South Africa's engagement with Russia in the era of the “new dawn”

Abstract

Dubbed as the beginning of the “new dawn,” the year 2018 has served as a watershed moment in terms of South Africa's domestic and international affairs. The basis for this narrative is the fact that in February 2018, Cyril Ramaphosa succeeded Jacob Zuma as the President of South Africa. Among others, this change of guard in South Africa's presidency has ushered an emerging narrative about South Africa's future engagement with Russia in the context of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) grouping. Unlike former President Zuma who was seemingly inclined towards the East, President Ramaphosa has been linked by observers to the West. It is on this basis that, this paper attempts to address the following central question: Does the Ramaphosa presidency represent a catalyst for change or continuity in terms of South Africa engagement with Russia in the context of BRICS? As a way of departing from the dominant tradition in International Relations of either locating studies of this nature within the realist or liberal perspective, the authors of this paper proposes a holistic approach which is based on the theory of Afrocentricity (also read as a Diopan perspective) and interdisciplinary critical discourse analysis in its broadest form. In this context, this paper establishes an argument that it is not “business as usual” insofar as South Africa's present engagement with Russia is concerned.