Joel Pollak’s message to the South African government

To ease the tension with the United States (US), South Africa needs to start listening to what America says, or the country could lose trade benefits and even face tariffs and sanctions.

These are the views of Joel Pollak, an influential United States political commentator, writer, radio host, and attorney.

Pollak is currently a senior editor-at-large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot.

He won the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship and authored numerous books, including The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days.

He is active in politics. In 2010, he was the Republican nominee for U.S. Congress from Illinois’s ninth congressional district.

What makes him very relevant in the conversation about South Africa is that he is the frontrunner to become the United States’ next ambassador to South Africa.

Although US President Donald Trump has not yet nominated the US Ambassador to South Africa, Pollak is the likely choice and confirmed that he would accept the position.

It is a logical choice as Pollak has strong ties to South Africa and shares the views of the Trump Administration.

He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1977. The same year, his family moved to the United States and became citizens in 1987.

Pollak attended Harvard College, from which he graduated magna cum laude in 1999. He then attended the University of Cape Town (UCT) on a Rotary Scholarship.

His first book, The Kasrils Affair: Jews and Minority Politics in the New South Africa, was based on his master’s thesis at UCT.

He later served as a speechwriter for the Leader of the Opposition in the South African Parliament.

Pollak married Julia Inge Bertelsmann, a black South African who converted to Judaism, in December 2009.

Over the last few weeks, he has been outspoken about South Africa and the country’s relationship with the United States.

His comments came amidst Trump’s announcement that he would cut all future funding to South Africa pending investigation over allegations of “treating certain classes of people very badly”.

On Friday, 7 February, Trump signed an executive order formalising his position on South Africa, titled, “Egregious actions of The Republic of South Africa”.

In 2023, the US allocated $440 million to South Africa, primarily for a health initiative supporting 17% of the country’s HIV/AIDS program.

The order said that the United States “cannot support the government of South Africa’s commission of rights violations in its country”.

It added that as long as it “continues these unjust and immoral practices, ” the United States will not provide aid or assistance.

The White House said Washington will also formulate a plan to resettle Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination.

Some high-ranking Cabinet members and congresspeople have urged Trump to isolate South Africa over issues like the expropriation laws.

Other problematic areas include South Africa’s close relationship with US foes China and Russia and its case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

“In addition, South Africa has taken aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies, including accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide in the ICJ,” the order states.

South Africa’s relations with Iran to develop commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements is another problematic area.

Start listening, Pollak said

BusinessTech interviewed Joel Pollak for his insights on the situation and what he would advise the South African government to do.

He told BusinessTech that this might start a spiraling relationship, which can result in the loss of African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) benefits, tariffs, and even sanctions.

According to figures from the South African Revenue Service (SARS), South African exports to the United States amounted to R154.96 billion in 2023, resulting in a trade surplus of R19.24 billion.

AGOA provides duty-free access to the United States market for almost all products exported from more than 40 eligible sub-Saharan African countries, including South Africa.

This is incredibly lucrative as it provides access to the world’s largest economy, whose GDP was $27.36 trillion in 2023.

Pollak said that policies like Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) and land expropriation without compensation have caught the eye of high-ranking American politicians.

“South Africa’s obsession with land reform and expropriation, and its tacit approval of the self-destruction of Zimbabwe, have created a very negative perception that can only be rectified through a dramatic shift in focus toward growth,” he said.

“South Africa’s racial policies affect investment and perceptions of the country more generally,” which could also affect AGOA.

On February 6, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he would not attend the upcoming Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg, citing the land expropriation law and “DEI” as some of his reasons.

Just after Trump announced he would cut funding to South Africa over the new land expropriation laws, one of his most prominent backers and allies, Elon Musk, ramped up the pressure.

The world’s richest man and now head of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, which is busy culling state spending, took to X to express his opposition.

When President Cyril Ramaphosa defended the new Expropriation Act, Musk responded, “Why do you have openly racist ownership laws?”

South Africa making friends with enemies of the United States

Pollak said that South Africa’s behaviour on the international stage has significantly strained relations with the United States.

South Africa’s close relations with American foes, including Russia, China and Iran, has caused tension.

Looking at the BRICS+ grouping, he said that affects its relations with the United States as it is seen as a challenge to the US dollar, with South Africa’s role seen negatively.

“That has only become more negative as BRICS has embraced the genocidal Iranian regime,” Pollak told BusinessTech.

In December 2024, Trump warned the BRICS nations that any attempt to create a new currency to replace the US dollar would result in a 100% tariff.

He said that the United States would no longer stand by while these countries moved away from the US dollar and demanded a commitment to back the greenback.

Trump emphasised that failure to comply would lead to severe economic consequences, including losing access to the US market.

With the AGOA agreement under the microscope, Pollak said that the role of Chinese firms in South Africa benefiting from its provisions is under immense scrutiny.

They became particularly ruffled after the South African government did not condemn Hamas’ October 7th attack on Israel.

Then, South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) angered powerful United States politicians.

Trump’s pick for Ambassador to the UN, Elise Stefanik, is a staunch ally of Israel and signed a bipartisan letter to former Secretary of State Antony Blinken in January expressing lawmakers’ “disgust” at South Africa’s case.

“South Africa’s case against Israel at the ICJ was purely an antisemitic baseless attempt by the international community to perpetuate false and dangerous allegations against the Jewish state,” she wrote.

On 6 February, Trump signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court, claiming that it “has engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.”

Other actions, like South Africa’s non-aligned stance on the Russia-Ukraine war and the decision to move Taiwan’s liaison office, have also strained relations.

High-ranking Republican Senator Ted Cruz recently accused the South African government of intentionally alienating America, calling the move “deeply troubling” and a threat to national security.

He blamed pressure from China, noting that South Africa had given Taiwan until March to relocate. Cruz, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Africa subcommittee, vowed to investigate.

Going forward

Pollak suggested that to ease tensions with the United States, South Africa should cease military exercises with China and Russia.

It should also drop the ICJ case against Israel, urge Palestinians to suspend the armed struggle and stop supporting rogue regimes like Cuba.

He added that South Africa should “embrace the non-racialism at the heart of the South African constitution”.

It is understood that policies like black economic empowerment (BEE) and affirmative action (AA) are seen as racial policies.

South Africa should also eliminate violent crime and end labour laws and regulations that crush foreign and domestic investment.

Unless South Africa acts on these issues, Pollak fears that the loss of AGOA benefits, tariffs, and sanctions is possible.

South African government’s response

At the State of the Nation Address on 6 February, President Cyril Ramaphosa said, “We will not be bullied.”

“We will stand together as a united nation. We will speak with one voice to defend our national interest, sovereignty and constitutional democracy.”

Following the US announcement of severing funding to the country, the Presidency said that the South African government has not confiscated any land.

“South Africa is a constitutional democracy deeply rooted in the rule of law, justice and equality,” the Presidency said,

It added that the recently adopted Expropriation Act is not a confiscation tool but a required process for equitable public access to land.

“We look forward to engaging with the Trump administration over our land reform policy and issues of bilateral interest,” said the Presidency.

“The US remains a key strategic political and trade partner for South Africa.”