Invoking standard liberation jargon in castigating the Trump Administration’s stance towards the ANC, Khan praises “Pretoria’s refusal to sacrifice principle for patronage.” Apparently, in Khan’s world, support for Hamas terrorism is a matter of principle because of its moral commitment to eliminate Israel from the river to the sea.

He rails against the “hegemonic powers” of the Trump Administration for “deploying humanitarian tools to enforce compliance.” He is appalled by Trump’s freezing of $500 million in health funding to South Africa and the likelihood of additional AIDS deaths as a result.

Yet in the 1980s, the ANC promoted worldwide sanctions and disinvestment as weapons to bring about liberation from apartheid. While paying lip service to humanitarianism, it proactively exploited the vast unemployment, impoverishment and suffering its measures caused by promoting a blood-soaked people’s war that cost more than 20,000 lives.

In that there was a moral basis in opposing apartheid, there is an even greater moral basis in opposing Iran-sponsored terrorism because of the geographical extent of its threat. Thus, it is baseless for Khan to claim that the US is eroding its moral authority in Africa because of its proactive role against Islamic-based terrorism. Just ask the people of Somalia, Sudan and Mozambique how they feel about jihad.

Khan kids himself in claiming there is mutual benefit derived from the AGOA trade agreement. The US has zero dependence on South Africa’s exports and can source our products elsewhere. He also deludes himself in claiming that the ANC’s “defiance challenges imperial rule and points to emancipatory internationalism.”

The shifting global order to which he refers is largely being determined by trade. In that respect, China is as much a protagonist as Trump is. But the difference is China does not respect the sovereignty of nations. It exploits trade and aid as a means of colonising, not emancipating, territories in pursuit of its aim of world domination by 2049.

The crisis the ANC has caused with the Trump Administration is self-inflicted. Ironically, the ANC now finds itself in similar circumstances to those the apartheid government experienced in the 1980s. But now the smart thing to do is to mend fences with the US because the people of South Africa are overwhelmingly inclined to having friendly relations with the US rather than isolation in an Islamic, Iran-orientated future.

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In December he warned BRICS nations against replacing the US dollar with a BRICS currency and promised to impose 100% tariff charges if that happened, adding that they could also “expect to say good-bye to selling into the US economy.”

The key to Trump’s success is his ability to lever commitment in negotiation. An example of this is his request to Saudi Arabia to pump more oil so as to drive down the price. Reduced oil revenues will hobble Iran’s financing of terrorism while weakening Russia’s economy and making Putin more amenable to a deal on Ukraine.

Having the ear of Gary Player and Elon Musk regarding the ANC’s flawed property ownership policy and the delusion that NIH is the panacea for better health, Trump is certain to question the basis of South Africa’s continued enjoyment of the benefits of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

To qualify for AGOA benefits requires a commitment to good governance and respect for private property rights. By committing South Africa to the Marxist servitude of the so-called Freedom Charter, the ANC has provided Trump with firm grounds to freeze South Africa’s AGOA membership.

Here’s what is at stake if that happens:

• Thousands of SA businesses enjoy duty-free access to the US economy;
• The US is SA’s second-largest trading partner realising in excess of $15 billion annually;
• The US is SA’s second-largest source of imports, currently $9,2 billion.
• SA is the ninth largest beneficiary of US donor aid. Between 2012 and 2021, $6 billion in direct support of education, agriculture, health, and entrepreneurship; $8 billion in Hiv/AIDS treatment;
• $1 billion US investment in Power Africa since 2022 contributed to generating 60 gigawatts of non-Eskom electricity which helped avoid load shedding last year.

As it is, Trump is aware that the ANC supports rogue states and Hamas while deriving benefits from Iran. Yet despite his soft rhetoric at Davos, Ramaphosa has lost no time in putting on a big show of bravado addressing an ANC meeting. “Trump must leave us alone. He must stay out of our issues,” he declared.

Poking the bear is not a good idea as Colombian President Petro found out when Trump threatened a trade war following Petro’s denial of landing rights for  Colombians deported from the US. Within hours Petro reversed his stance and agreed to accept unlimited numbers of deportees.

By defying the AGOA requirements and riding roughshod over policy objections of its GNU partners, the ANC is inviting a sobering ‘Colombian’ experience from Trump. For South Africa’s sake, that can’t come soon enough.

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