Obama's legacy in SA goes beyond tangible benefits

Although many of his ideals remain unfulfilled, Barack Obama set an exemplary standard for South Africans as much as for Americans, argues John Stremlau

Barack Hussein Obama's second term as US president ends on Friday, and his departure will stir mixed feelings here in South Africa and around the continent.

Inflated hopes that this son of a Kenyan might transform US-Africa relations peaked with his sensational election in 2008.

If accumulated disappointments are muted this week, perhaps it is due more to the fear and trepidation of what president-elect Donald Trump may do than to what Obama failed to do.

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But was his presidency good for South Africa?

In his farewell address in Chicago on Tuesday, Obama reiterated his own list of unfulfilled presidential aspirations to advance America's democracy, a list hauntingly familiar here, a reminder of common concerns at the foundation of the special US-South Africa relationship.

Obama stated his wish that he could have done more to overcome the US's legacy of white racial oppression rooted in slavery and forced separation, and to reduce economic and social inequality, including in education and at work.

He also noted unmet needs to rebuild and maintain democratic institutions as public trust in the US falters and the corrosive influence of money in politics threatens transparency and ethics, risking state capture by powerful interests rather than public consent.

Trust and truth in government suffer when demagogues pander to fears. Perhaps there are lessons, both bad and good, in his experience that might help South Africa grapple with similar issues here.

Of more practical and immediate value to South Africa and Africa was Obama's handling of the 2007-08 US financial crisis and the risks of another Great Depression.

Had he failed, the impact on Africa's trade-dependent economies and especially South Africa would have been dire.

Trump is now promising some of the same tax cuts for the rich and deregulation of banks and corporations that contributed to the financial meltdown at the end of the last Republican administration, plus his own dangerous threats of unilateral US trade restrictions, which should alarm South Africa.

Obama also had to unwind George W Bush's disastrous military intervention in Iraq.

We forget that he came to office with no prior experience in military affairs. He had to learn on the job and in ways that would gain the confidence of sceptics in the Pentagon and hawks in Congress.

block_quotes_start Obama's multilateralism has been broad and deep, although never unqualified, in ways that have served South African interests block_quotes_end

Africa was not a national security priority, although he did make use of Bush's US Africa Command and other US assets to work with a range of weak and autocratic African states to contain threats of terrorism locally and internationally.

Obama's admission of failure in not doing more to help Libyans consolidate democracy after the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's armed intervention strikes me as correct after I had observed the 2011 election in Libya for the Carter Center.

Many here in South Africa, however, view this intervention as Obama misleading South Africa and acting in a way that shattered their hope in him as a "true friend of Africa".

Continued US military assistance to several African countries, including the deployment of special forces in some countries, is seen in this same light.

There is, however, absolutely no evidence that he or anyone in his administration attempted to subvert or intervene to overthrow the current government of South Africa, as senior ANC officials once alleged.

Much more positive has been Obama's emphasis on the business opportunities which South Africa and Africa offer the US.

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Although he inherited the African Growth and Opportunity Act and the President's Emergency Plan on Aids Relief from Bill Clinton, both also strongly supported by Bush, and of special importance to South Africa, he launched other programmes of interest of domestic and regional interest to South Africa.

These include Power Africa, the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, the President's Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa, and the US-Africa Business Forum.

Negotiations with South Africa to renew Agoa for 2015-25 were highly contentious, with nearly irreconcilable differences between the US and South African poultry industries.

In the end, however, South Africa's high-value manufactured products here, notably cars, and major textile employers vital to Lesotho, among others, stand to benefit greatly from access to US markets.

Obama's multilateralism has been broad and deep, although never unqualified, in ways that have served South African interests.

The successful nuclear deal with Iran, with the lifting of sanctions, helped advance South African non-proliferation policies and renewed access to an historically important market.

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Obama has supported many multilateral initiatives at the UN, and regional co-operation in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. His normalisation of relations with Cuba pleased South Africa but advances regional co-operation there.

Had Thabo Mbeki's terms in office coincided with Obama's, the latter would have been a strong supporter of South Africa's leadership in advancing the African renaissance and related initiatives for greater African collective self-reliance.

And he almost certainly would have welcomed, if not needed, Mbeki's urging not to invade Iraq, where South Africa had credible evidence that there were no weapons of mass destruction.

This might have freed Obama to give greater attention to Palestinian rights.

Obama's leadership in the global campaign to reduce man-induced global warming and US emissions, including the essential bilateral side bargain with China, are of vital interest to South Africa, which is warming at twice the global mean.

In 2014 he pledged a $10-billion down payment towards what major polluting nations vow by 2020 will grow to a $100-billion annual allocation to assist vulnerable African and island nations to adapt to global warming. On the other hand, Trump's threat to renegotiate this commitment imperils South Africa.

Finally, there are the intangible benefits to South Africa of Obama's legacy. His personal qualities - integrity, empathy, dignity and generosity of spirit - inspire people the world over.

Yet, from his first day in office, the Republican opposition not only refused to work with him, many from especially the South were openly racist.

None more so than Trump, who rose to prominence in reactionary Republican circles by falsely accusing Obama of being foreign-born and hence unqualified to be US president.

Obama was, however, twice elected by the biggest, most inclusive and ethnically diverse coalition in American history. He governed successfully without hint of serious scandal, corruption, or conflicts of interest among the leaders of his administration.

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His personal life, as the faithful husband and caring parent, has been exemplary, whatever the pressures of the presidency, in a world increasingly bereft of shared values traditionally prized by people of all faiths.

This might not have mattered in earlier bilateral relations, but in our socially networked world, how other leaders comport themselves often filters down to the grassroots elsewhere, perhaps having positive if subtle effects here in South Africa too.

At a time of political uncertainty at home and abroad, the US is about to inaugurate a president of uncertain policies and principles but whose leadership attributes - which are contrary to Obama's - may seem all too familiar here in South Africa.

Trump's greed and self-regard appear without limits, with loyalties extending not far beyond family and a few friends, with little regard for women or ethnic groups beyond his own, with false facts and false denials; just means to selfish ends.

In Obama's farewell, he reminded us all that no democracy is ever perfect or secure and has to remain our shared responsibility and benefit. If we listen and act accordingly, this could prove his special legacy for democrats in South Africa, no less than in the US.

• Stremlau is visiting professor in international relations at the University of the Witwatersrand