President Cyril Ramaphosa this week welcomed a new cohort of foreign heads of mission with a blunt message. South Africa will work with everyone but it will not accept a world order built on selective justice, unilateralism or the idea that might makes right.
The warning landed in Pretoria as Ramaphosa received letters of credence from the new envoys. He told them they were arriving at a moment of deep global fracture, where wars were draining lives, trade was under strain and major powers were picking and choosing when international law applied.
South Africa, he made clear, would not play along with that double standard.
Receiving the letters at the Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guest House, Ramaphosa framed the ceremony as far more than diplomatic protocol. He told the envoys they were arriving at a “particularly consequential moment in international affairs” marked by heightened geopolitical competition, shifting alliances and growing uncertainty about the future of the international order.
“Your presence here affirms the value that your governments place on their relations with South Africa,” Ramaphosa said. “We stand ready to deepen our bilateral relations and to build new partnerships of mutual benefit.”
But the welcome came with conditions. Ramaphosa warned that conflicts in the Middle East, Ukraine, Sudan and elsewhere were exacting “an enormous human toll” while disrupting global trade and undermining food and energy security.
“These conflicts disrupt global trade, undermine food and energy security and place a heavy burden on countries like ours,” he said.
He was equally direct about the United Nations, arguing that the multilateral system was under considerable strain because major powers were divided and applied international law selectively.
“South Africa’s position is clear. International law must apply consistently, without exception or favour,” Ramaphosa said. “The principles of the United Nations Charter must be respected by all nations, whatever their economic or military power.”
“We cannot build a stable international order on selective justice, unilateralism or the idea that might makes right.”
Ramaphosa said the answer was not less multilateralism, but “better, more representative and more effective multilateralism”, a line aimed squarely at long-standing South African demands for reform of the UN Security Council and international financial institutions.
“We firmly believe that Africa deserves a permanent voice in the institutions that maintain international peace and shape the global economy,” he said.
He anchored that stance in South Africa’s Constitution, which marks its 30th anniversary this year, and in the country’s anti-apartheid struggle.
“Our foreign policy is anchored in the values of our Constitution,” he said. “These values, human dignity, equality, non-racialism, non-sexism, freedom and justice, shape how we engage with the world.”
“Our struggle against apartheid taught us that freedom and dignity cannot be selectively applied. It also taught us the power of international solidarity in overcoming injustice.”
Quoting Nelson Mandela’s 1998 address to the Mercosur Heads of State Summit in Argentina, Ramaphosa added, “The challenges of development and peace are beyond the capacity of any one nation to solve.”
He told the diplomats South Africa would seek “constructive relations with all countries, whatever their political systems or economic models,” guided by mutual respect, equality and shared interests.
Africa, he stressed, remained at the centre of that policy. South Africa assumed the chairpersonship of the Southern African Development Community in August for 2026 and 2027, with a focus on regional industrialisation, infrastructure, agricultural transformation and food security.
“We are determined to expand the beneficiation of our critical minerals,” Ramaphosa said. “Africa must move beyond being a supplier of raw materials to become a centre of production, innovation and value addition.”
He invited the envoys to work with South Africa through investment, technology transfer, skills development, infrastructure financing and trade, and to pursue the African Union’s Agenda 2063 vision of an Africa that is “peaceful, integrated and prosperous” and determines its own development path.
As the first African country to hold the G20 Presidency, Ramaphosa said South Africa would continue to champion inclusive growth, debt sustainability, climate justice and food security, and to insist that the opportunities of artificial intelligence, digitalisation and the just energy transition be shared by all.
“The opportunities of artificial intelligence, digitalisation and the just energy transition must be shared by all countries. No nation should be left behind in shaping or benefiting from the future global economy,” he said.
He closed with a challenge to the envoys to make diplomacy deliver tangible results.
“The strength of relations between countries is measured by the tangible benefits they deliver to their people,” Ramaphosa said. “Diplomacy must create opportunities, build bridges between societies and improve the lives of ordinary citizens.”
He urged them to engage not only the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, but also provinces, municipalities, universities, research institutions and the private sector, particularly on economic growth, industrial development, job creation and skills.
“As you take up your assignments, I assure you of the full support and cooperation of the South African Government,” Ramaphosa said.
“May your tenure in our country be successful. May it bring our nations closer together. And may the relations between our respective countries grow from strength to strength.”