US freezes funding: Is South Africa being punished for dragging Netanyahu to court?

Experts have said the US government's announcement to freeze all future funding for South Africa may be a punishment for South Africa’s dragging Israeli government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the International Justice Court (ICJ) over the genocide in Gaza.

South Africa approached the ICJ to stop the Israeli bombardment of Palestine, which resulted in more than 47,000 deaths, with the court finding that Israel was committing genocide and issuing a warrant of arrest against Netanyahu.

Following this, the US government, which has spent billions of dollars funding the Israeli military, retaliated with sanctions against the ICJ, with Trump worsening the situation by cutting all future funding for South Africa.

Independent political analyst and senior lecturer at the University of Limpopo, Dr Metji Makgoba, said the US and its allies were not impressed with South Africa’s siding with Gaza and argued that the US was sending a message to all developing African countries.

“The US and the UK see themselves as big brothers in the Group 20 (G20). Trump is friends with Israel, and the US is in full support of Netanyahu.

“The alliance between Israel and America is based on conservative politics and their love for Christianity. Trump is a Christian maniac and will do everything to protect Israelis. But it is not even Trump alone. The previous administration has done the same and supported the murderous regime of Benjamin Netanyahu. 

“Trump is radical in his approach and is going against many countries. We will misunderstand the power of his right-wing if we think that South Africa is punished only because it is Israel to the Hague. Trump comes with clarity on his oppression of minorities and underdeveloped countries,” he said.

For South Africa to stand against the West, it needs to be self-reliant and center development on its people. However, given our pursuit of neoliberalism, which is based on outsourcing the political functions of the state, this is far from happening.

Makgoba felt that African countries must focus on building their state capacities and managing finances without depending on foreign aid. 

“The aid has been used as a mechanism of soft power in which the giver always knows how to control the receiver. What we see as help is directly taking our freedom away. Unfortunately, the government knows this and will not do anything because they are clueless about governance.

Geopolitical Analyst Joe Mhlanga said that the freezing of aid was long coming, arguing that the US uses monetary systems to punish other states.

“We all knew this was going to follow when we saw ICJ and the ICC being dragged by some European countries who support the displacement and killing of people in Palestine. The US was not impressed that a country it funds openly opposes its foreign policy in the Middle East,” said Mhlanga.

International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola said that Trump did not understand South Africa’s policy frameworks, referring to Trump’s earlier statements that South Africa is confiscating people’s lands, an argument the South African government has incredibly denied.

“We trust President Trump's advisors will use the investigative period to attain a thorough understanding of South Africa's policies within the framework of a constitutional democracy,” said Lamola.

Last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a bill into law permitting national, provincial, and local authorities to expropriate land for a public purpose or in the public interest, subject to just and equitable compensation being paid.

IOL