Lobbyists Urge US to Sanction Errant South African Officials
(Bloomberg) -- South African lobby groups who say they represent the interests of White Afrikaners urged the Trump administration to censure senior members of the nation's biggest political party implicated in a judicial probe into state graft.
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Leaders from AfriForum and Solidarity met senior US officials in Washington this week and presented them with the names of African National Congress members who they said should be sanctioned under the Global Magnitsky Act. The law enables the US to target foreign officials who are party to corruption and human-rights violations.
A list of people implicated by the Zondo commission who 'got off scot-free' was presented to the US government, and a call was made to take action against them, AfriForum Chief Executive Officer Kallie Kriel said in a video clip posted on social media platform X.
A commission headed by Raymond Zondo, South Africa's recently retired chief justice, spent four years investigating graft during Jacob Zuma's tenure as president, and heard a plethora of testimony of how state departments and governments were systematically plundered.
A number of senior politicians, including serving members of President Cyril Ramaphosa's cabinet, were implicated in the looting spree, which the government estimates cost taxpayers more than 500 billion rand ($27 billion). Hardly any of them have been prosecuted since Zondo's panel concluded its work in 2021.
Ramaphosa has said those implicated in wrongdoing are being investigated and action will be taken if warranted. The National Prosecuting Authority has voiced similar sentiments, while acknowledging public frustration at how long the process is taking.
The lobby groups also delivered a memorandum to the US officials stating that Afrikaners are being culturally and educationally discriminated against, and that American and South African foreign policy aren't aligned. They said they don't want South Africa to lose its preferential access to US markets because that would impact negatively on commercial farmers.
Trump recently halted most aid to South Africa after accusing the government of confiscating land, and offered refugee status to Afrikaner farmers. The nation's authorities haven't confiscated any private land since apartheid ended in 1994.
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