SA reacted with a mix of concern and calls for strategic planning on Monday, a day after US president-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on the Brics group if it undercut the dollar as global reserve.
“We need to expect the unexpected through a risk assessment ... even though we all know any attempts to de-dollarise are far away as it would have a massive impact on the international financial system,” the DA’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Ryan Smith, said in an interview with Business Day on Monday.
Trump’s statement — which also threatened to cut the Brics+ countries from the US market — was particularly shocking as it coincided with SA taking over the helm of the Group of 20 (G20) on Sunday ahead of a summit of leaders in 2025.
Speaking to the press during a by-election campaign in Limpopo on Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa said SA would engage in diplomatic talks with Trump rather than engage in social media clashes.
“We will have moments when we are going to sit down around the table and discuss all these matters,” Ramaphosa said.
“Some of these matters are said on these platforms. We prefer that we sit down and rely on diplomacy and have proper discussions on each issue that affects each nation,” he said.
“We are looking forward to having such discussions with President Trump.
“He will obviously say from time to time this is the type of tariff he will impose on this country and that country.
“We hear all of that, but in the end we also have a message to put across. We will put it [on] the table where we can discuss things properly in the usual SA style,” he said.
Incorrect
The international relations & co-operation department also weighed in, with spokesperson Clayson Monyela dismissing Trump’s remarks as a reflection of incorrect reporting.
“Incorrect reporting led to this false narrative running wild. Brics is not planning to create a new currency. The discussion centres [on] trading among Brics members using their own currencies,” he said.
The idea of a Brics currency has its roots in the broader goal of the grouping to challenge the global power structure on the shared belief that many countries or regions should influence international relations and global decision-making power.
Over the years, Brics countries have discussed the possibility of creating a unified currency, to boost trade and investment among member states with the establishment of the New Development Bank and Contingent Reserve Arrangement in 2014 seen as steps towards greater financial co-operation.
Trump’s threat may put SA in a delicate balancing act, where it needs to juggle economic stability with its pursuit of national interests on the global stage.
The country is also a major beneficiary of the US African Growth & Opportunity Act (Agoa), which facilitated duty-free access to the US market for more than $3bn (R55bn) worth of the country’s exports in 2022 alone, mainly motor vehicles, fruit and wine.
SA took over the G20 presidency from Brazil on Sunday and Ramaphosa is expected to formally launch it on Tuesday.
There are expected to be 230 meetings in the lead-up to the G20 meeting of leaders at the end of 2025.
Smith said: “The G20 is very important. SA needs to pursue its own interests. We are the sole member state from Africa, besides the AU. We also need to place items on the agenda that put Africa at the centre of an agenda that make it easier for developing countries to borrow money and service debt.”
While his comments reflect the same sentiment as those Business Day has spoken to in the government of national unity, Smith, speaking from a party perspective, said SA needed a more “detailed plan” on what SA wanted to get out of the G20.
With TimesLIVE and Tiisetso Motsoeneng
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