# Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, says South Africa pursues an independent foreign policy firmly anchored in the principle of non-alignment, and will not be dictated by external pressure. He was responding to comments made by the US ambassador to Pretoria, Leo Brent Bozell, who claimed that deputy president Paul Mashatile’s visit to China and Iran’s deputy Foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh’s visit to Pretoria undermined South Africa’s non-alignment stance. The department’s spokesperson, Chrispin Phiri, says the minister has emphasised that non-alignment must not be conflated with neutrality:
Minister Lamola says South Africa’s non-alignment must not be conflated with neutrality [SOUND]
ENG PhiriOnNonAlignment