Pretoria – The presidency announced that it is “concerned and paying attention” to newly imposed tariffs on South Africa's exports to the United States.
On Wednesday (April 2, 2025), President Donald Trump announced 10% tariffs on all imports into the United States and additional mutual tariffs for dozens of countries, including 30% in South Africa.
“They're going on in South Africa. You know, we're paying them billions of dollars. We've cut our funds because a lot of bad things are going on in South Africa,” Trump has reiterated his previously unfounded claim.
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In response to the move on Thursday (April 3, 2025), President's spokesman Vincent Magwenia said:
“Taxes affirm the urgency to negotiate new bilateral and mutually beneficial trade agreements with the United States as an essential step to ensuring long-term trade certainty.”
Earlier this week, on Tuesday (April 1, 2025), the Bureau of International Relations and Cooperation said that South Africa's top officials had returned from the US to reveal key issues and misconceptions.
The department said in a statement: “Zane Dangor, a senior delegation led by South Africa's G20 Sherpa and the Director-General of International Relations and Cooperation, visited the United Nations General Assembly to explain South Africa's G20 President.
“The General Assembly overwhelmingly supported the priorities and themes of South Africa's G20 president.
“During their visit, the delegation's high-level discussion was launched by former US ambassador Ebrahim Lasor, addressing bilateral priorities with Washington, D.C. counterparts, including senior officials from the White House and the State Department.”
The department said the delegation had clarified important issues and misconceptions at a meeting with the National Security Council director, assistant state affairs for African Affairs and representatives from the Ministry of Finance.
“I believe these dialogues will help the current administration narrow down their understanding of South Africa's position on critical issues and promote a more nuanced perspective,” Crispin Philli said.
A spokesman for the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation.
“The delegation directly addressed the perception that South African government's policies were designed to violate the human rights of post-apartheid South African minorities.”
The department said the issues addressed include ways to ensure that the NIL compensation provisions in the expropriation law were not designed to promote the seizure of illegal land and undermine property investments.
(1) If the land is not used, the owner's main purpose is not to develop the land or generate revenue, but to profit from seeing market value.
(2) The possibility of a national agency requesting land for future activities in that respect is not rational and the state agency acquired the land without consideration.
(3) If the owner abandons the land because the owner has been able to do so but the owner has not been able to exercise control.
(4) if the market value of the land is equivalent to or less than the current value of direct state investments or subsidies in land acquisition and beneficial capital improvements;
“In the heartfelt debate, senior officials addressed misconceptions about what was presented as racial laws designed to undermine the rights of South African minorities,” the statement said.
“To this end, senior officials have presented information highlighting the persuasive racial and structural inequality that continues to divide South Africa across all parts of the country.
“'The post-apartheid administration is constitutionally mandated to correct past injustice.”
The department said these initiatives are consistent with efforts to ensure post-apartheid South African dignity, achieving equality, progress in human rights and freedom, nonracism, non-personality, and advances in our constitutional hegemony and rule of law.
“These fruitful engagements are carried
