The dilemma of poking the bear or letting a sleeping dog lie

Last week, in these columns, I focused on what the shameless and unscrupulous head of the White House could not do. But I should have worried myself more about what the 47th President of the US is capable of.

Unfortunately for us fellow South Africans, there is very little that is beyond Donald Trump. And he has wasted no time and responded in kind to the disrespect and the “we won’t be bullied” attitude from our president, Cyril Ramaphosa.

It felt good to laugh as Trump emerged with a bloody nose after the closing of our African G20. But we are reeling from Trump’s backlash now. Unsurprisingly, he has reacted with the ruthlessness he has come to be known for at home and abroad.  

Ramaphosa has been repeating his standard retort to Trump like a broken record. We won't be bullied!

But we continue to be bullied. And it's not just us – one of Trump’s “s***hole" countries – but the unstable businessman-politician has been generous around the world with his bullying.

I wonder if Ramaphosa now regrets poking the White House bear.

This is not to say that South Africa, and other great nations of the world within and without the G20, should take Trump’s bullying lying down. We can all collectively and individually push back against this global bully. But pragmatism and guile should trump ideology and pride when dealing with him.

German unification leader Otto von Bismarck spoke of politics being the “art of the possible” – aiming not for what’s right but that which is possible under the circumstances. Anti-apartheid struggle icon Oliver Tambo spoke of sometimes having to practise “a little bit of hugging the hyena”.

Tambo’s hyena was the apartheid government, which was no different to Trump in ruthlessness and the lack of scruples. And the hugging produced pacts with the “hated hyena” such as the Nkomati Accord and the pivotal agreement that led to the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (Codesa).

It may be too late to wonder now where South Africa would be in relation to the mighty US had Ramaphosa chosen to appease and hug the bear by bending protocol slightly at the close of the G20 summit.

Ramaphosa seems no longer interested in “resetting” relations. What is the endgame?