Four Republican Congress members press Trump to punish Pretoria

With tensions continuing between Pretoria and Washington, a cohort of US members of Congress has hit out at SA, penning a damning letter to President Donald Trump calling for the suspension of diplomatic ties.

The letter characterises the SA state as an “ethnonationalist gangster regime” from which Washington should dissociate itself. The letter cites “destructive land reform policies”.

Republican party members Andrew Ogles, Tom Tiffany, Joe Wilson and Don Beacon criticised Pretoria for what they said were attempts to expropriate land without compensation, accusing the country of human rights abuses against its own citizens.

To this effect, the congressmen have demanded that Washington revoke Pretoria’s benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa).

Passed in 2000, Agoa affords eligible Sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to most exports, in return for prioritising free markets and the rule of law — which, according to the upset congressman, requires a strong reminder to Pretoria regarding what happens when American interests are “marginalised”.

Alleged human rights abuses, a vendetta against Israel, and an embrace of  China are cited as the reasons they believe SA should be declared ineligible for preference benefits.

This comes as Pretoria has been trying to establish contact with their US counterparts after false claims that the government was oppressing Afrikaans people. 

The relationship between SA and the US has been under strain since the days of former US president Joe Biden’s administration, primarily for its nonaligned stance on the Russian war against Ukraine as well as its position on the Israeli war against Hamas.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that he would be sending envoys to the US after Trump’s executive orders against SA.

However, in a televised interview this week, international relations & co-operation minister Ronald Lamola said he had made attempts to regain contact with Washington, to no avail. 

His counterpart, Marco Rubio, announced he would not be attending the G20 foreign ministers meeting this week, accusing SA of an anti-US agenda. 

The Republican Congress members said the SA government had failed to demonstrate “a consistent fidelity to the rule of law”.

“Even the previous administration’s own assessment of SA’s human rights practices found significant abuses, including unlawful or arbitrary killings, arbitrary arrest or detention, serious government corruption, trafficking in people and extensive gender-based violence, including femicide,” reads the letter.

The four Republican Party members said Pretoria does not deserve Agoa benefits. 

“Pretoria’s continued insistence on undermining American security and foreign policy interests are similarly disqualifying under the eligibility requirements,” they said. 

SA will hear later this year whether its bid to have Agoa extended will be approved by the US Congress. 

Ramaphosa’s government has undertaken various visits to the US to douse the flames but both countries have expressed mistrust in each other.

TimesLIVE