THE Presidency continues to play its cards close to the chest on plans to establish a special envoy to the US to explain the country’s position on land reform and other issues as tensions between Pretoria and Washington threaten to erase years of healthy diplomatic and trading relations.
The US under current President Donald Trump has launched an attack on South Africa based on misinformation about the country’s land reform policies, resulting in America cutting aid funding to South Africa and offering Afrikaners the option of refugee status in the US.
The situation was exacerbated by the expulsion of South Africa's ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool after making remarks during a webinar which were seen as associating President Donald Trump with white supremacy.
As the Trump administration heightens its approach on imposing tariffs against allies and foes, fears are mounting that South Africa stands no chance in having its African Growth and Opportunity Act status renewed earlier this year.
Almost two months after his State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa has yet to announce when he will establish the “delegation of government and other leaders to various capitals on our continent and across the world” to explain the country’s position on land reform and other issues.
Asked about how far this process is, Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said yesterday: “There's nothing more to say on this matter. When there's something to announce, we will do so.”
International relations expert, Siseko Maposa said a campaign centred on land reform, would be a “non-starter”.
“If President Ramaphosa’s envoy has been dispatched solely to explain South Africa’s land reform policies to the United States, then I fear this mission is a lamentable waste of time and resources. The suggestion that the US and/or any other state is ill-informed or misinformed about SA’s land reform agenda has never resonated well with me. What does, however, is the unmistakable reality that the Trump administration is weaponising land policy as a purported human rights issue — a smokescreen to penalise South Africa for its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion approach in global politics.
“For this envoy to be effective, it must carry the requisite political and economic capital from Ramaphosa to renegotiate Pretoria’s trade terms with Washington. That is the true battleground the Trump administration has chosen, and it is there — not in fruitless clarifications — that our negotiations must be anchored,” Maposa said.
GOOD’s secretary general Brett Herron said it was more important than ever for the President to send this envoy, “especially in the wake of divisive organisations (such as Afriforum, Solidarity and the Cape Independence Advocacy Group) and the DA sending their own envoys”.
“Given all of their inclination for disinformation we need to ensure that they are not the only or final words on South Africa’s domestic policies. The initial and false accusations around land still need to be addressed, and in the wake of Ambassador Rasool’s expulsion, there is a vacuum of official government representation in Washington.”
Herron said the envoy should include senior DIRCO officials and state representatives, but also members of other parties in the GNU and business leaders, preferably from agriculture and the property sector.
“This will give the government and the private sector an opportunity to jointly address concerns around land reform and lend credibility to the delegation that it’s not just a government mouthpiece. South Africa needs to send a clear message that our sovereignty is not for sale. Whoever is sent to the US needs to have a deep understanding of South Africa’s objectives as they align to the National Development plan in terms of our constitution.”
Cassiem Khan, spokesperson for PAC minister of Land Reform and Rural Development, Mzwanele Nyhontso, said the idea of sending envoys over and above the normal DIRCO-led processes to explain the Land Expropriation Act to the US and other countries is “a strange form of diplomacy”.
“The US, the EU and many other countries are well represented in South Africa. We have existing diplomatic, political, economic, social and cultural relations with the US and many advanced economies in the world. We are hosting the G20 after all. We are not a pariah state, despite whatever white supremacists want to tell/sell the world. Just last week the EU visited with the highest-level delegation and an aid package.
“The US is our second largest trading partner and over 600 companies operate here, freely and profitably. These companies are not without influence in the US government or economy. They have possibly already clarified lies around our Land Expropriation Act that are being pedalled by white supremacists. Our country is an important actor in the world economy, in the world of international diplomacy, and we should not measure our responses to race-based hate-filled lobby groups in South Africa. Our diplomacy and International relations must be conducted as a sovereign nation and from a position of strength and not of weakness.”
Progressive Caucus member, National Coloured Congress (NCC) leader, Fadiel Adams said the envoy would be a pointless exercise, unless the South African people did not receive an apology.
“Trump has shown himself to be a fascist bully. And this country of ours cannot allow itself to be bullied. The president should trump out. The South African people deserve an apology before any talks can commence,” said Adams.
Cape Times