A dilemma of conflicting interests: South Africa, Suez and Egypt, 1947–1956

Abstract

The Egypt ian g o v e r n m e n t ' s nat ional isa t ion of the Suez Canal Company on 26 Ju ly 1956 and the subsequen t Anglo-French and Israel i action aga ins t Egypt confronted South Africa wi th a d i l emma of conflicting in teres ts . Egypt ' s crucial significance f rom a secur i ty point of v iew con t r a s t ed s tarkly wi th its low-key commerc ia l value, and though official policy was de te rmined by a desire to s tay outside the evolving crisis, it became increas ingly difficult to keep ha rmonious re la t ions w i th o the r p o w e r s w i t h a s take in the region. In th is ar t ic le p e r s p e c t i v e s and v iews held at the t ime b y the South Afr ican Depa r tmen t of External Affairs are su rveyed in the light of depar t men ta l documents tha t were not prev ious ly avai lable to researchers . South Africa a t tached a special significance to the Eas te rn Medit e r r a n e a n and Egypt the no r the rn ga t eway to Africa as a poss ible b r idgehead for c o m m u n i s m to enter the cont inent in the tense Cold War years . To the South Africans, Britain had a special respons ib i l i ty for the defence of the area, while the Brit ish s t renuous ly sought act ive South African par t ic ipat ion in any such action. Negot ia t ions wi th Egypt were compl ica ted b y the posi t ion of Israel , while its re la t ions wi th the United Nat ions s t ra ined since i ts inception made South Africa w a r y and apprehens ive about the invo lvement of the wor ld body in the region. Pe rhaps these fac tors f lashed through Pr ime Minis ter J G St r i jdom's mind when, on his r e tu rn f rom the Commonwea l th Conference of Ju ly 1956, the p res s ques t ioned him on Egyp t ' s move. He suggested tha t South Africa should 'keep [its] head out of tha t beehive ' . 1 The l imited commerc ia l use South Africa made of the canal was the