By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has wrapped up a working visit to Washington DC, which it said was intended to strengthen ties between South Africa and the United States.
The party undertook a weeklong working visit to the US, arguing that the DA, a member of the ruling government of national unity, is a credible advocate for SA’s national interests on the international stage.
Tensions between the two countries have been rising since President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the contentious Expropriation Act into law, enraging the Donald Trump administration.
This development follows Afrikaans lobby groups Afriforum and Solidarity visiting Washington after the decision by Trump to grant Afrikaners refugee status.
Charges of treason have since be laid against AfriForum.
Trump has stopped aid to the country, significantly impacting thousands of health-care programmes, and critically jeopardising HIV/Aids projects.
There are also concerns surrounding the possibility that South Africa could lose vital access to US markets through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
During its visit to Washington, the DA said it had engaged with the US Congress, State Department and the White House, to present “accurate and fact-based information” on issues affecting South Africa.
“The DA further emphasised the importance of maintaining strong communication channels between our two nations, in light of recent tensions exacerbated by unnecessary provocations, which come at the expense of the unity and continued economic development of our Nation,” said DA International Relations & Cooperation spokesperson Emma Louise Powell.
She said the visit proved that there was a need to strengthen bilateral trust.
But international relations & co-operation spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said minister Ronald Lamola said that “representing SA’s foreign policy is the preserve of the executive”.
Phiri said SA’s nonaligned stance and advancing its national interest remains a central pillar of its foreign policy.
“SA’s nation-building project cannot survive and flourish if the majority of our citizens remain in abject poverty, without land, without tangible prospects for a better life. Attacking poverty and deprivation remains our priority, not racial segregation or even racial supremacy,” he said.
Further, the DA is legally challenging the Expropriation Act.
“The DA has consistently called for a comprehensive reform of South Africa’s foreign policy agenda and the consistent application of our policy of non-alignment in advancing our national interest.
The DA remains resolute in opposing the ANC’s divisive, race-based policies, and advocating for a means-based approach to addressing systemic inequality,” she added.
Phiri added that the minister made it clear that there are only two people who can represent SA on international relations and that’s the president and himself. “The DA went there on their own. Whatever they achieved cannot be attributed to the republic,” said Phiri.
Meanwhile DA leader John Steenhuisen has insisted there is no agreement yet on the budget between the main government of national unity (GNU) partners.
Constructive discussions on the budget are ongoing. There is no agreement yet, but we are working towards a resolution by 12 March,” Steenhuisen said in a post on X on Tuesday.
His comments came after The Presidency issued a statement following a special cabinet meeting on Monday (3 March) to try to resolve the budget deadlock, which largely centres on the ANC and National Treasury pushing for some form of Vat (value-added tax) hike.
The most telling part of The Presidency statement was at the end, which read: “With the conclusion of the Cabinet input process into the Budget, the Minister of Finance and National Treasury are now set to finalise the budget and table it before parliament on the 12th of March 2025.”