African leaders whose concerns were reflected in the list of US conditions attached to continuing AIDS relief funding told the Daily Caller that South Africa's government is unlikely to make the changes needed to restore aid.
Instead, he said, government officials will continue to target the U.S. and domestic minority groups, at the expense of people living with AIDS, rather than addressing issues such as property rights, rural crime and race-based policies that Washington has cited in its demands. (Related: Duke: Trump sends simple message to South Africa)
Reagan Reese, White House correspondent for The Daily Caller, Specially reported On Thursday, the Trump administration informed the South African government that it will end the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) because the country has failed to meet conditions set by the administration.
Conditions include:
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Providing alternatives and exemptions to race-based mandates, such as diversity-based Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) laws, for US companies.
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South African officials are condemning race-based incitements to violence by senior government officials, including the song “Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer”.
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Stopping measures that allow land to be seized without compensation and without due process under the Expropriation Act of 2024.
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be settled crimes on farms and smallholding as a “priority crime”, with increased resources dedicated to these rural areas.
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Refrain from interfering with America refugee Program for South African minorities within the framework of South African law.
Joost Strydom, CEO of the Orania movement, which aims to create a freely governed city built by and for the Afrikaner community, told the Caller that the withdrawal of funding comes after “the systematic dismantling of settlements through basic rights and negotiations”.
Strydom said the government would be shocked that the US would cut its funding and shared the countless testimonies of AIDS survivors affected by the media transition, but he said the South African regime's removal of Africans' rights would continue to be ignored.
Strydom not only pointed to specifically outlined points within the American demands, including the expropriation of Afrikaner agricultural land through the Confiscation Act, but also pointed to the BELA Act, which limited Boers' control over their schools; The Firearms Control Amendment Bill, a proposed law to remove the right to self-defense; Attacks on Section 25 through attempts to remove private property rights; and an attack on Section 235 of the Constitution, which allows self-determination for South African minorities, including Africans in Orania.
“Education, property rights and self-determination were important parts of the negotiated solutions in South Africa in the 1990s,” Strydom said. “Now, systematically, these have been removed. And the ANC (African National Congress) will act as if they are surprised that US tax-dollar support has been removed from their curatorship?” (Related: Inside Orania – South Africa's Only Whites Town)
Ernst van Zyl, head of public relations at AfriForum, a non-profit that aims to address a variety of issues within South Africa, including the protection of Afrikaners from agricultural attacks, told the Caller that the ANC-led government has refused to address a “reasonable and realistic list of criteria” attached to continued funding, hurting all South Africans.
He warned that instead of correcting its mistakes, the government would “blame the consequences of its extremist behavior and rhetoric on scapegoats,” such as local minority groups and organizations that seek to solve the country's problems from outside the political system.
Van Zyl stressed, “The issues the Trump administration has identified in South Africa are real and well-documented,” citing the “Kill the Boer” mantra and attacks on private property laws. “It is the ANC's choice to double down on its racist agenda and its refusal to commit farm murder, regardless of how much it hurts the average South African; that is the extremist position in this case.”
Ernst Roets, executive director of the think tank and advocacy group Lex Libertas, said that while the cuts were tragic, they could have been avoided altogether.
According to Lex Libertas, Roets said, “The government was given repeated opportunities to address legitimate concerns, but it chose ideological defiance. The American response is therefore appropriate, even if its consequences could be extremely tragic.” statement Caller referred. “The government still has an opportunity to prevent further damage, but it will need to abandon ideological stances and address the real concerns that have been put to it.”
Benny van Zyl, general manager of South Africa-based TLU SA, which stands up for the safety and sustainability of commercial farmers, told the Caller it is regrettable that the South African government believes it should get financial support without needing to play by the rules.
Bennie said the BBBEE and South Africa's rising crime rate are deterring American businesses from operating in the country and are directly contributing to the collapse of South African business and the failure of its infrastructure.
Benny said of the current government, “There is nothing you can say that is better now. Everything is worse.” “I don't know what this ANC government doesn't understand. They do all the wrong things, but they want positive results.” (Related: A warning: What South Africa can teach Americans about protecting their freedoms)
For his part, Benni thanked the Trump administration for putting “positive pressure on South Africa to allow economic principles to do their work”.