Kuseni Dlamini’s hopes for US-SA relations

Article by Jeremy Maggs

JEREMY MAGGS: Now, our top story, as the Washington-Pretoria diplomatic standoff continues, Kuseni Dlamini, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in South Africa, says there’s now need for a mature and tactical response to the US administration’s decision to withdraw aid to South Africa following the enactment of the Expropriation Act.

With over 600 US companies operating in South Africa, employing more than 200 000 people, the economic ties between the two nations, he says, are significant. Kuseni, joins me on the programme. Kuseni, thank you very much indeed. Do you think this impasse then can be resolved or do you think positions have become so entrenched and we are too far down the line?

KUSENI DLAMINI: I certainly think this impasse can indeed be resolved. This is an opportunity for a reset in the relationship between South Africa and the United States. I think this is a time for more constructive and positive engagement. These two countries, as you have just said in your introduction, are of strategic significance to each other from an economic perspective.

US companies combined account for about 10% of South Africa’s GDP.

We’ve got over 600 multinational corporations from the United States operating in South Africa. They bring in capital, they bring in technology, they bring in skills. They also assist in supply chain opportunities for small and medium enterprises in South Africa, which employ tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of other people as well. So I think it’s strategically significant and imperative for us to prioritise redressing the issues.

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JEREMY MAGGS: And you suggest that all of this is based on trust and mutual respect, all well and good, but do you think that trust and mutual respect actually exists right now given all the rhetoric that we’ve been hearing?

KUSENI DLAMINI: It’s in times like this, Jeremy, when there’s a deficit in trust and mutual respect that we need to summon our best of diplomatic capabilities and skills, which South Africa is well known for from the negotiations in 1994 and from the roles we’ve played in peacekeeping elsewhere in the world, whether it’s Northern Ireland and some other countries.

But I think now we need to deploy our best expertise in diplomacy, economic diplomacy in particular, Jeremy, to be able to resolve this. I think it can be resolved.

JEREMY MAGGS: It’s not just about diplomacy, it’s communication as well, which seems to be a key issue. It would appear that many in the United States have simply misunderstood or misinterpreted the Expropriation Act.

It would be incumbent surely upon South Africa to now improve its engagement, its communications engagement, with the US to ensure a more accurate narrative. We haven’t done that side of it particularly well, have we?

KUSENI DLAMINI: Ja, there is an opportunity here from a messaging point of view to make sure that we sing from the same hymn book, we’ve got a very coherent, compelling and explicit message in terms of the implications of the Expropriation Act. I know that we are all concerned, and a lot of voices have been heard around the issue of disinformation and misinformation.

I will turn around and ask: What have we done to make sure that we preempt the tendency by some within our society to misinform and disform the US.

I think we need government and business and civil society, in particular government, to lead the charge in terms of public diplomacy, in terms of reaching out, using South Africa’s soft power internationally to make sure that the right narratives are propagated and advanced.

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JEREMY MAGGS: I mentioned that there are around 600 American companies currently operating in South Africa. I have no doubt that since the pronouncement was made by President Trump in the United States, you have been engaging either formally or informally with them. What have they been telling you?

KUSENI DLAMINI: All of them are very committed to making sure that South Africa and the US have a very strong and positive relationship, especially from an economic and trade perspective. All of them realise the importance of the relationship between the two countries.

Let’s remember that South Africa is the US’s largest trading partner in Africa and the US is South Africa’s second-largest partner globally after China.

So the business and strategic case for this relationship is very clear and very compelling.

JEREMY MAGGS: But they also must be very dismayed at the line that is coming out of Washington right now.

KUSENI DLAMINI: Certainly, what is coming out of Washington now just shows that South Africa also has joined other countries that are in President Trump’s crosshairs, and we need to make sure that we actively and effectively reach out to Trump and his inner circle of advisors, make sure that South Africa is well understood because there is lack of understanding of what South Africa stands for.

Because the Expropriation Act, as President Ramaphosa has said, is really not about land grab, it’s really a constitutionally mandated legal process to ensure public access to land, but doing so in a way that balances the interest of private landowners within the constitutional framework.

JEREMY MAGGS: There’s also the thought now of sending a multi-party ministerial delegation to Washington, including leaders from various sectors. You don’t think this is too late?

KUSENI DLAMINI: It’s not late to engage, Jeremy. I would argue that it should not just be an event, it should be the beginning of an ongoing process of a holistic strategy to engage with the White House, with Congress, with foreign publics in the US, opinion makers, people in the media, whether it’s Fox or CNN.

It is time for South Africa to engage with foes and friends in Washington, not focus on the Democrats who have traditionally been viewed as friendly to South Africa.

We are now about doubling down in terms of building friends, winning hearts and minds within the Republican constituencies and within conservative constituencies.

I dare say this process must be done from a team South Africa point of view. I think entities like AfriForum have to be part of the team South Africa effort so that we speak from one voice, and we clarify exactly the fact from fiction on this matter.

JEREMY MAGGS: All right, fair point, but it would also require South Africa itself to dial back on some of its rhetoric.

KUSENI DLAMINI: It’s a balancing act that is required in diplomacy, absolutely. If you want to win hearts and minds, you have to engage in a certain way, and you’ve got to be careful of your tone and the substance of what you say.

JEREMY MAGGS: Do you realistically think that South Africa can salvage its position as far as the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act [Agoa] is concerned?

KUSENI DLAMINI: I strongly believe so and I believe that you indeed can and must do so. I was, Jeremy, part of the delegation that accompanied the ministers, three ministers who were sent by President Cyril Ramaphosa in July 2023 to Washington D.C. to clarify the Lady R matter and also argue for Agoa’s extension. The reception we received from both sides of the aisle, Republicans and Democrats, and in the White House, actually there are more friends for South Africa than foes.

There are many people who want South Africa to succeed, both within the Republicans and the Democratic Party in the US, and across the business community in the US, and across civil society as well. I think we just need to do the heavy lifting.

We now have Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool in the US, who is a very competent and highly esteemed diplomat. He’s very familiar with the D.C. landscape and certainly will not be a novice there. He’s hit the ground running. We just need to support his efforts.

JEREMY MAGGS: Well, striking a very optimistic tone. That is Kuseni Dlamini, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in South Africa. Kuseni, thank you very much indeed.