South Africa is growing increasingly isolated internationally due to a foreign policy approach that lacks strategy in responding to changes in world politics. Recently 49 citizens packed their bags and were labelled as refugees as they entered the United States of America.
Under US law, that is what they have become. This is what is being reported about the country they have fled: South Africa. Our country. A place people flee.
Donald Trump has only been in office for four months, and so far, he has already hit the country with tariffs, expelled our ambassador, cut aid, driven domestic division, hurt our image abroad by boycotting the G20, and granted refugee status to South African citizens.
Ever since he came into office, Trump has had South Africa in his sights. This past February, he signed an Executive Order targeting the country, stating that “South Africa is confiscating land and treating certain classes of people very badly… I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!”
His first salvo was terminating USAID programs. While there was a belief that PEPFAR health programs would be saved, by the end of February, these grants had been terminated as well, leading to the closure of many clinics and a significant reduction in HIV testing, treatment, and prevention.
ICJ
Trump’s Executive Order also took issue with South Africa’s court case in the International Court of Justice concerning the October 7th attacks by Hamas against Israel and further highlighted the country’s ties with Iran. He accused South Africa of championing terrorism and autocratic regimes abroad while committing human rights violations at home.
The Expropriation Act was labelled as a policy by the South African government with the intention of seizing agricultural property without compensation, directly fuelling violence against farmers. The response issued by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) was to label the information in the Executive Order as false and misinformation, with a commitment towards finding diplomatic solutions.
From February until now, what has happened? The South African ambassador to the US was expelled for making anti-Trump comments during an event. Trump formally introduced a refugee program focused on resettling white South Africans, whom he believes are facing ethnic persecution. He has nominated Leon Brent Bozell to be the next ambassador to the country. He imposed 30% universal tariffs, only to then reduce this to 10% to allow a 90-day pause in which various countries could negotiate and come to trade deals.
In the meantime, South Africa has not replaced the expelled ambassador. Mcebisi Jonas has been sent as a special envoy. President Cyril Ramaphosa has had a phone call with President Trump, but this has not seemed to sway Trump at all. South Africa has still not articulated any position on the tariffs or been able to come to an agreement, which means when the 90 days are up, we are at significant risk of going back to 30% tariffs.
Come to South Africa’s defence
You would have hoped that, over the course of cultivating allies and relations with various countries in the world, such as China or Russia, these states might have come to South Africa’s defence. They would have declared internationally that there is no reason to flee the country.
Yet there is nothing. There is silence because, quite frankly, these countries have no real interest in coming to our defence at the risk of angering the current American administration. Where and who are our allies exactly?
The reaction by many South Africans and the country’s government to the first group of Afrikaners who have taken up President Trump’s offer into his refugee program in the United States of America has been telling. By and large, the responses have been a mixture of cheering, teasing, and overall sentiment telling these individuals to leave and not come back. Linked to this is overall denial and rejection of the reasons that they left.
The irony of this reaction is that thousands of South Africans are leaving the country every year to seek economic opportunities abroad or to escape crime. The citizens who have taken up Trump’s offer to the US have now just been able to do this without the additional paperwork. There are over 1 million South Africans abroad, and likely you have family or friends who have moved abroad or have expressed a desire to do so.
Yet you cannot examine this event in isolation because more South Africans are going to leave for the US in the coming months, and each time they do, the Trump administration will frame it as them fleeing this country. As it stands, we do not have a foreign policy response to this.
There appears to be total inertia and almost helplessness at these circumstances, which have been accepted by the government. The US has imposed tariffs, cut aid, and labelled our citizens as refugees. Oh well, what are we to do?
Unfortunately, we are in for four years of this unless we can mount a successful foreign policy response, which would also require assessing the domestic policies that are facing continued international scrutiny.
The views of the writers are not necessarily the views of the Daily Friend or the IRR.
If you like what you have just read, support the Daily Friend