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In July, DN was able to reveal that former leader S Håkan Juholt will be Sweden’s next envoy to South Africa. Today, Thursday, the decision was formally made at the government meeting.
Juholt wanted to go to South Africa four years ago. and applied for the newly established post as cultural advisor at the embassy, but instead became ambassador to Reykjavik. He left this post last week and now the moving cargo is not going to Sweden but to the South African capital Pretoria.
Regarding the desire to work in South Africa, he says it depends on the history of the country. It was the mobilization against apartheid that ignited their international involvement in the 1970s.
– The popular movement against apartheid piqued my international interest in Oskarshamn. Since then, it has followed me my whole life. It would be too easy to say that it was Olof Palme’s commitment that caught my attention because it was bigger than that: it was the many people. The churches, the unions, the schools, a civic movement against this tyranny that involved me, he tells DN by phone.
Sweden and South Africa have had warm relations since the abolition of the apartheid system in the early 1990s. The electoral victory of the ruling ANC party in 1994 is considered one of Sweden’s greatest foreign policy successes, which with a large parliamentary majority supported the struggle for democracy during decades. Sweden was the first country outside of Africa to be visited by Nelson Mandela after his release from prison in 1990.
However, over the past decade, the relationship has cooled, in large part due to the corrupt leadership of Jacob Zuma.
Have you been disappointed by what happened when you saw headlines about corruption?
– I do not come to South Africa with disappointment but with energy and many ideas. Even if the standard of living of all residents has risen, there are large income gaps, among the largest in the world, and perhaps it was not where one expected.
But what about the corruption that has spread?
– Wherever corruption occurs in the world, one becomes enraged, because it undermines trust in democracy, undermines trust in society – where corruption spreads, the collective idea of society is lost. Correcting corruption is a matter of survival in all societies. It’s a matter of fate, says Juholt.
An opportunity for a new beginning in relations was opened with the accession of Cyril Ramaphosa as leader of the ANC and later president. In March this year, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven was expected to make the first state visit to the country in many years. But this trip was canceled at the last minute due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Describe the current relationship between the countries as good.
– There are great challenges ahead. Climate change is an area where Sweden can be a major player in making climate-smart investments. Politically, the dialogue between the representatives of the countries is continuous, we dialogue in areas such as human rights and efforts against corruption.
