South Africa’s government increasingly wrestles with the question of an Eastern or Western foreign policy orientation. A new government delegation is set for Washington next week. Meanwhile, the displacement of Western car brands by Chinese and Indian competitors foretells how South Africa’s economic orientation may yet shift (see our editorial on adjusting to a new Chinese reality this morning).

Amidst these uncertainties, South Africans themselves point to the answer and say the government should put economic benefit before ideological loyalties in foreign policy decisions. This was a key finding in a poll conducted by South Africa’s Social Research Foundation (SRF).

In the lead-up to the 2024 election, the SRF asked respondents about their broad policy preferences for a future coalition government, including their foreign policy views. The poll found that a decisive majority of South Africans want the country’s foreign policy to be guided by potential economic benefit rather than by ideological solidarity or loyalty to the liberation struggle. Conducted only weeks before the historic election that ended the ANC’s majority rule, the survey posed the question in stark terms: should foreign policy be based on South Africa’s economic benefit, or on loyalty to its liberation roots?

The results reveal a country looking outward with pragmatic intent. More than 60% of respondents said government should make foreign policy decisions primarily on the basis of which options would deliver greater economic benefit, while fewer than 30% supported an ideological or liberation-first approach. This finding cuts across nearly every demographic and party line. Even among voters who identify with the ANC or EFF, economic benefit took clear precedence, though liberation values remain more popular in those groups than among DA or IFP supporters.

Demographic cross-tabs show the economic-first approach is especially strong among urban, employed, and tertiary-educated South Africans. In contrast, support for a liberation-aligned foreign policy is weakest among private-sector workers, young adults, and those who live in the Western Cape and Gauteng. Across all groups, the polling is unambiguous: there is little public appetite for stances that cost jobs, harm trade, or limit South Africa’s ability to attract investment.