Former South African president Thabo Mbeki said countries pursuing national interests should respect sovereignty and United Nations principles as the world shifts toward multipolarity, aligning with views expressed by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Speaking to students at the University of South Africa on Friday, Mbeki addressed global political changes amid U.S. tariff impositions on multiple countries including South Africa. The engagement covered local and international issues, with U.S.-South Africa relations taking center stage.
“Since everybody in the world pursues their own interest, why should the United States not pursue their own interest?” Mbeki told the gathering. He emphasized that countries should be guided by three principles: respect for multipolarity, multilateralism, and adherence to UN frameworks.
The former president’s comments echo recent statements by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who declared that “it’s not normal for the world to simply have a unipolar power” and called the post-Cold War dominance “an anomaly.”
South Africa faces a 30 percent U.S. tariff announced in July, which President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration disputes as based on contested trade balance interpretations.The government maintains average tariffs on imported goods entering South Africa stand at 7.6 percent.
Mbeki supported the South African government’s ongoing negotiations with Washington. “Actually it had been a correct position taken by Secretary of State Rubio,” he said regarding the pursuit of national interests within agreed frameworks.
The UNISA event, hosted by the Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs, provided a platform for intergenerational dialogue on pressing socioeconomic and geopolitical issues.
University of South Africa Vice-Chancellor Puleng LenkaBula described the gathering as crucial for discussing South Africa’s role as “a positive force in the world” amid shifting global dynamics.
Rubio has articulated that multipolarity represents “not an abandonment of our principles” but requires working “in the national interest, sometimes in cooperation with people who we wouldn’t invite over for dinner.”
During the wide-ranging discussion, Mbeki also addressed conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine, gender equality issues, and South Africa’s non-aligned foreign policy stance.
The former president, who served from 1999 to 2008, remains influential in South African political discourse through the Thabo Mbeki Foundation and his role as UNISA chancellor.