IN-DEPTH: South African Officials Court Biden Admin as Tensions Rise Over Country’s Ties to China, Russia

Senior officials from the South African government have been in Washington since April 28 to try to prevent the Biden administration and members of Congress from punishing the country for its increasingly close links with China, Russia, and other anti-United States powers.

Delegation Led by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s National Security Adviser

The delegation is led by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s national security adviser, Sydney Mufamadi, who is also a top member of South Africa’s governing African National Congress, the ANC.

The visit is happening amid concerns that South Africa’s ongoing refusal to condemn Russia’s war on Ukraine is jeopardizing its economic and political relations with the United States.

“Close Friendship” with Beijing and Moscow

China and the former Soviet Union backed the ANC’s armed struggle against apartheid, and Africa’s oldest liberation movement has stated that this is reason enough for it to maintain a “close friendship” with Beijing and Moscow, “whatever the cost.”

“That cost might arrive much sooner than the ANC expected, in the form of Washington ejecting South Africa from AGOA,” Chris Isike, a professor of international relations at the University of Pretoria, told The Epoch Times.

What is AGOA?

AGOA is the U.S. government’s African Growth and Opportunity Act, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 2000. It gives African countries that subscribe to values considered important to Washington, such as democracy and human rights, duty- and quota-free access to U.S. markets for a long list of products.

According to the U.S. government’s AGOA online portal, South Africa exported goods worth 60 billion rands, almost $3.5 billion, to the United States under AGOA in 2022.

“AGOA is very beneficial to South Africa, particularly for our motor vehicle manufacturers and for our agricultural sector. We export a lot of vehicles and fresh fruit and vegetables to the U.S.,” Peter Fabricius, an independent international relations expert based in Johannesburg, told The Epoch Times.

Being a member of AGOA is also symbolic, because it gives other countries and investors confidence to do business with South Africa.”

Other Issues Discussed

Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, told The Epoch Times that AGOA was “only one part” of the presidential delegation’s business in Washington.

“A lot of the discussions that have already happened this weekend were follow-up issues that sprang from President Ramaphosa’s meeting with President Biden at the White House in September,” Magwenya said.

One of these issues was Washington’s offer to support South Africa’s battle against insurgents allied to the Islamic State in neighboring Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo; another issue was differences over U.S. sanctions against Zimbabwe and increased U.S. tariffs on South African steel imports.

Concerns Over South Africa’s Ties with China and Russia

But Fabricius said Ramaphosa wouldn’t send a special delegation to Washington if he weren’t worried about something that could threaten future U.S.–South African relations.

Senior ANC officials told The Epoch Times that the South African government’s trip to the U.S. Capitol wasn’t “prearranged” and was “out of the ordinary.”

Fabricius said Pretoria clearly had reason to be concerned, as powerful members of the U.S. Congress belonging to both parties “want South Africa to face some kind of consequences” for its “constant and unreasonable” support for regimes including China, Russia, and Iran.

Optics of Putin’s Visit to South Africa

The AGOA Forum, an annual event attended by heads of African member states and senior U.S. trade officials and members of Congress, is scheduled to be held in South Africa in September, just weeks after the BRICS Summit.

The timing was “risky” for the U.S. government, Isike said.

“If Putin visits South Africa and isn’t arrested, and is treated like a hero here, like he has been in the past, and then the Americans arrive … Well, the optics are not going to look good for them,” he said.

“They will probably suffer political consequences back home if they’re seen being friendly with a government that’s just held a big party with one of their big enemies.”

Pretoria is also allowing sanctioned Russian vessels to dock in South African ports and recently hosted joint military exercises with the Chinese and Russian navies. South Africa then de