Two bills have recently been tabled in the US Congress that call for America’s bilateral relationship with SA to be reviewed and individual sanctions to be imposed against ANC leaders and government officials.
The proposed sanctions in these bills against individual ANC politicians and others who are not being prosecuted despite being implicated in corruption in the Zondo report should be welcomed. So too should action be taken against those who violate human rights by disregarding property rights and targeting minorities in various ways.
However, it should concern each of us that the US may also punish the country for the sins of ANC leaders. The US’s proposed review of its ties with SA, together with the existing higher trade tariffs against SA than against most other countries, will affect us all adversely. It will lead to an economic crisis and associated job losses. Ordinary people will suffer while the governing elite will continue to enrich themselves through corruption.
Due to the serious impact the deteriorating relationship with the US holds for the country, ANC leaders are attempting to evade responsibility for the adverse consequences of their own reckless statements and policies. As usual, they do this by trying to falsely shift the blame onto someone else. This time, the ANC has spread blatant lies to attempt to make AfriForum and Solidarity the scapegoats.
The ANC’s first media statement in reaction to President Donald Trump’s social media post on February 2, in which he expressed concern about the ANC’s reckless actions, was solely focused on blaming AfriForum. The statement made no reference to any of the real reasons for the diplomatic crisis, accusing AfriForum of spreading “misinformation” without providing any facts on what “misinformation” was provided, when or to whom.
The pressure from the US presented a historic opportunity to bring about a much-needed change in direction in the country by also putting local pressure on the ANC to abandon some of its more reckless policies. This opportunity was missed by some media and others who slavishly followed the ANC’s propaganda that everything was simply the result of the spread of “misinformation”.
The agriculture minister, who could have used the opportunity to apply pressure for change in the country to prevent punitive tariffs on agricultural products, also joined in by attributing the US’s actions to the result of the spread of “misinformation”.
Why is the crisis the ANC’s fault?
Unlike the accusations against AfriForum and Solidarity, for which no factual basis is provided, there are indisputable facts that support the argument that the ANC leaders’ own actions caused friction with the US. These facts are not only listed in the bill that was recently introduced by a member of the US House of Representatives, Ronnie Jackson, but also in an earlier bill that was introduced in the House in 2023 during the Biden administration.
These bills call for a review of relations with SA due to, among other things, the country’s ties with Hamas and Iran. It specifically refers to the fact that former international relations minister Naledi Pandor held talks with Hamas shortly after the attack on Israel of October 7 2023, and two weeks later visited Iran, which finances Hamas, for talks with Iran’s president.
The bill also accuses SA of not pursuing a nonaligned foreign policy as it claims, but of demonstrating anti-American policy. Mismanagement and corruption by the ANC government are also listed in the bill as a threat not only to the SA population but also to American companies investing in SA.
The negative impact of the ANC’s policies, actions and sometimes lack of action on relations with the US is highlighted by the demands the White House is making on the ANC-led government. Among other things, it is demanding that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government unconditionally condemn the “Kill the Boer” chant, declare farm murders a priority crime, respect property rights and exempt American companies from SA’s discriminatory racial legislation.
The ANC’s own actions are therefore directly responsible for all of the hotspots the US has pointed out, through the bills and the White House. It is therefore far-fetched to blame anyone else in SA for that.
What was AfriForum and Solidarity’s role in the crisis?
AfriForum and Solidarity have long seen the crisis on the horizon and have made numerous efforts to avert punitive actions by the US that will harm ordinary South Africans.
- 2018: The African Growth & Opportunity Act (Agoa) trade agreement, from which SA has benefitted over the years, requires, among other things, that participating countries respect property rights and human rights and must not act directly against US interests. The ANC’s official decision in December 2017 that the country’s constitution should be changed to allow for expropriation without compensation, and its continued denial of gross human rights violations, already posed a threat to Agoa. AfriForum therefore sent a delegation to the US in 2018 to ask the US to not punish the country but rather to put pressure on the ANC to abandon its policy, which threatens property rights, and to take actual action against farm murders. The crisis was partially averted when the ANC was unable to amend the constitution due to pressure from various quarters.
- 2022–24: The 2023 bill that was introduced by some Democrats and Republicans in the US House of Representatives during the Biden era once again set alarm bells off as to the continuation of Agoa because it called for a review of the US bilateral relationship with SA. Solidarity therefore made comprehensive submissions to the US embassy in Pretoria and the US House of Representatives in Washington to demonstrate with statistics the negative impact the end of Agoa would have on ordinary South Africans.
- In an effort to avert the coming crisis, the Solidarity movement also visited Washington in August 2022, September 2023 and November 2024 to meet with role-players in the House of Representatives’ foreign affairs committee. Each time it was clear that issues such as impending expropriation, human rights issues, the permanent nature of affirmative action and BEE, farm murders and SA’s foreign policy for America had created an untenable situation. Warnings were constantly directed to the SA embassy, but officials did not respond or try to co-operate with the Americans.
The reconstitution of the House of Representatives after the American election meant that bills on relations with SA had to be reintroduced during the new administration. This has now happened.
President Trump’s intervention
The US discontent with SA, which already existed under both Democrats and Republicans during the Biden administration, gained renewed momentum when the US got a president who is determined to take stronger action against SA than his predecessor did. After Trump announced on his social media platform on February 2 his intention to act against SA, the Solidarity Movement, AfriForum and Solidarity once again sent a delegation to the US to try to avert punitive measures against the country. It was clear that the US would not abandon its intention to act against SA unless the ANC was prepared to make concessions.
Before and after the Washington visit, the Solidarity Movement, AfriForum and Solidarity tried hard to engage with ANC leaders to find solutions that could avert possible punitive measures. Unfortunately, the ANC puts its own policy and ideology above the interests of the country, continuing to refuse to amend the expropriation law, condemn “Kill the Boer” and follow a nonaligned foreign policy, among other things.
Should the ANC persist with its reckless policies, further punitive measures, in addition to the higher tariffs that already exist, are unfortunately inevitable. Within this reality the institutions of the Solidarity Movement continue to attempt to do everything possible to avert the impact on ordinary people in the country. That is why AfriForum and Solidarity have once again sent a delegation to the US, which met with prominent role-players in Washington recently.
Solidarity’s core objective with the visit was to present a trade framework to the US, with suggestions on how to prevent the country from being punished. Solidarity also gave this trade framework to the SA government. However, warding off punitive measures against the country will not be easy due to the strong feeling in Washington that action against SA is now necessary.
Should the US persist with punitive measures, the only remaining option is to try to convince the US to rather punish the leaders in SA who are corrupt, pursue reckless policies and violate human rights, rather than punishing the whole country. The AfriForum delegates’ recent visit to Washington was therefore aimed at proposing individual sanctions as an alternative. Acting against people such as Julius Malema in terms of the US Magnitsky legislation will be a good start.
• Kriel is CEO of AfriForum.
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