U.S.–South Africa Relations Are on the Brink of Collapse

Zainab Usman and Anthony Carroll

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The diplomatic relationship between the United States and South Africa has entered one of its most turbulent phases since the end of apartheid. Once characterized by cooperation across sectors such as trade, health, defense, and diplomacy, the partnership is now fraying under the weight of geopolitical tensions, ideological differences, and a string of controversial policy decisions on both sides. The deterioration began during U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term and has intensified since 2022, largely due to fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, South Africa’s 2023 case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and South Africa’s close relationship with China.

However, tensions reached a boiling point after Trump’s return to office in January. A series of bold and, in some cases, controversial moves by the U.S. administration and a few strategic mistakes on the part of South Africa have taken the strained relationship to the brink of collapse.

Among the most incendiary was an executive order aimed at offering asylum to White South Africans—specifically Afrikaners—citing concerns over a new land reform law in South Africa. The law, part of an effort to address historical inequalities rooted in apartheid-era land dispossession, triggered alarm in some circles abroad. Trump’s order framed the situation as a human rights issue for Afrikaners, despite pushback from South Africans who saw it as a racially charged external intervention. Nearly 70,000 South Africans have since expressed interest in U.S. visas under this program, according to the South African Chamber of Commerce in the USA. Critics argue the move echoes past U.S. policies that favored the defunct apartheid regime and undermines South Africa’s ongoing efforts to redress systemic inequality. The country has the world’s highest levels of income inequalities, which, according to the International Monetary Fund, is evident in skewed income distribution, unequal access to opportunities, and regional disparities.