US sanctions may backfire and deepen divisions in SA

No doubt the ANC will jump up and down and claim that a Bill before US lawmakers is an assault on the sovereignty of South Africa.

But the reality is that the sanctions it suggests will be directed at, primarily, ANC politicians accused of ruining the country.

In other words, as happened with targeted American and European sanctions against Zimbabwe, it will be specific people who will feel the pain.

That is by way of giving some perspective to the USSouth Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act of 2025, proposed by Republican representative Ronny Jackson and which this week moved through US Congress’ foreign affairs committee with minor amendments.

No doubt, though, the Americans are still wanting to punish the ANC for its various sins, including alleged racism against, and mistreatment of, the white minority.

That narrative has been carefully planted in Washington and in capitals in Europe over a number of years by organisations like AfriForum that has, unsurprisingly, welcomed the new US law.

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The problem is, though, that the ANC – now only part of a government of national unity – is unlikely to change anything it says and does.

On the contrary, their attitudes towards whites especially, are likely to harden.

And, by characterising any sanctions as an attack on this country as a whole, they are likely to garner support among those South Africans who are not white.

There is, plainly, no white genocide happening in this country.

There is a debate around whether affirmative action policies are restorative or punitive in nature but, given the unequal nature of society, the ANC is also unlikely to back down on them.

We can’t help but feel that this Bill is going to do more harm than good, just at a time when all South Africans need to cross the gulf between them.

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