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Contrary to the main focus of the media and most SA politicians, I would venture that it is highly unlikely US President Donald Trump is overly concerned about a few land grabs on the southern tip of Africa — they happen all over the world and he himself has his eyes on Greenland, Canada and Gaza. Nor could he care less about a few disgruntled Afrikaners or the ANC’s self-serving black empowerment/enrichment endeavours.
The real reasons for Trump and Washington’s displeasure with SA lie first in the presumptuous, costly application by the ANC-led government to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to find Israel, the US’s staunchest ally, guilty of genocide, and second in the dubious, suspicious political and possible financial relationships between the ANC, Iran and its proxy, Hamas.
Trump will be fully aware that former SA foreign minister Naledi Pandor visited Iran in October 2023, that Hamas visited SA in November 2023, that in December 2023 the ANC’s R102m debt was inexplicably extinguished, and that immediately thereafter the ANC government launched its ICJ application against Israel.
Trump and Washington will also know that a large multinational telecommunications company based in Johannesburg, founded in 1994 with close ties to the current ANC leadership, has a huge investment in Iranian telecommunications company Irancell.
The US imposed sanctions against Iran in 2018, which were adopted by many other countries, including the G7, but were and are now ignored by SA. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that the ANC somehow benefits from that telecommunications group’s involvement in Iran — deemed by Trump to be illegal — or receives some form of financial assistance from that country and thus adopts its anti-Israel, pro-Iran/Hamas stance, which is abhorrent to Trump.
Rather than focus on land expropriation, the media and parties such as the DA should connect the dots about SA’s curious involvement with and in Iran, and investigate and publicly affirm the root cause of Washington’s resentment against and punishment of our country.
David Gant Kenilworth
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: Connect Iran dots
Contrary to the main focus of the media and most SA politicians, I would venture that it is highly unlikely US President Donald Trump is overly concerned about a few land grabs on the southern tip of Africa — they happen all over the world and he himself has his eyes on Greenland, Canada and Gaza. Nor could he care less about a few disgruntled Afrikaners or the ANC’s self-serving black empowerment/enrichment endeavours.
The real reasons for Trump and Washington’s displeasure with SA lie first in the presumptuous, costly application by the ANC-led government to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to find Israel, the US’s staunchest ally, guilty of genocide, and second in the dubious, suspicious political and possible financial relationships between the ANC, Iran and its proxy, Hamas.
Trump will be fully aware that former SA foreign minister Naledi Pandor visited Iran in October 2023, that Hamas visited SA in November 2023, that in December 2023 the ANC’s R102m debt was inexplicably extinguished, and that immediately thereafter the ANC government launched its ICJ application against Israel.
Trump and Washington will also know that a large multinational telecommunications company based in Johannesburg, founded in 1994 with close ties to the current ANC leadership, has a huge investment in Iranian telecommunications company Irancell.
The US imposed sanctions against Iran in 2018, which were adopted by many other countries, including the G7, but were and are now ignored by SA. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that the ANC somehow benefits from that telecommunications group’s involvement in Iran — deemed by Trump to be illegal — or receives some form of financial assistance from that country and thus adopts its anti-Israel, pro-Iran/Hamas stance, which is abhorrent to Trump.
Rather than focus on land expropriation, the media and parties such as the DA should connect the dots about SA’s curious involvement with and in Iran, and investigate and publicly affirm the root cause of Washington’s resentment against and punishment of our country.
David Gant
Kenilworth
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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