Last night, I spoke with a senior advisor in Washington who helped us fight sanctions. The advisor shared some valuable insights about the relationship between South Africa and the U.S. Trump administration:
1. ๐ง๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐จ๐ฝ ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฒ๐น: South Africa is being targeted by the U.S. for its case against Israel and Benjamin Netanyau. Unless South Africa drops its case, sanctions will intensify.
Apparently, the issue of Israel is so severe that the Trump administration has been arresting and deporting leading anti-Israel activists, including students with green cards, who have been vocal about Israel during the Gaza invasion over the past year. According to the advisor, this is due to the Trump administration’s strongly pro-Israel policy, which is being enforced by cracking down on anti-Israeli actors in America. This point was made to emphasis that South Africa is in a highly compromised diplomatic position in Washington by standing against Israel.
2. ๐๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐: More punitive sanctions are on the horizon, including targeted sanctions on individual politicians and restrictions on trade and financial services if South Africaโs position on Israel doesnโt change.
3. ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ณ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ธ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด: The Israel lobby in Washington, AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), and Afrikaners have successfully convinced Washington (Congress, Senate, Washington media and the White House) that the South African government is persecuting Afrikaners with racist policies and taking their land.
Meanwhile, the South African governments perspective is missing from Capitol Hill due to a lack of engagement with knowledgeable Afrocentric lobbyists and a failure to create a counter-narrative on the Hill.
4. ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ฝ๐น๐ผ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐: The South African government’s attempts to engage in dialogue with the U.S. through diplomats will be unsuccessful due to the U.S.’s lack of respect for South African diplomats because of Pretoriaโs position on Israel, Palestine and Iran.
5. ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐: Unless South Africa revises its strategy and foreign policy position, it will face significant challenges in international relations going forward.
6. ๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐จ’๐ ๐ฆ๐ถ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ: The advisor questioned why SADC and the AU have not issued statements against the U.S.’s hostile stance on South Africa.
7. ๐๐ณ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐๐: A major concern is that Africans are working in silos (isolation) and not utilizing Pan-African lobbyists familiar with Washington’s culture to navigate the complexities.
8. ๐ก๐ฒ๐ ๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ ๐ฆ๐ผ๐๐๐ต ๐๐ณ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ: With Joel Pollak’s potential appointment as the next U.S. ambassador to South Africa, relations between the two countries may deteriorate further. Pollak has been vocal in his criticism of Pretoria, employing megaphone diplomacy to express his scathing views against Pretoria, even before his nomination and submission of credentials to President Cyril Ramaphosa for acceptance.
Pretoria needs a really knowledgeable Pan African lobbyist who understands Washington to help them navigate the turbulent waters that politics in Washington today.
Written by Rutendo Matinyarare, Chairman of ZASM.
