ANC’s Russia and China ties trigger US push to end AGOA access
US Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) has introduced legislation seeking a sweeping reassessment of Washington’s ties with South Africa.
The US-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act of 2025, tabled on September 15, mirrors an earlier House bill but goes further by explicitly calling for Pretoria’s removal from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a trade program granting duty-free access to American markets.
The bill directs the US president to conduct a full review of the bilateral relationship within 180 days, examining whether South Africa’s actions undermine American security or foreign policy.
It singles out Pretoria’s growing ties with Russia, China, and Iran, and mandates a classified report naming senior South African government and ANC officials who could face sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act for alleged corruption and rights abuses.
“This bill holds South Africa accountable and ensures our relationship is serving US national security not undermining it,” Kennedy said, accusing the ANC of “cosying up to Russia and China while making shameful, antisemitic attacks against our ally Israel.”
The legislation cites South Africa’s hosting of a sanctioned Russian vessel in 2022 and its continued engagement with Moscow during the Ukraine war as evidence of its drift from Western partners.
The US can do what they want, the world is no longer afraid of this declining “has been” power.