By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC) secretary general Fikile Mbalula is leading the party’s delegation to join the Forum for the Freedom of Nations in Moscow.
The informal forum, will be held from 15-17 February and will be officially launched at the end of March.
The three-day meeting is expected to recommend the establishment of a forum organising committee headed by Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council.
The formation of the forum is based on the UN General Assembly’s Resolution 1514 — Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples — adopted in 1960.
“The distinctive feature of the Forum is that it does not target any particular state or international organization and is open to broad cooperation with all interested parties by the objectives and principles of the UN Charter and the international law.
“The forum aims to promote the development of a global political system that would ensure reliable and indivisible security, global stability and justice, compliance with the benevolent non-interference principle, and respect for cultural and civilisational identities,” the concept note reads.
The proposed organising committee is intended to develop the programme of the forum for the founding event, compile a preliminary list of its participants and working bodies, and draft its final documents.
However, it has already been noted that all decisions of the committee will be made through consensus and those on technical issues will be made by a simple majority of the participants.
This evening our delegation from the ANC and the SACP was hosted for a dinner by the Communist Party of Russia Leadership led by Prof Vladimir Shubin and Cde Vyacheslav, ahead of the Forum Of Supporters Of The Struggle Against Modern Day Practices Of Neocolonialism, which is… pic.twitter.com/1lNJdm9ajO
— ANC SECRETARY GENERAL | Fikile Mbalula (@MbalulaFikile) February 14, 2024
For years, the relationship between South Africa and Russia has baffled pundits and governments in the West.
There are no cultural or linguistic ties between the two countries.
Russia is also not a major trading partner for South Africa; the United States, United Kingdom and European Union account for more than a third of South Africa’s imports while Russia accounts for approximately 0.4 percent.
In October 2023, South Africa abstained, like many other African countries, in a United Nations General Assembly vote condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine which began in February 2022; there were 143 votes in favour of the resolution.