00:15We were of the view that we were coming along and the ambassador himself had said that our
00:22meetings have been very productive and fruitful. So we were surprised when we saw the social media
00:32post of my counterpart Mr Rubio. We were taken aback because of what we saw as a good track
00:43on the engagement on the number of issues that affect the two countries.
00:56Many U.S. companies are playing a key role in the South African markets, in the South African economy
01:02and recently Amazon has also come into the space that Starlink does not want to
01:09to play in on the basis of BEE laws. Amazon is coming in, it has been licensed, it has
01:16found local partners to work with and it's ready to go in the space of the low orbit satellite.
01:26So it shows that the regulatory environment in South Africa is conducive for American companies
01:34to invest, to participate in our economy.
01:53And we must engage as equal partners, with mutual respect, because there are
01:56issues that they have put on the table and we must engage as equal partners with mutual respect,
02:05because the trade issues and all issues that we engage on are of mutual benefit. But we should also
02:14engage with the respect of some of the issues of the sovereign capability of the South African people.
02:21And such issues are a constitutional imperative, which includes land reform, which includes BEE,
02:31issues related to crime, that the South African government needs to deal with, needs to handle and needs to attend
02:38to.
02:38We do have challenges of crime that affects everyone, not just black South Africans, not just Indians,
02:46not just whites South Africans, it affects everyone. And the South African government has a responsibility
02:52to protect everyone who is within its borders.
03:03We see the U.S. as an important strategic partner, but also the U.S. is a very big economy,
03:10that you really will not want to go into a tit-for-tat war with them on this kind of
03:19matters,
03:20because they are strategically important for us. As a trading partner, we have got no intentions of any retaliation.
03:28What we have an intention of is to engage with them with mutual respect, and them respecting us as a
03:34sovereign country,
03:36and respecting that within our constitution, there are issues that we have to handle as a country without any imposition
03:46of any interference.
03:48So we will continue to engage with them with that mutual respect, and with an understanding that the relationship between
03:55the two countries is mutually beneficial.
03:57By the way, there is also a number of South African companies invested in the U.S. economy, creating almost
04:057,000 jobs.
04:07It might be a small number by the size of the U.S. economy, but from our side, we are
04:14the biggest African investor in the U.S. economy.
04:24South Africa is a product of international solidarity. We are here as a country, as one of the world's youngest
04:31democracies,
04:31because of international communities that stood against apartheid, a number of U.N. resolutions,
04:38and our state man Nelson Mandela, who also said that the people of South Africa are not free until Palestine
04:46is free.
04:47We are also signatories to the international convention against genocide. This genocide is happening in Gaza in full view of
04:57the people of the world.
04:58It's right on your fingertips. You can see it on social media, you can see it on news. It's something
05:05that you see it in real time.
05:07It's one of the modern genocide that is happening when people see it in their own rooms. You don't even
05:13need a sophisticated lawyer.
05:15So this means that countries of the world have an obligation to prevent genocide.
05:29We have said that this is a race-based African resettlement program. It's not a refugee program as defined by
05:42international convention.
05:44They don't fit the definition of a refugee. They are processed in South Africa. They also, from time to time,
05:53visit South Africa.
05:54Some of them even go for medical examinations and all that. Where have you seen such a refugee who is
06:02processed in country, who visit the country of origin?
06:05So they are not living on the basis of any persecution from South Africa or on the basis of genocide.
06:12And the world knows there is no genocide in South Africa.
06:27South Africa is a constitutional democracy. So it won't stop anyone who wants to move to anywhere, including to the
06:35U.S., on the basis of a race-based policy.
06:41But we don't agree with this. But we don't agree with it. And we have communicated that we don't agree
06:44with this program. But we will not stop it and will not interfere with the rights and the wishes of
06:52those ones to move to wherever they want to move to.
07:24You
