Oh, dear. Rusty Evans, dinosaur-general of the Department of Foreign Affairs, is upset with the Mail & Guardian. Did we get the facts wrong? Did we not do our homework? No, it’s much simpler than that. We reported on a conference and workshop where his department came under attack.
But listen to his words. “I take the gravest exception to what can only be described as vilification … uninformed and suspiciously motivated … innuendo and allegations of the most serious sort … armchair experts (who) do this country a grave disservice … racist undertones of unfounded attacks on officials.”
Tough words indeed.
One can raise one’s eyebrows at a public servant issuing a media statement in this tone. And one must be sceptical of the moral authority of a man who rose to power by giving loyal service to a Foreign Affairs Department which specialised in lying, deceit and dirty
But it is more serious than this. The criticism which sparked Evans’ outburst came from Parliamentary Committee chairman, Raymond Suttner, Cosatu and academics. Evans has not woken up to the fact that it is perfectly legitimate, even healthy, for his department to be criticised from these quarters. In fact, it is Suttner’s duty to keep a close eye on Evans’ work and to criticise when he feels it is
Evans compared Suttner’s criticism with another MP’s recent questioning of the Reserve Bank. If it is out of place for him to be telling an MP what he can say about foreign affairs, it is outrageous for him to take on critics of monetary policy.
In doing so, Evans appears to be arrogating to himself the authority to determine which MPs’ views are appropriate and the licence to lambast members of the Parliament he is answerable to.
Evans also attacked this newspaper and its reporter by name. We make no apology for what we have been doing in recent weeks: highlighting the absence of a foreign policy white paper, pointing out that foreign affairs is still being run by an old guard, and that a country which could use its moral stature to assert world leadership is throwing away this opportunity by flirting with some of the worst regimes in the world. We ask the question again: why is the ANC government — which was helped to power by an international solidarity campaign against human rights abuses — cosying up to repressive governments in places like Indonesia, Sudan, Nigeria and Kenya?
Evans answered none of these criticisms. Instead he resorted to an old Nat government trick: equating criticism with unpatriotic behaviour. “The way not to conduct foreign policy is to seek to undermine, discredit and destroy the political leadership and the key institutions of this country,” he said.
If anything, the old South Africa tone of Evans’ response confirms the need to keep him under close
The country’s most senior diplomat has challenged the right of a parliamentary committee to criticise his department and the media to convey that criticism. He needs a quick lesson in democracy — and diplomacy.