By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Minister of Trade and Industry Parks Tau emphasised South Africa’s commitment to “normalise” relations with the United States of America (USA).
The African National Congress (ANC) national executive committee (NEC) sub-committee on local government held a media briefing on Saturday afternoon at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg.
Tau also advocated for diversified trade partnerships.
In recent weeks, US President Donald Trump has at various points issued confrontational executive orders on South Africa, threatened tariffs on the EU, taken a position on the Russia-Ukraine war that fundamentally diverges from Europe’s, and scrapped American attendance of this year’s G20 summit taking place in November under Cyril Ramaphosa’s hosting.
In response, Brussels and Pretoria have been brought closer, with the long-planned South Africa-EU Summit that took place on 13 March 2025 in Cape Town, and the South African president issuing a firm invite to his Ukrainian counterpart for a state visit in April.
The summit touched on a range of issues, and the joint declaration pointed to cooperation on areas such as climate change, trade protectionism, global pandemics, rising inequality, peace and security, and sustainable and inclusive growth, with the EU announcing a €4.7-billion investment package in South Africa for pharmaceuticals, energy and infrastructure.
South Africa has a sizeable trade with the EU. Indeed, as a bloc, the 27 countries outrank any other partner, with China and the US being second and third respectively. In the Ramaphosa era, imports from the 27-country bloc have grown from R308-billion (2017) to R426-billion (2024).
South African exports have similarly grown — from R217-billion to R351-billion (2024). Under Ramaphosa’s tenure, exports have for the first time outweighed imports, leading to a trade surplus in 2021 and 2022.
Tau emphasises the country’s ongoing efforts to engage the US and lobby for the renewal of AGOA.
Under Agoa, South Africa has exported more than $55-billion in non-crude goods since the programme began in 2000.
According to US research organisation Brookings Institute, if South Africa were to be expelled from Agoa, big losses would be felt by the food and beverages, transport equipment, fruit and vegetable and leather and clothing sectors.
The automotive sector would also suffer significantly. South Africa has increased its automotive exports to the US from $195-million in 2000 to $1.6-billion, out of a total of $13-billion across all industries. Much of this was made possible by Agoa.
Meanwhile Energy and Electricity minister Ramakgopa said recent the load-shedding was mainly due to human error, which caused units to fail, and also a large maintenance schedule.
He said planned maintenance would be reduced starting in April and shared his confidence that the grid was now under control.
“Maintenance will move down from 7 900MW to 3 000MW. What that means is you will have additional generating capacity. The key is to stabilise the units.”
Ramokgopa said that with more units coming online, there may be lights this winter.
“I am confident. The outlook looks brighter. It looks like a great run of no load shedding ahead.”There is a positive outlook this week and into winter. We are heading in the right direction,” he added.