With SA’s sixth democratic elections concluded and parliamentary members sworn into office, the next step was to compose parliamentary committees, elect committee chairs and vote on budgets.

The role of parliament is to provide oversight to the work of the executive and government, make laws, consult the public and participate in other international engagements. In the light of the formation of the GNU, the budget vote held on July 11 by the parliamentary committee on international relations included defining statements of participating parties’ individual policies.

The responsible minister, Ronald Lamola, framed the discussion by referencing the need to build a capable and professionalised foreign service, pivoting to economic diplomacy, peacekeeping, balancing geopolitical dynamics through solidarity in the global South, and a reminder of cumulated efforts through multilateralism.

The minister prefaced the budget by noting a staggering 5% reduction “from R6.9bn in 2023/24 to R6.57bn in 2024/25”. To the layperson this does not sound that much, but any budget cut affects how missions abroad are able to deliver services. In addition, SA’s 2023 greylisting will have a prolonged effect on the investment environment, regardless of the work done between 2024 and 2025 to exit the list.

It is difficult for many citizens to understand the value of SA’s foreign service because it seems so detached from individuals’ reality. The effect of foreign policy is unquantifiable, as deals and relationships can take years to broker. Nevertheless, economic diplomacy — along with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) — remains the shining wrench in the department of international relations and co-operation’s diplomatic toolbox.

In theory the AfCFTA has immense potential to drive export-based industrialisation and dreams of African beneficiation of minerals. However, its current set-up does little to integrate the tale of two economies, other than promising to improve the status of nontariff barriers and one day facilitating job creation through extended value chains and the free movement of people. Here there is little incentive for informal businesses to formalise in an economy where business owners are being pushed further into precarious practice.

Perhaps the greatest expectation of SA’s unity government is increased predictability. However, in the budget vote, political parties put forward their own ideological positions disguised as pragmatism. The plea from the ANC was to understand that the direction the country has taken thus far appreciates history and the plight of the global South at the coalface of structural inequality.

And that overall SA needs to continue taking a principled approach, committed to African futures while maintaining solidarity with causes that resonate with the anti-apartheid struggle. Yet a key issue remains the failure to transform the public service and how that is used as a justification for the failures of policy and diversification of diplomatic and trade relationships.

The DA took a moralistic approach to Russia’s war in Ukraine, but miscalculated its initial pro-Israel response. In its parliamentary address the party noted the dangers of populism and fanaticism, and pushed for consistency in SA’s voting at the UN, especially on human rights resolutions.

However, the DA correlated prosperity with democracy indices, alluding to Western or liberal democracies, which could be construed as a selective way to define progress. The party went on to state that economic partnerships should appreciate traditional partners while searching for a reset and meaningful contributions to a free and fair world.

Overall, the DA’s framing echoed a season of light in which there is a new foreign policy that serves the optics of the party. However, it is far easier to achieve a foreign policy based on constitutionalism, as opposed to a democratic one.

The EFF offered a surprisingly balanced view, while calling for stronger action to be taken against Israel and linking the debate to fundamental issues of land dispossession (an issue that still affects South Africans).

As a pan-African party, the MK party’s aim is the restoration of Africa and indigenous people, linked to issues of land dispossession. A splinter from the ANC, the MK party has an intrinsic knowledge of the foreign service and foreign policy as it was part of the infrastructure that created it.

In parliament, the party dug into the bureaucratic leadership issues and vacuums within the department. It was pointed out that the parliamentary committee needed to perform oversight of missions, but the funding was simply not there. In addition, it insinuated that cadre deployment was rife — ironically, a policy that destabilised SA’s bureaucracy during MK party founder and former president Jacob Zuma’s terms.

The UDM, Al Jama-ah and ACDP all expressed concern about the shrinking budget. Al Jama-ah warned that SA should be wary of the intentions of the major powers, pointing out how US secretary of state Antony Blinken “pounced” on Lamola for a formal call as soon as the cabinet was announced.

Taking a more diplomatic approach, Bosa made reference to trade and human rights as cardinal points to foreign policy, and that historically holding on to an ideologically driven foreign policy may not serve the country. Here, the US African Growth and Opportunity Act and others, as well as visa adjudication, are vital for a prosperous pan-African vision. All of which is aligned to SA’s current foreign policy and to a large extent its implementation.

The fact that the PA and ActionSA were not available for a statement signifies that smaller parties are likely to be overwhelmed by committee work, and often committees such as international relations take a back seat to others.

The average South African should be the most important stakeholder of foreign policy, and this election showcased the importance of the way parties handle global crises, including Palestine and Ukraine, the Lady R saga and others.

While there is a large degree of continuity expected, in a world where perspective and narrative are king, parties are likely to rely on optics to prove various political points at the expense of long-term progress.

• Muresan is senior researcher at the Institute for Global Dialogue.