00:00Relations between South Africa and the United States of America turned sour
00:05in January this year when Donald Trump returned to the White House as president.
00:10Recently, the U.S. expelled South Africa's ambassador in a move that has sent shockwaves.
00:16Trump has imposed sanctions on South Africa over what he termed as anti-white policies.
00:22He has also stopped some critical U.S.-funded social intervention programs in South Africa.
00:27But on his part, South Africa's president,
00:30Cyril Ramaphosa, has downplayed the worsening relations.
00:33We cannot be blue-tailed because we are such an important player to the United States of America
00:41as they are an important player to South Africa.
00:46But where can South Africa turn to show ties with the U.S. degenerate further?
00:51Welcome to The Flipside.
00:53In 2023, the U.S. became South Africa's second largest trade partner after China.
00:59Bilateral trade increased to $21.4 billion in 2021 from $15.9 billion in 2020 and $13.3 billion in
01:102019. The U.S. State Department has identified South Africa as Africa's largest U.S. trade
01:17partner. So why is Donald Trump willing to jeopardize such a relationship?
01:22The West, led by Donald Trump and especially Make America Great program,
01:30has demonstrated lawlessness and caprice that they cannot be trusted at all.
01:34Trump's decision to impose sanctions on South Africa over its land expropriation bill
01:40has already been disruptive. President Ramaphosa believes ties with Washington can still be
01:47despite the setbacks. South Africans, though, want their country to stand firm
01:52and call the bluff of the U.S.
02:10But can South Africa afford to lose the U.S. as a major partner?
02:15It's not in South Africa's interest to have the U.S. as an enemy, but it is in South Africa's
02:21interest to think about what it is that we want from the relationship with the U.S. and other
02:28countries around the world. Now, South Africa is already a member of BRICS,
02:32a group of leading emerging economies considered a rival to Western dominoes, China and Russia.
02:39Also, members of BRICS already have stronger ties with South Africa.
02:43This month, the European Union has shown interest in South Africa with a
02:4850 billion euro trade deal in the offing.
02:51But could the EU be preparing to fill the big void the U.S. may be creating?
02:56We do not look at the fatness of what a particular group of nations or single nation is offering.
03:03Just based on the fatness of the offer, we take that offer. No,
03:08you must first pass our values test. And those values are based on anti-imperialism,
03:14anti-racism, anti-apartheid, anti-genocide.
03:19If you cannot pass those, you cannot be our friend in South Africa.
03:22Well, Africa has been over-reliant on the West for decades, which has come at a cost.
03:28So what lessons should South Africa and the rest of the continent learn
03:33from the ongoing geopolitical evolution?
03:36If there's anything to be learned from the past two months is that South Africa
03:41and African countries need to be in conversation with each other and need to be in much stronger
03:46ties when it comes to the way we engage with the rest of the world.
03:51And that's the flip side.
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