🔒 Trump could get real about SA any time: John Matisonn

Key Points:

  • Trump officials cite SA’s ties to Russia, China, Iran as security risks.
  • Elon Musk’s growing influence may reshape SA-US collaboration.
  • US to prioritize Africa’s minerals, anti-terrorism, and Kenya ties.

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By John Matisonn* ___STEADY_PAYWALL___

South Africa could be Washington’s crosshairs as soon as the Trump Administration turns its attention to its South Africa policy and our benefits from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). 

All four of US President Donald Trump’s top foreign policy officials who will advise on its South Africa policy have objected to South Africa remaining AGOA’s top beneficiary despite a requirement that we “not engage in activities that undermine US national security or foreign policy interests.”

To prepare to counter these risks, President Cyril Ramaphosa is relying on Ebrahim Rassool, new SA ambassador to Washington, who has called on South Africa to “lower the megaphone”, and ongoing contact with billionaire Elon Musk, probably Trump’s most influential adviser.

Trump’s choice of Secretary of State, Senator Marco Rubio, his National Security Adviser, Rep. Michael Waltz and United Nations Ambassador, Rep. Elise Stefanik have all publicly complained that South Africa has acted against US foreign policy interests.. 

Peter Pham, tipped for the top Africa position as the Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, wrote that the Biden administration overlooked this “notwithstanding the country’s closeness to Russia, China and Iran, and its role in leading the ‘genocide’ case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.”

In an article in the Jerusalem Strategic Tribune in November, Pham said  South Africa positioned itself “in the orbit of Moscow, Beijing and Teheran and described its position on Israel as “anti-Semitic antics.”

Trump is likely to step up ties with Kenya and promote its relationship with Kenya’s “Silicon Savannah” as tech hub partner to the US, which began in his first administration. Washington is also likely to continue to expand its ties with Angola, where the US financed the Lobito railway as a link to minerals in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Since Ramaphosa’s meeting with Musk, the South African born billionaire has grown increasingly close to the incoming president, and government is looking at options to bring Musk into South Africa on several projects including Starlink, to provide wifi to rural areas and build a battery facility.

Musk has been clear that he will not hand over shares in his companies as part of BEE requirements, and alternatives are being explored. A deal with Musk would give the GNU a much-needed boost, and it’s likely that Trump would be involved and would also want foreign policy changes.

Musk’s donation of more than $250million to Trump’s campaign and his support for the campaign on social media, where he owns X, formerly known as Twitter, have given him the prime seat at the presidential table. 

He will be one of two heads of the so-called “department of government efficiency”, which is intended to slash costs in government. One report said Musk will have an office in the Executive Office Building, which is next door to the White House and connects to it through an underground tunnel.

Pham’s article highlights other Africa priorities for the new administration, including minerals and anti-terrorism. Africa’s minerals “are key to securing supply chains for US defence needs as well as the demands of America’s renewed domestic industries.”

He also points to the 2024 Global Terrorism Index Report conclusion that the epicenter of terrorism has moved from the Middle East and North Africa to sub-Saharan Africa, especially in the Sahel. 

Read also:

*John Matisonn is the author of CYRIL’S CHOICES, An Agenda for Reform.

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