In Conversation with South Africa’s New Minister for International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola
At a consequential moment in international relations, the Quincy Institute was honored to host H.E. Ronald Lamola for his first public event in Washington, D.C. since becoming South Africa’s Minister for International Relations and Cooperation on July 3. He was in conversation with Joy Reid, MSNBC political analyst and host of the “The ReidOut” and “AM Joy.” The Minister was in a fireside chat-style discussion with Ms. Reid for 30 minutes and then took questions from the audience. The conversation was on the record.
Minister Lamola discussed key aspects of the international relations and policy of South Africa’s new Government of National Unity, which formed after this summer’s elections resulted in a strong showing by several new parties in South Africa. The conversation focused on the interest and support of many Americans for the establishment of democratic rule in South Africa in 1994 and for positive U.S.-South African relations, and explored whether South Africa’s independent foreign policy is cause for concern, or part of a broader trend in the Global South and an opportunity for a healthy, give-and-take dialogue with the United States.
Panelists
Ronald Lamola
H.E. Ronald Lamola became South Africa’s Minister for International Relations and Cooperation on July 3, 2024. He previously served as Minister of Justice and Correctional Services of the republic from 2019 until assuming this position. He has extensive legal training in corporate, banking and financial law, with post graduate training in telecommunications policy and regulation, as well as mining and energy sector compliance. As Minister of Justice, he led South Africa’s case before the International Court of Justice in January 2024 regarding Israel’s compliance with the Genocide Convention in Gaza. Mr. Lamola was deputy president of the ANC Youth League and was elected to the ANC’s national executive committee in December 2017, where he continues to serve.
Joy Reid
Joy-Ann Reid is a political analyst for MSNBC, where she hosts a daily news analysis program, “The ReidOut,” on weeknights and “AM Joy,” which airs on the weekends. She has several books, including co-editor of We Are The Change We Seek: The Speeches of Barack Obama (Bloomsbury USA) and, most recently, Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America (Harper Collins). Previously, she was managing editor of TheGrio.com, a daily online news and opinion platform devoted to delivering stories and perspectives that reflect and affect African-American audiences, and she got her journalistic start in Florida, editing news for NBC online. She is a graduate of Harvard University and a 2003 Knight Center for Specialized Journalism fellow.