South Africa’s business community is reacting with alarm to a vote last week in the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill requiring the government to review ties with the African nation due to its anti-Western foreign policies.
The “U.S.-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act,” sponsored by Rep. John James (R-MI), says the following:
In contrast to its stated stance of nonalignment, the South African Government has a history of siding with malign actors, including Hamas, a U.S. designated Foreign Terrorist Organization and a proxy of the Iranian regime, and continues to pursue closer ties with the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) and the Russian Federation.
…
Following Hamas’ unprovoked and unprecedented horrendous attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, where Hamas terrorists killed and kidnapped hundreds of Israelis, members of the South African Government and leaders of the ANC have delivered a variety of antisemitic and anti-Israel-related statements and actions[.]
…
The South African Government has pursued increasingly close relations with the Russian Federation, which has been accused of perpetrating war crimes in Ukraine and indiscriminately undermines human rights.
…
South African Government interactions with the PRC Government and ANC interactions with the Chinese Communist Party (“CCP”), who are committing gross violations of human rights in the Xinjiang province and implement economically coercive tactics around the globe, undermine South Africa’s democratic constitutional system of governance[.]
…
The ANC-led South African Government has a history of substantially mismanaging a range of state resources and has often proven incapable of effectively delivering public services, threatening the South African people and the South African economy[.]
…
Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the President, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, shall certify to the appropriate congressional committees and release publicly an unclassified determination explicitly stating whether South Africa has engaged in activities that undermine United States national security or foreign policy interests.
…
The President, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, the Secretary of Defense, the United States Ambassador to South Africa, and the heads of other departments and agencies that play a substantial role in United States relations with South Africa, shall conduct a comprehensive review of the bilateral relationship between the United States and South Africa.
The bill has yet to pass the Senate, but is a shot across the bow aimed at South Africa’s new coalition government, in which the left-wing African National Congress (ANC) still holds the foreign affairs and defense portfolios despite dropping from nearly 60% to just over 40% in the May elections, losing its majority for the first time since 1994.
South Africa’s business community was reported to be “alarmed” by the passage of the House bill. President Biden has not change his posture toward South Africa, despite its increasing drift toward rogue nations, but then-President Donald Trump said in 2018 that he had asked officials to study the “large scale killing of farmers” in that country.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
