end to the conflict but initially declined to rule against Israel. The decision by the South African government reflected great courage and integrity. South Africa has a phenomenal government for wanting to protect the Palestinian people. But the ICC was also right, in this writer’s opinion, to drop the matter. (See the Israel Peace page for why this writer sincerely discourages formal arguments.) Reuters subsequently reported that, “The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity and war crimes over the war in Gaza.” This writer believes that President Donald Trump’s sensitively written peace accords for interfaith peace would be a much better approach to resolving matters upon his taking office.

Like most African countries, South Africa is a member of the African Union. The country has open and friendly relations with the United States but departs diplomatically from U.S. leadership from time to time such as with respect to Israel. Currently South African enjoys peace with all countries.