The Solidarity Movement notes with concern the downward spiral of statements by senior leaders of these two countries. The two governments should not continue to react to each other’s statements but should instead focus on the real causes of the conflict.
The first step towards normalising relations should be the immediate appointment of ambassadors to both countries to reopen the blocked diplomatic channels. The two countries could then appoint a joint task team to investigate and resolve the smaller points of contention. The larger issues could be addressed thereafter.
The national interests of South Africa and the US must form the basis of such discussions, not differences between the governments or conflicting policies or statements. The ANC is responsible for the deterioration of relations that has been building for years and it can no longer hide behind misrepresentations and accusations of “misinformation”.
National interests
It is in both countries’ national interests to repair the deteriorating relationship. South Africa’s unemployment rate is among the highest in the world, while it is also not in the US’s interest for the South African government to align itself with America’s opponents. The solution is not to exclude South Africa from the G20, but to persuade the government to introduce the necessary policy reforms that can place South Africa on an accelerated growth trajectory to become one of the largest 20 economies.
We believe the US’s underlying reasons for the deterioration of relations between the two countries are the following:
- The US belief that the ANC’s foreign policy threatens US national security;
- The US government’s view that South African racial laws are incompatible with a constitutional democracy, a functioning state and a growing economy;
- The fact that the ANC has historically and currently preferred to align itself with the global non-Western bloc;
- The ANC’s ideological opposition to the US government’s conservative free-market policies;
- The US president’s view that farm murders are fuelled by inflammatory songs such as “Kill the Boer”, that they threaten the human rights of the Afrikaner minority, and that the South African president does not condemn it while the Constitutional Court does not consider it hate speech;
- The ANC’s breach of the 1994 agreement regarding Afrikaner cultural rights, e.g. through the BELA legislation;
- That South African legislation threatens the property rights of the Afrikaner minority and could place the country on a slippery slope towards a Zimbabwe.
The Solidarity Movement is grateful for the US President’s concern for the lives and human rights of Afrikaners. At the same time, we want to prevent Afrikaner interests from becoming a political football between South Africa and the US. Certain South African politicians have already unfairly and unfoundedly accused us of treason and unpatriotic behaviour, and wrongly hold us responsible for the imposition of trade tariffs and the termination of financial aid to vulnerable groups.
The Solidarity Movement has repeatedly made it clear that we did not convey a message of genocide to the US president. We also do not view refugee status for Afrikaners to the US as a permanent solution, but simply as a way to help a minority whose lives have been affected or threatened by violent crime. Therefore, it is necessary for both the US and South African governments to talk directly to Afrikaners rather than about us, so that misunderstandings about the situation in South Africa and the position of Afrikaners can be clarified.
That is why we signed an Afrikaner Declaration last year, in which we committed ourselves to creating a future for Afrikaners and South Africa. We also made it clear that we are not content with being treated as second-class citizens and being used by the ANC as punching bags and scapegoats to divert attention from their failures. It does not help that the ANC complains that the US is bullying them while the ANC itself is bullying Afrikaners with racial legislation and cultural discrimination.
New campus
The Solidarity Movement’s project to build the cultural infrastructure for a free, safe and prosperous future will gain new momentum in January 2026 with the construction of a new campus for our independent university. At the same time, it reaffirms our commitment to local solutions. We build to stay, and stay to build. We are not victims or refugees. Our goal is to build the cultural infrastructure that will enable us to remain here sustainably, allowing us to make a lasting contribution to the well-being of the country and all its people.
