Sport, Arts & Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie wants foreign-owned spaza shops to shut down and owners to be deported. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Newspapers
Image: Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Newspapers
Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader Gayton McKenzie has called on South Africa and the United States to fix their fractured relationship, saying both countries need each other.
McKenzie has also backed President Cyril Ramaphosa for standing up to US President Donald Trump over the recent scuffles between Pretoria and Washington.
During his State of the Nation Address, Ramaphosa made a bold declaration that Pretoria would not be bullied after Trump threatened funding cuts on HIV/Aids programmes for the benefit of South Africans. The following evening, Trump retaliated with executive orders which summarily cut the USAID funding to South Africa and he also afforded white Afrikaners priority status to seek refuge in the US as the impasse over SA’s expropriation policy escalated.
Speaking on the SMWX podcast, McKenzie did not mince his word in a sit-down interview with Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh’s youth-centred digital current affairs podcast which explores South African politics through interviews and analysis.
“No president should be bullied. For me, it was brave what he said. But, I want to say that America needs South Africa in particular and South Africa needs America.
“It’s our second biggest trading partner. Where I think America is wrong, is that they believe this nonsense and they used improper channels, that’s not how you speak to another president,” McKenzie said.
“A president shouldn't be reading on the internet what you think of their dissatisfaction. But the biggest thing America did wrong was to believe this saying ‘White people are under siege’. That is not true.”
McKenzie said 17% of funding in the fight against HIV/AIDS comes from the US, and AGOA is a concession the US has made.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is a piece of legislation that was approved by the US Congress in May 2000. The purpose of this legislation is to assist the economies of sub-Saharan Africa and improve economic relations between the US and the region. Many experts believe SA could be kicked out of Agoa next.
“I do think that we need to address the Americans and try to fix the relationship,” McKenzie said.
He also pointed out that leaders need to lead ordinary people stating that the end of this funding will lead to job losses for doctors and nurses, businesses and deaths of people.
He said while people have stated he is ‘licking arse’, it may be true.
“As a leader, I, Gayton McKenzie have to lick arse not for GNU, if it means I have to lick arse for the people to survive, for industries to survive I will do that. I can’t be arrogant. Some things are uncomfortable to say, but sometimes it is necessary to say,” McKenzie said.
He said what the Government of National Unity needed to understand, and very fast, that South Africa is the wealthiest country in the world.
“We are number one when it comes to chrome. We are number one when it comes to platinum. We are number one when it comes to gold. Coal, I think we number three, iron ore, I think we number one. We are a wealthy country but it doesn’t shiver down to the people and this is a time that we as the GNU cannot miss this bus,” he said.
McKenzie said Trump has given South Africa this opportunity and that if he [Trump] pulls AGOA, and we lose our ‘sugar daddy’, as a nation, the country should use its smartness and use our channels to succeed.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have also aired their views on Trump’s executive orders, urging Ramaphosa to strengthen relations with Brics countries due to Trump’s aggression.
The EFF said Trump’s executive orders were clearly illogical and they were a testament to the erratic nature of policy making that has overtaken US foreign policy “which is controlled by emotions and misinformation,” said the EFF.
According to the party, Trump cited that South Africa has taken an aggressive position against the US and its allies, particularly in the case by South Africa in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Israel for its genocidal crimes against the people of Palestine.
“This is the real reason why the USA is pursuing any form of cutting aid and is harming diplomatic relations with South Africa, not the baseless misinformation of confiscation of land and the ill-treatment of Afrikaners. South Africa is being punished for supporting Palestinian people and condemning Israel for its genocide,” it said.
The party further called for the revoking of citizenship for those who accept Trump’s offer.
However, in a twist of events, AfriForum and the Solidarity Movement have backtracked on the white genocide claims, publicly turning down Trump's offer for refuge in the United States of America. They said the future of Afrikaner white people was in South Africa, calling on Ramaphosa to meet them over their dispute over the expropriation policy.
In a joint media briefing on Saturday, the Afrikaner interest and civil society group AfriForum, and the trade union Solidarity, were unequivocal, saying white Afrikaners were going nowhere and the Afrikaners’ future lies in Africa, specifically in South Africa.
robin.france@iol.co.za
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