By Chris Steyn
A group of lawmakers from both the U.S. Democratic and Republican parties have asked the White House to reschedule this year’s African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) summit away from South Africa.
The group cites the possibility of South Africa losing its AGOA status over its pro-Russia stance.
The request came in a letter to United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Trade Representative Katherine Tai, and National Security Advisor Jacob Sullivan.
The group of legislators pointed out that South Africa had deepened its military relationship with Russia over the past year. A Russian cargo vessel – subject to US sanctions – had docked at the largest naval port, “and intelligence suggests that the South African government used this opportunity to covertly supply Russia with arms and ammunition that could be used in its illegal war with the Ukraine”. The South African authorities had also allowed a restricted Russian military cargo plane to land at an air force base.
Moreover, South Africa was currently facilitating the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin in this year’s BRICS summit – despite it being legally obligated to arrest him in compliance with an International Criminal Court (ICC).
“…these actions by South Africa call into question its eligibility for trade benefits under AGOA due to the statutory requirement that beneficiary countries not engage in activities that undermine United States national security or foreign policy interests,” the group said in its letter.
“…we question whether a country in danger of loosing AGOA benefits should have the privilege of hosting the 2023 AGOA Forum.”
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The group added that it was seriously concerned that hosting the forum in South Africa would serve as an “implicit endorsement” of the country’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and may also be a possible violation of US sanctions law.
“Given the serious nature of these accusations against South Africa and the existing evidence, our bipartisan group of members of Congress currently believes the AGOA Forum should immediately be moved from South Africa,” the letter reads.
Hosting the forum in another country would “send a clear and important message that the United States continues to stand with Ukraine and will not accept our trading parties provision of aid to Russia’s ongoing and brutal invasion.”
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In an recent interview with BizNews, Democratic Alliance (DA) Shadow Finance Minister Dr Dion George said a recent top-level opposition party delegation had implored Washington to renew its special trade agreement with South Africa – despite its unhappiness with South Africa’s alignment with Russia.
“…that is causing a great amount of unhappiness amongst our Western allies, obviously, specifically the United States, because the situation in Ukraine is causing a global catastrophe. So with South Africa fraternising with Russia…that has not found favour with Congress in the United States. Now, they are the people who will decide whether to renew AGOA, which is the special trade agreement that we have with the US.
“It’s not reciprocal. It gives enormous benefits to South Africa and the region. And the US Congress is basically asking itself the question as well, when it comes up for renewal in 2025, ‘why on earth should we continue giving a special deal to South Africa when it’s behaving in this way?”
However, “…we (the DA) were saying, ‘look, if you take AGOA away, it’s like sanctions. And then what happens government actually don’t suffer because they’ll sort themselves out. It’s the ordinary South Africans that are already battling to put food on their table that will suffer. So just remember what your target is in fact. So if you want to hurt the government, don’t do it that way. Do it another way’.”
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Meanwhile, the AGOA issue is at the top of the agenda of another South African delegation to the US.
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde is leading this group of Western Cape Government (WCG) and Wesgro representatives to the US to further promote the Western Cape as a trade and investment destination of choice.
“Topping the agenda is to assure the US Government that the province remains committed to the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA),” the Premier said in a statement today (13 June).
“AGOA is very important to us. It is a critical statute that has benefited our province, our country, and region for over a decade. We are fully aware that there are concerns over whether the US Government will retain and renew our membership come 2025.
“We are demonstrating through a series of meetings in Washington DC that our delegation has held so far that as a province we value the benefits AGOA has brought to our region and country.”
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To this end, the delegation met with strategic stakeholders of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
“In a robust discussion, the officials explained that Washington does not want to sever ties with South Africa by not renewing its AGOA eligibility. However, there are concerns related to security matters but that it is also in the interests of the US to keep growing the potential future benefits the statute aims to foster and create. But it was added that challenges will arise. South Africa’s AGOA eligibility must be part of an ongoing debate, the Premier and the committee agreed,” read a statement from the Premier’s office.
The WCG delegation also met with members of the US House Committee on Ways and Means and the AGOA Civil Society Network.
Western Cape Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities Mireille Wenger said: “We as the provincial government are working hard to deepen relations with the US. AGOA is critical to achieving this. We have created policy certainty in our province to further the mutual benefits of the act.”
Alexandra Whittaker, a member of the Ways and Means Committee, told the WCG that there was undeniable support for South Africa-US relations, but there were issues that had to be debated.
In his comment posted on Twitter, International Relations and Co-operation Department Head of Diplomacy Clayson Monyela stated: “This letter by the four US Congress members to Secretary Blinken is noted. There is no decision by the State department/White House to move the AGOA Forum from SA. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s special envoys recently visited the US to meet and explain South Africa’s active non-aligned position on the Russia/Ukraine conflict to key stakeholders and decision makers. Our diplomats in Washington continue to engage on these matters. President Cyril Ramaphosa is leading an African Peace Mission (in the coming days) to Russia and Ukraine. South Africa enjoys the support of the US government, the Africa Group & Business in hosting the AGOA Forum which is planned for November. The relations between South Africa & the United States of America is mutually beneficial…even in the context of AGOA.”
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