ActionSA writes to US ambassador Brigety to ask Biden administration to delay possible AGOA removal until after 2024 elections

13 June 2023

ActionSA has written to the United States (US) Ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, to ask that he requests President Joe Biden’s administration to delay taking any action around removing South Africa’s beneficial status under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) until after the 2024 national elections when the ANC will be removed.

This after a group of US lawmakers lobbied the White House to move the upcoming AGOA summit away from South Africa as a step towards the country losing its AGOA status.

South Africa losing AGOA benefits - which gives duty-free access to 25% of South African exports to the US - would have a devastating impact on our economy and may lead to thousands of job losses.

The loss of AGOA benefit would, in particular, be a hard blow to South African farming and vehicle manufacturing industries which are already experiencing strain from inflation and load-shedding pressures. The US was South Africa's second-largest total automotive export market in 2022 with vehicles and components to the value of R24 billion being exported which created thousands of jobs.

ActionSA, therefore, appeals to Ambassador Brigety to request the Biden Administration to delay possible moves to remove South Africa’s AGOA benefit. ActionSA believes South Africans should be given a chance to remove the ANC which has chosen its own self-interest above the needs of the people, instead of possibly being punished for the mistakes of the ANC.

It is the ANC’s disastrous approach to South Africa’s foreign policy of supporting Russia in the unjust war in Ukraine that has led to South Africa being in this precarious position where US lawmakers are actively discussing removing the country’s AGOA benefits.

At a time when South Africa is battling a catastrophic broad unemployment rate now of 42.4%, the South African government should centre its foreign policy in the best interest of the people, and not align itself with dictators complicit in war crimes. This will happen when the ANC is removed from power in 2024.

ActionSA, a party which values ethical leadership, will do everything in its power to protect South Africans from the ANC’s disastrous foreign policy missteps, and to ensure that it is finally removed from power in 2024. It is only by removing the ANC that South Africa can be fixed, and prosperity restored.

Issued by Herman Mashaba, ActionSA President, 13 June 2023