As President Cyril Ramaphosa seeks to mend relations with the US, his government is intent on signalling unwillingness to take the US message seriously
There is a palpable sense of panic in SA government following US president Donald Trump’s Truth Social post announcing that the US would be halting all further aid to the country. While the Trump administration has cut aid worldwide, SA has been singled out, largely due to the recent signing of the Expropriation Act.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has requested a meeting with the Trump administration to provide an explanation, but this does not seem to have helped. Secretary of state Marco Rubio has now decided to boycott the upcoming G20 meeting in Johannesburg.
If this trend continues the consequences could be dire. SA risks being expelled from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) and facing additional tariffs on trade with the US. Some observers have even suggested that Washington may consider targeting ANC politicians with sanctions. The threat to ordinary South Africans is immense, and there are calls for government to take swift action to address the situation.
Yet as Ramaphosa seeks to mend relations with Washington his government appears intent on signalling its unwillingness to take the US message seriously. SA’s new ambassador to Washington, Ebrahim Rasool, has stated that he wants to “put away the megaphone” when it comes to diplomacy with the US. While such an approach is necessary (though not sufficient) for rebuilding diplomatic ties, SA seems to have abandoned even this basic step.
If this trend continues the consequences could be dire. SA risks being expelled from the African Growth and Opportunity Act(Agoa) and facing additional tariffs on trade with the US. Some observers have even suggested that Washington may consider targeting ANC politicians with sanctions. The threat to ordinary South Africans is immense, and there are calls for government to take swift action to address the situation.
Yet as Ramaphosa seeks to mend relations with Washington his government appears intent on signalling its unwillingness to take the US message seriously. SA’s new ambassador to Washington, Ebrahim Rasool, has stated that he wants to “put away the megaphone” when it comes to diplomacy with the US. While such an approach is necessary (though not sufficient) for rebuilding diplomatic ties, SA seems to have abandoned even this basic step.
Rasool is already struggling with the fact that US NGOs have quickly uncovered his extensive public ties to Hamas. This includes a tweet in which he expressed delight at receiving a Palestinian scarf (keffiyeh) from Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh shortly before he was killed by Israel.
While Hamas may be welcomed in SA, it is designated as a terrorist organisation in the US. Under normal circumstances, this would already be a problem for a country trying to repair its diplomatic image. However, things have worsened since deputy international relations and co-operation minister Alvin Botes escalated the situation.
During a trip to the Netherlands Botes proudly announced SA’s decision to join the so-called “Hague Group,” a small coalition of countries that seeks, among other things, to “prevent the provision or transfer of arms, munitions and related equipment to Israel”.
This is not a new policy — SA’s National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) already prohibits arms sales to conflict zones. Several other members of The Hague Group, including Malaysia, which does not recognise Israel at all, have similar policies. However, the group aims to co-ordinate these measures to impose a broader arms embargo on Israel by blocking third-party arms shipments.
The practical effect of this strategy is questionable. Instead, the real goal, as evident in the group’s text, is to symbolically reinforce efforts at the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute Israeli leaders over the war with Hamas.
The ICC is highly controversial in the US. In January, even before Trump was inaugurated, Congress passed the bipartisan Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, which sanctions any foreign official who investigates, arrests, detains or prosecutes US citizens or those of an allied country, including Israel, that are not ICC members.
In other words, the US sees the ICC’s actions as a direct threat to its national security interests, not just those of Israel. Indeed, at the weekend ICC prosecutor Karim Khan became the first person to be hit with economic and travel sanctions authorised by Trump that target the war crimes tribunal over investigations of US citizens or allies.
Yet far from putting away the megaphone, SA’s decision to join The Hague Group is akin to erecting a giant flashing billboard in the middle of Times Square, loudly declaring its indifference to US concerns. It does not help that SA has happily ignored the ICC’s rulings when it comes to arresting figures such as Sudan’s former dictator Omar al-Bashir.
Predictably, some local supporters of The Hague Group have hailed this as a bold collective move by the “Global South.” However, a closer look reveals that SA is by far the most significant member of a group that also includes Belize — a tiny Central American state with just over 400,000 residents. For good measure, the group also includes Cuba, a fact that will not be lost on Rubio, a native Floridian former senator and member of virulently anti-Castro Cuban exile community.
Under normal circumstances this kind of diplomatic virtue signalling would be inconsequential. However, coming on the heels of SA’s support for Hamas after its attack on Israel, the Russian Lady R arms shipment scandal and its increasingly close ties to Iran, these actions are turning what could have been a minor setback into a full blown diplomatic car crash.
It is astounding that SA’s ambassador to Washington allowed the department of international relations and co-operation to pursue such an ill-conceived manoeuvre in this environment. One way to regain footing with the US would be through a bold, symbolic gesture signalling that SA is serious about rebuilding ties. Several options exist, but the most obvious would be to publicly withdraw from The Hague Group and to reassign the ambassador to a post where he is not perceived as an adversary of the host country.
Such gestures, though symbolic, would be appreciated by the Trump administration, which has a penchant for the theatrical. This would open the door to further engagement where SA can leverage its strategic location, abundant minerals and supportive public sentiment to help it reset relations to the country’s advantage.