As Ghana celebrated its 68th Independence anniversary from British colonial rule, many of us were sadly trying to process the unprecedented sanctions imposed on South Africa by Washington, under the new Trump administration.
Ghana was the first country to gain independence from colonial rule, inspiring many of the colonies to fight for independence, freedom, social justice and equal recognition of African people and African unity, self-determination, and the national sovereignty of all African countries.
South Africa emerged from the shadows of apartheid and violent racist oppression to make significant process in forging a non-sexist, non-racist inclusive stable democracy. Yet, this process cannot be completed if its formerly oppressed majority black people continue to be economically marginalised.
Indeed, the country remains one of the most unequal societies in the world by both race and economic measures, where a few historically privileged people dominate 1 percent of the richest people in the country.
President Donald Trump's controversial decision to cut financial aid to South Africa, threatens domestic development, peace and stability in South Africa, the SADC region, and the African continent. Without a doubt, South Africa is the most advanced economy in Africa, economically linked to all the regions of the continent, and beyond into many international capitals.
Any direct or indirect attacks on the South African economy will have grave consequences for the fragile continent. Secondly, any efforts to undermine the sovereignty and self-determination of South Africa, as would be the case with any African countries in the international arena risk dividing and neutralising the efforts of the continent to pursue peace and development based on its interests.
The international community must strongly support African efforts towards the pursuit of sustainable peace, including addressing historical injustices which continue to define the availability and access to socio-economic and political opportunities, and national and continental development. In 2018, during his first term in office, Trump alleged that South Africa had witnessed “large-scale killings” of white farmers.
Then tensions between Pretoria and Washington flared up a few days after Trump's inauguration when South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the Expropriation Bill, which allows the government to confiscate land without compensation in certain circumstances. The US president accused South Africa, without any basis in fact, of ''confiscating land'' and ''doing things that are perhaps far worse than that''.Trump threatened to cut future funding over what he termed ''terrible things, horrible things'' the country's leadership was doing.
Trump has followed up his hostile allegations by signing an executive order freezing aid to South Africa amounting to nearly $440m (£353m), some of which is directed towards funding for programmes countering the global spread of HIV. South Africa is one of the biggest beneficiaries of Pepfar, which contributes about 17%to its HIV/Aids programme in which around 5.5 million people receive antiretrovirals.
The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that he will not attend the G20 meeting of foreign ministers hosted in Johannesburg. South Africa is the President of the G20 and has
sought to highlight multilateral issues of interest to the global south during its presidency. Rubio criticised South Africa’s BRICS membership, its policies towards empowering its historically marginalised black population, and foreign policies as a threat to US interests. A coterie of South African-born tech billionaires, most prominently, Elon Musk are leading the onslaught on South Africa by echoing non-existent claims of genocide, or unfounded claims of ''unjust and immoral practices'' against the white minority Afrikaner community.
The threats from Washington have played into the hands of conservative Afrikaner lobby groups, including AfriForum and Solidarity, which want the government to repeal what it calls ''race-based laws''; such as affirmative action and black economic empowerment, domestic and international right-wing social groups risking further racial and ethnic divisions in country that has made incredible progress in fostering democracy, peace and stability out of a painful long history of state perpetrated racist violence and oppression against its black majority.
There are concerns in South Africa, that Washington may use this opportunity to end preferential access to the US market through its special US-Africa trade programme known as the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa). The case of coercive US policy towards South Africa may be an indicator and reflection ofUS foreign policy approach towards Africa. Many African countries have become victims of aid cuts, some of which resulted from the sudden closure of USAID, and shifting Western security concerns in the context of changing priorities and uncertainty in the transatlantic alliance between the European Union (EU) and the US under Trump.
What is emerging from these rapid and chaotic changes is that emerging economies and countries from the global south must resolutely work closely together as the nucleus of international support towards the African continent.
Equally, the international community must take a principled stand to support South Africa and the African continent. In February, International Relations Minister, Ronald Lamola said South Africa was setting up bilateral meetings to shore up support with several countries, including China, noting that Beijing had shared its solidarity with South Africa, indicating that they stand ready to pledge support in terms of whatever trade relations and challenges that South Africa could face.
Posting on his official X account, Chinese Ambassador to South Africa, Wu Peng, reaffirmed his country’s commitment to strengthening bilateral ties with South Africa. Peng stated that African trade reached $52.5 billion in 2024, accounting for 18% of total China-Africa trade, allowing South Africa to maintain a trade surplus of $8.83 billion with China. China is the second-largest economy in the world, and the biggest trading, and development partner with the African continent.
The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) says that China is by far South Africa’s largest trading partner. The US is South Africa’s fourth-largest source of its imports – after China, Germany, and India – and the second-biggest destination for its exports, after China. China has remained Africa's largest trade partner for 16 consecutive years, driving massive infrastructure development, employment creation, economic growth and development.
Speaking during a press conference held on the 7th of March, Chinese Foreign Minister, WangYi, reminded world leaders of the importance of mutual respect in multilateral relations. Wang rallied the international community to listen to Africa, heed its concerns, and support the continent in exploring a new development path of self-reliance and self-strengthening. China has consistently emphasised the principles of non-interference and friendly relations, which have defined its long and close historical ties with the African continent.
He further highlighted the role of Africa in global modernization, noting that the modernization, stability, and development of Africa are vital to the future of humanity. Wang also said that China has established strategic partnerships with all African countries having diplomatic ties with Beijing, elevating the China-Africa community with a shared future to an ''all-weather'' level.
During this quarter century, China has helped Africa build or upgrade nearly 100,000 KM of roads and more than 10,000 KM of railways, while in the past three years alone, Chinese enterprises created more than 1.1 million new jobs in Africa.
The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) the largest highest-level Africa-Chinamultilateral platform is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. China also strongly supports
South Africa’s Presidency of the G20 and the Chinese Foreign Minister attended together with Ministers from the EU and other advanced and emerging economies. President Cyril Ramaphosa currently serves as the current leader of the G20. The members of the G20 group of countries are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa,Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and includes the EU and the African Union (AU).
* Dr Gideon H Chitanga is a Researcher at the Centre for Africa China Studies, University of Johannesburg