The South Africa Israel Chamber of Commerce (SAICC) has warned that the United States government could remove South Africa from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) due to the country’s stance on the ongoing geopolitical conflicts.
SAICC on Friday said it was concerned that the South African government’s decision to depart from its policy of non-alignment and openly side with Russia and more recently, Iran, could have a negative impact on its relationship with the US.
Agoa is currently valid until 2025, but its extension depends on opinions within the US Congress.
“We speak on behalf of a group of prominent South African business leaders and urge President Cyril Ramaphosa and Minister [of International Relations] Naledi Pandor to reassess the situation as a matter of urgency, in light of the devastating impact that an ousting from Agoa will have on our export market,” SAICC said in a statement.
“We urge our political leaders to engage with Israel and other Western countries, in order to obtain a full perspective of the volatile situation in the Middle East and further understand the points of view of all parties involved in this crisis.”
This comes as some Democratic Senator Chris Coons is currently lobbying support for a proposed law to renew Agoa for 16 years that will require an immediate ‘out-of-cycle’ review of South Africa’s status.
The proposal has seen bi-partisan support with Republican Senator Jim Risch raising concerns about South Africa’s eligibility because of its close ties with Russia and more recently as a result of its relationship with Hamas and its financial sponsor, Iran.
Risch has complained to the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken about Pandor through her phone call to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh - where they spoke about humanitarian aid - and her meetings with her Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Iranian President Ebrahim Rais in Tehran.
Agoa has strong stipulations that any African country that benefits from the trade agreement legislation should not jeopardise US foreign policy and security interests in any way.
If the proposal for reauthorisation of Agoa is accepted in its current form, South Africa would be removed from the programme, and this would have a devastating impact on the country’s ability to trade with the US.
Agoa allows more than 1 800 duty-free products that South Africa is currently exporting, in addition to the more than 5 000 products that are eligible for duty-free access to the lucrative US markets.
In 2022, South Africa had exports worth R178 billion to the US market.
Trade union Solidarity also echoed the same sentiment that South Africa was increasingly abandoning its neutral position and preferred instead to side with enemies of the West, such as Hamas and Iran.
Solidarity’s head of international liaison Jaco Kleynhans said the government believed that they could convince the West of the existence of a historical obligation to support South Africa.
“In fact, South Africa thinks it can make demands regarding Agoa. All this, while South Africa openly and arrogantly deepens its relationship with countries such as China, Russia and Iran. This is seen in the government’s position and dealings with the conflict in Israel,” Kleynhans said.
“During these times where the temperature in the global power struggle is rising, countries outside this power struggle must maintain a careful balance in their foreign relations. It should not appear as though sides are being taken, and yet this is exactly what South Africa is doing.”
Michael Walsh, a senior fellow at the Philadelphia-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, said Ramaphosa should consider setting the record straight on Hamas condemnation and Palestine Islamic Jihad.
“The Presidency should treat this decoupled condemnation as a useful platform for sharing the lived experiences of South Africans with armed struggle, mediation, and conflict resolution,” Walsh said.
“In this way, President Ramaphosa could help to shape the international condemnation of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, while, at the same time, manifestly demonstrating the continued relevance of the ANC as a liberation movement in an era of renewed major power competition.”
BUSINESS REPORT