ANC links with Iran unwise

South Africa's growing alignment with Iran is not only abysmally amoral, but may prove to be spectacularly unwise.

- William Saunderson-Meyer

The ANC government today faces among its Western trading partners a hardening of attitudes similar to that which triggered the sanctions and investment boycotts that finally undid the apartheid regime. Consequently, the relationship and dealmaking with Iran are beginning to come under much scrutiny.

This week, the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy (ISGAP), released a report on the pattern of anti-Israeli rhetoric and behaviour from the ANC and the ties the party has developed with Iran and its proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah, as well as Russia and Qatar, in the light of South Africa's genocide charges against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).