By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Members of US Parliament from across party lines have urged President Joe Biden to impose sanctions against South Africa Over what they call Johannesburg’s support for Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
The MPs are urging Biden’s administration to relocate an important trade meeting to another country, a letter published on Tuesday by The New York Times says.
The lawmakers also said that South Africa’s “aid” for Russia, including alleged shipment of arms to Moscow for its war in Ukraine, calls into question its eligibility to receive trade benefits from the U.S. under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
South African Foreign Ministry spokesman Clayson Monyela said on Tuesday, in a statement that the U.S. lawmakers’ letter had been “noted” but South Africa still “enjoys the support of the U.S. government” for its hosting of the AGOA meeting.
South Africa’s exports to the U.S. through AGOA were estimated at $3 billion last year. The U.S. is South Africa’s second-biggest trade partner behind China.
Moving November’s AGOA meeting to another country “would send a clear and important message that the United States continues to stand with Ukraine and will not accept our trading partners provision of aid to Russia’s ongoing and brutal invasion,” the letter from lawmakers said.
It said that despite the South African government’s claim that it was neutral in the war in Ukraine, it had “deepened its military relationship with Russia over the past year.”
The letter was dated June 9 and sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
It was signed by Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, the chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs; Republican Sen. Jim Risch, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Rep. Gregory Meeks, a Democrat and the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
AGOA is legislation passed by Congress that allows Sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to the U.S. market for their exports provided they meet certain conditions. South Africa is one of the biggest beneficiaries.
The lawmakers said there was U.S. intelligence that indicated South Africa had “covertly” supplied Russia with weapons on the Lady R.
In their letter, they also referred to the visit of a Russian military plane, also under U.S. sanctions, to a South African airbase in April, and South Africa’s decision to host Russian and Chinese warships for naval drills in February that coincided with the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion.
“We are seriously concerned that hosting the 2023 AGOA Forum in South Africa would serve as an implicit endorsement of South Africa’s damaging support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and possible violation of U.S. sanctions law,” said the lawmakers’ letter.
South Africa was also “working to facilitate the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin” at a summit of emerging economies in Johannesburg in August, the U.S. lawmakers said, despite Putin being indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Ukraine.
