PROPONENTS of the illegal economic sanctions on Zimbabwe and United States lawmakers with a penchant for sponsoring regime change and chaos in Africa are at it again—this time targeting South Africa for its neutral stance in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
The American lawmakers notably Messrs Jim Risch (Republican – Idaho) and Chris Coons (Democrat – Delaware) are among a group of bipartisan US senators who want to see South Africa punished for its stance on Russia—by moving a major trade conference scheduled to be held in the Southern African country this year to another country.
The request, made in a letter sent to the US Secretary of State Mr Antony Blinken, Trade Representative Ms Katherine Tai and National Security Adviser Mr Jake Sullivan last week, is the first concrete effort at retaliation by members of the US government over the growing view in Washington that South Africa’s relationship with Russia is moving in a direction that threatens America’s national interests.
This has echoes to the Zimbabwean case when Western countries imposed economic sanctions on Zimbabwe as a form of punishment for the land reform programme and the same sanctions-mongers are yet again behind the nefarious manoeuvres.
In the letter, the US lawmakers say the annual forum for the African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA, which provides duty-free access to the US trade market for about three dozen African nations, should not be held in South Africa.
The New York Times reported that while both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have said it is time for South Africa, usually a strong American ally, to face consequences, the White House has taken a wait-and-see approach to allow President Cyril Ramaphosa to fulfil his promise to investigate whether arms were supplied to Russia.
The AGOA forum, which alternates locations between the United States and an African nation each year, is designed to deepen diplomatic and economic ties between America and the continent.
Beyond the forum, the more serious concern for South Africa is that it might lose its access to AGOA all together, which would be a painful blow to a country that relies on the United States as its second-largest trading partner. The lawmakers’ letter described South Africa as “in danger of losing AGOA benefits.”
The requirements for joining AGOA, which targets mostly low-income nations, are set out by Congress. Federal regulations empower the US President to add or remove countries from AGOA, a process that is administered through the Office of the US Trade Representative. The trade representative also co-ordinates the annual forum.
South Africa’s relationship with the United States has grown increasingly tense since Russia started its special military operation in Ukraine.
American officials say they do not begrudge South Africa the right to maintain a friendship with Russia or to refuse to condemn the conflict. But they say that South Africa may have crossed a line and provided material support for the war. They point to a Russian cargo ship under US sanctions, the Lady R, that docked at a naval base near Cape Town last December.
“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 in Ukraine,” the letter from the US lawmakers said.
As evidence that South Africa is not neutral in the war, the US lawmakers also pointed to joint military exercises that it held with Russia and China in February; a Russian cargo plane under US sanctions that was allowed to land at a South African air force base in April; and South Africa’s plan to host an international summit known as BRICS in August that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia may attend.
Oddly, the US is not restricted by anyone to engage with any nation of its choice but seeks to lecture to other countries, especially developing, on who to co-operate with
“We are seriously concerned that hosting the 2023 AGOA Forum in South Africa would serve as an implicit endorsement of South Africa’s damaging support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” the letter said.
The letter was signed by Senator Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and by Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the committee. It was also signed by the top Republican and Democratic lawmakers on the House’s Foreign Affairs Committee. – The Herald
