The United States (US) and South Africa (SA) have a relatively long and complex history regarding bilateral relationships. The US ‘opened its first consulate in Cape Town in 1799’ when President John Adams appointed John Elmslie as America’s first consul to the Cape. Formal diplomatic relations then followed in 1929. When the South African government instituted the race-based policy of apartheid in 1948, the relations between the two countries became strained as the US was opposed to the racist apartheid system that dehumanised the majority black population who were denied voting and economic rights. Thirty-eight years later, the US passed the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, which officially imposed sanctions on Pretoria.
South Africa, therefore, shares a complex relationship with the United States, often influenced by shifting polarisations within US politics and changing geopolitics. There is enough evidence showing that the Democrats (one of the two major parties) have historically empathised with the struggles of the South African black majority. At the same time, the Republicans have tended to be more amenable to the former rulers during the apartheid. The Republicans’ view on South Africa during apartheid, a period when South Africa was officially governed based on a racialised system 1948-1994, was informed by the view that the opponents of white rule were controlled, or dominated, by agents of Moscow. The US government, during the Cold War period, classified most of the liberation struggle leaders as terrorists due to their alliances with the Soviet Union. This complexity and often shifting political environment has also shaped relations between these two countries and multipolar structures like the United Nations. Since 1992, South Africa has been one of the largest beneficiaries of US aid and one of the leading countries with healthy trade and commerce ties with the US.
As Bridgman argued, US-SA relations must be considered against the backdrop of international developments, historical patterns, and current political exigencies in the US, especially pressures for disengagement. In the last two years (2023-2025), the US has conflicted with South Africa due to the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. South Africa, which shares a similar history with the people of Gaza, has openly opposed the US’s position and dragged Israel to the ICC, where the former defence minister and the current prime minister were found to have a prima facie for war crimes and genocide. On the other hand, South Africa has sought to be a neutral player in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, also contrary to the position held by the US, which has been funding Ukraine. However, the two countries have shared mutual political relations, especially in fostering mediation and conflict resolution on the continent. The US sees South Africa as the point person in Africa. Bond contends that the US needs a sub-imperial partner, even one whose politicians are occasionally as cheeky as those in Pretoria – and who has become, hence, just as vital for broader systemic legitimation as Washington’s talk-left, walk-right allies in New Delhi and Brasilia.
South Africa is attractive to the US as a partner due to its political, trade, and investment ties across Africa and its active role within the African Union. As Baskaran has argued, since the beginning of 2023, there has been escalating tension in United States-South Africa relations. South Africa engaged in a joint naval drill—Mosi II—with Russia and China, coinciding with the one-year mark of the Ukrainian invasion. In reaction, a group of US policymakers put forth House Resolution 145.[1], urging the Biden administration to “conduct a thorough review of the United States-South Africa relationship.” The tension escalated in May 2023 when the US ambassador to South Africa publicly alleged that South Africa had secretly provided weapons to Russia to use against Ukraine.
Sibizo argues that since 1994, the trade and, to a certain extent, economic relations between South Africa and the US have primarily hinged on who between the Democrats and Conservatives is in the US government. The US and South Africa’s economic relations have been mutual. However, the past 12 years have seen some tensions, traced to the last years of Obama’s presidency. South Africa and US economic relations have been anchored through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) deal, allowing South Africa (and many other regional economies) tariff-free access to the US markets. Since its inception, South Africa has remained the largest and most diverse beneficiary of the AGOA deal.
In light of the above, our view is that of the four point-scale characterizations used in this study, the relationship South Africa has with the US would most closely align with independency.
Refrences
Baskaran, Gracelin. 2024. Quantifying the impact of a loss of South Africa’s AGOA benefits. Coherent Digital. Accessed February 5, 2025. https://policycommons.net/artifacts/11321722/quantifying-the-impact-of-a-loss-of-south-africas-agoa-benefits/12207839/.
Bond, Patrick. 2005. “US empire and South African subimperialism.” Socialist register 41: 218-234. Accessed February 5, 2025. https://socialistregister.com/index.php/srv/article/download/5822/2718/7749.
Bridgman, Martha. 1999. Between’partnership’and disengagement: mapping the contours of US policy towards post-apartheid South Africa. PhD dissertation, Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University. Accessed February 5, 2025. https://scholar.sun.ac.za/bitstream/10019.1/51156/1/bridgman_between_1999.pdf.
Cook, Nicolas. 2013. South Africa: Politics, economy, and US relations. Congressional Research Service. Accessed February 5, 2025. http://fredsakademiet.dk/ordbog/sord/_pdf/South%20Africa%202013.pdf.
Hirsch, Alan. 1989. “The United States and South Africa Since 1948.” Social Dynamics 15 (2): 63-78. Accessed February 5, 2025. doi:10.1080/02533958908458475.
Naumann, Eckart. 2016. South Africa and AGOA: Recent developments 2015-2016 and possible suspension. Working Paper, Stellenbosch: Tralack.
Sibizo, Busisiwe Thabisa. 2023. The United States of America and South African trade relations during Joe Biden’s administration: analysis of prospects and challenges. Master’s thesis, Johannesburg: University of Johannesburg. Accessed February 5, 2025. https://search.proquest.com/openview/16536a447aea7cf49417583040cbe7f7/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2026366&diss=y.
U.S. Mission South Africa. 2022. U.S. Embassy & Consulates in South Africa. 21 February. Accessed February 5, 2025. https://za.usembassy.gov/chief-of-mission-residence-cape-town-south-africa-kearsney-house-fact-sheet/#:~:text=The%20United%20States%20in%20Cape,to%20the%20Cape%20in%201799.
van de Walle, Nicolas. 2015. “Obama and Africa: Lots of Hope, Not Much Change.” Foreign Affairs 94 (5): 54-62. Accessed February 5, 2025.
Williams, Brock R. 2015. African growth and opportunity act (AGOA): Background and reauthorization. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service. Accessed February 5, 2025. https://www.academia.edu/download/100856623/R43173_2015Jun16.pdf.