By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) demands that Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) urgently institute disciplinary action against its Head of Public Diplomacy, Clayson Monyela over remarks on South Africa’s revival for nuclear weapons programme.
Monyela came under fire on Sunday after engaging with a social media user over nuclear capabilities.
As part of its defence programme under apartheid, South Africa spent increasing amounts on developing nuclear weapons from the 1970s onwards. Although the threat South Africa faced was mainly unconventional, in the form of guerrilla attacks from neighbouring states and an internal insurrection, there was also a potential conventional threat.
With the Russians backing the ANC and the frontline states — Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Zambia — there was a concern about a foreign-supported conventional attack.
South Africa’s nuclear weapons were viewed as a means of deterring conventional attacks launched from the frontline states but it was most unlikely that they would have been used. There was certainly an absence of large, concentrated targets and Pretoria would have faced intense international opprobrium had it crossed the nuclear threshold.
In 1991 South Africa became a State Party to the international Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and has signed and ratified the treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in 2017 and 2019 respectively.
The user proposed that South Africa should pursue nuclear capabilities as a means of protecting Nelson Mandela’s peace-loving nation from so-called imperial forces.
Monyela wrote: “I find no fault in your proposal.”
The comment sparked an immediate backlash, with DA demanding an immediate public apology following his endorsement.
This is an extraordinary and deeply irresponsible statement for a senior diplomat tasked with representing South Africa’s official foreign-policy positions to the world, said the DA in a statement.
“Officials like Monyela cannot unilaterally make wide-reaching policy pronouncements on behalf of the GNU, and the DA is firmly of the view that him or DIRCO endorsing nuclear proliferation directly contradicts South Africa’s commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.”
DA stressed that South Africa’s voluntary dismantling of its nuclear weapons programme remains one of its most significant contributions to global peace.
Any suggestion that the country might revisit that path, it said, contradicts commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and weakens Pretoria’s moral standing when advocating for a rules-based international order.
In response, Monyela emphasised that the government policy remains firm. South Africa remains committed to a nuclear-free world. Except for scientific, medical and energy use.