New Bill risks further breakdown in bilateral relations amid SA fatigue and US tariff war

EARLIER this month, US Congressman Rodney Jackson introduced a bill that would not only demand a full review of the bilateral relationship between the United States and South Africa. It would require the US government to identify South African government officials and ANC leaders who are eligible for the imposition of economic sanctions.

- MICHAEL WALSH

Within 120 days of enactment, the new bill stipulates that US President Donald Trump, in consultation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent, "shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a classified report that includes a list of senior South African government officials and ANC leaders that the President determines have engaged in corruption or human rights abuses that would be sufficient, based on credible evidence, to meet the criteria for the imposition of sanctions pursuant to the authorities provided by the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act," among other things.

According to Joseph Szlavik-Soto, a lobbyist and political strategist, the new bill builds upon the Addressing Egregious Actions of The Republic of South Africa Executive Order that he says "formally recognised South Africas hostile foreign policy trajectory and laid the groundwork for punitive measures.

It also follows on the heels of the expulsion of the South African Ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool, whose reappointment by the Ramaphosa administration had, in Szlavik-Soto’s eyes, "confirmed what many already suspect: South Africa is no longer a reliable partner" for the US.

Other sources suggest that the introduction of the bill may indicate a couple of different things.

First, it could indicate that Members of Congress are growing increasingly impatient with the failure of the US Government to impose economic sanctions on South African government officials and ANC leaders who they believe are undermining US national security and foreign policy interests.

Second, it could indicate that Members of Congress sense that the executive branch could benefit from legislative action to realise their desired outcomes for US-South Africa relations, including urgently countering what they perceive to be aggressive positions towards the US and its allies.