𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗔 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗔𝗗𝗩𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗥 𝗦𝗔𝗬𝗦 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗛 𝗔𝗙𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗔'𝗦 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗜𝗡 𝗪𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗧𝗢𝗡.

On the 25th of March, 2025, I received a call from a senior congressional legal advisor from Washington who helped us fight sanctions. The advisor shared some pretty valuable insights:

1. 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗜𝘀𝗿𝗮𝗲𝗹:

According to her, South Africa is being targeted by the U.S. for its case against Israel and Benjamin Netanyau in the Internationalonal Court of Justice and Internationalional Criminal Court respectively. And and she says that unless South Africa drops its case, sanctions will intensify.

Apparently, the issue of Israel is so severe that the Trump administration has been arresting and deporting leading anti-Israel activists, including students with green cards, who have been vocal about Israel during the Gaza invasion over the past year.

According to the advisor, this is due to the Trump administration's strongly pro-Israel policy, which is being enforced by undemocratically cracking down on anti-Israeli actors in America. She made this point to emphasis that South Africa is in a highly compromised diplomatic position in Washington by standing against Israel.

2. 𝗘𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀:

She went on to say that more punitive sanctions are on the horizon, including targeted sanctions on individual politicians, restrictions on trade and blocking of financial services if South Africa’s position on Israel doesn’t change.

Just three days ago on the 13th of April, a U.S. think tank by the name Hudson Institute has warned that the U.S. may remove South Africa from the SWIFT payment system for the reasons given above, in contravention of GATT and UN rules.

Such a move would take a huge toll on the South African economy as it could greatly hinder international trade and the ability of South Africa to import technology to grow its industry.

3. 𝗔𝗜𝗣𝗔𝗖 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗟𝗼𝗯𝗯𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴:

The Israel lobby in Washington, AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), and Afrikaners have successfully convinced Washington (Congress, Senate, Washington media and the White House) of the lie that the South African government is persecuting Afrikaners with racist policies and taking their land.

Meanwhile, the South African governments perspective is missing from Capitol Hill due to a lack of engagement with knowledgeable Afrocentric lobbyists and a failure to create a counter-narrative on the Hill.

4. 𝗜𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗰𝘆:

The South African government's attempts to engage in dialogue with the U.S. through diplomats will be unsuccessful due to the U.S.'s lack of respect for South African diplomats because of Pretoria’s position on Israel, Palestine and Iran.

5. 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆:

Unless South Africa revises its strategy and foreign policy position, it will face significant challenges in U.S. relations and international relations going forward due to the rising, racist, rightwing tide that is growing globally.

6. 𝗦𝗔𝗗𝗖 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗨'𝘀 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲:

The advisor questioned why SADC and the AU have not issued statements against the U.S.'s hostile stance on South Africa.

7. 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆:

A major concern is that Africans are working in silos (isolation) and not utilizing Pan-African lobbyists familiar with Washington's culture to navigate the complexities and the mine field that has become America today.

8. 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗔𝗺𝗯𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮:

With Joel Pollak's potential appointment as the next U.S. ambassador to South Africa, relations between the two countries may deteriorate further and this may see South Africa being sanctioned and isolated in the near future.

Pollak has been vocal in his criticism of Pretoria, employing megaphone diplomacy to express his scathing views against Pretoria, even before his nomination and submission of credentials to President Cyril Ramaphosa for acceptance.

Pretoria needs a really knowledgeable Pan African lobbyist who understands Washington to help them navigate the turbulent waters that are running politics in Washington today.