The presidency will this week finalise the names of international envoys to be dispatched by President Cyril Ramaphosa to various countries as battle lines deepen between SA and the new Trump administration.
The envoys will be responsible for clarifying SA’s foreign and domestic policies after a series of false assertions by US President Donald Trump and SA-born billionaire Elon Musk of widespread land grabs under SA’s Expropriation Bill. These have led to fears that SA’s relations with one of its largest trade partners could deteriorate.
“The process to formulate the delegation and finalise their mandates is under way. Once completed, an announcement will be made,” said Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya, adding that an announcement is imminent.
Last week, Trump signed an executive order halting US aid to SA and offering resettlement to the US for white Afrikaners — a proposal rejected by Afrikaner groups, including those who lobbied the US and Trump specifically against the SA government.
The signing of the executive order by Trump is a culmination of a series of diplomatic pressure points between Washington and Pretoria in the last two years, including SA hauling US ally Israel to the International Court of Justice over its war with Gaza and the perceived closeness of SA with China and Russia.
Trump’s order, which was preceded by a threat to impose 100% tariffs on Brics countries in December 2024, is particularly worrying for the SA government as it coincides with SA’s presidency of the Group of 20 this year.
Trump’s threat might create a delicate balancing act for SA, where it needs to juggle economic stability alongside 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 SA’s exports in 2022 alone, mainly motor vehicles, fruit and wine.
Business Leadership SA CEO Busi Mavuso says finance minister Enoch Godongwana’s upcoming budget in a week’s time will now also have to contend with the unexpected withdrawal of foreign assistance from the US government.
“It appears that a combination of efforts to cut back foreign development spending by the new US government, and a mistaken view that the Expropriation Act amounts to a land grab, led the White House to order the halting of all aid and assistance to SA over the weekend.
“While the Expropriation Act is not perfect, it does not remove constitutional rights to property and due process in any expropriation,” Mavuso says.
“The loss of US funding is material, particularly for the Pepfar programme that is integral to our management of the HIV/Aids pandemic.
“Pepfar last year contributed $453m (about R8.5bn) in direct funding to SA, a substantial portion of the R30bn spent on the fight against HIV.
“Pepfar has been critical to the development of SA’s HIV response, not just in funding, but also in know-how and scientific research and was until now a proud example of America’s support for development and improved health elsewhere in the world.”
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