The U.S.’s frustration with the South African government stems from Pretoria’s sluggish response to some of its demands.
Leo Brent Bozell III recently revealed that the Southern African country has yet to address a few demands the U.S. made for their bilateral ties to smooth out.
“As I’ve made clear in meetings I’ve had, the U.S. is running out of patience. We believe more and more it becomes a statement by the South African government when it doesn’t want to respond to simple questions we have,” he stated.
Since assuming office for his second tenure, Donald Trump’s relationship with South Africa has been characterized by disputes and disagreements, resulting in significant migration, boycotts, and the imposition of costly tariffs.
Following in this trend, the United States’ recent grievance with South Africa stems from the African country’s refusal to adhere to the following demands: condemn the Kill the Boer cry, reconsider the Expropriation Act, and widespread black economic empowerment, be non-aligned, and give priority to farm killings to save white farmers.
The United States is also not thrilled by some of the comments the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, recently made.
“Insulting our president on the eve of coming to our country is not a good sign. Sending condolence letters to Iran after one of the world’s greatest terrorists has been put down, it’s not a good sign,” Brent said in reference to South Africa’s message of condolence after Iranian leader Ali Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli strikes.
“I’ll tell you where our position has been very firm. We put together five asks. I mentioned three, but there were a few more. We’ve put them forward to the South African government. We’ve been waiting for almost a year for a response,” he added.
As seen in TimesLive, it is believed that, among other demands, the United States wants South Africa to withdraw from the BRICS bloc and cease its legal action against Israel in the International Court of Justice.
“I’m sorry, I don’t care what your courts say. It’s hate speech,” Leo Brent Bozell remarked on the ‘Kill the Boer’ sentiment.
Bozell stated that the US is requesting clarification regarding “Kill the Boer,” which he considers to be hate speech. “I’m sorry, I don’t care what your courts say. It’s hate speech,” he said.
The U.S. ambassador also urged the business community to express their displeasure with governmental policy.
“I don’t want to hear businesses say one thing publicly and another thing privately. I want the businesses who tell me privately that triple BEE is hurting them to say so publicly. I don’t want them to feel fear from the government. There has to be that kind of outspokenness,” he said.
“I will urge you to be more outspoken. I think we are at perhaps an existential moment that none of us wanted. Nobody was looking for this situation, to go in this direction. Things were going very well, but things have gone off course,” he added.
Kill the Boer
“Kill the Boer” is a contentious anti-apartheid resistance chant originating in South Africa during the struggle against the system of racial segregation known as Apartheid (1948–1994).
The phrase is derived from the liberation song “Dubul’ ibhunu,” which translates from Zulu as “Kill the Boer.”
In this context, “Boer” literally denotes “farmer” in Afrikaans but historically served as a designation for white Afrikaner settlers, who were closely associated with the apartheid government and its security apparatus.
In modern South Africa, the chant remains highly controversial.
It has been revitalized at certain political gatherings by figures such as Julius Malema, the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
