January 10, 2025 | The Wall Street Journal
South Africa Needs the Trump Treatment
The ANC has been too cozy for too long with the West’s enemies.
January 10, 2025 | The Wall Street Journal
South Africa Needs the Trump Treatment
The ANC has been too cozy for too long with the West’s enemies.
Excerpt
When people think of South Africa, they likely think of Nelson Mandela’s legacy of equality and democracy. But today the country is veering dangerously off course. Three decades of African National Congress rule have delivered corruption, economic collapse and an alarming alignment with America’s enemies—China, Russia, Iran and even Hamas. Fortunately, President-elect Trump has a golden opportunity to reorient U.S. policy toward South Africa and the entire Continent before a critical partner slips further into the enemy camp.
Why would South Africa, having escaped apartheid to champion freedom, align with dictators and terrorists? The answer lies in the ANC’s historical alignment with the Soviet Union during apartheid, which produced a lasting anti-Western ideology and foreign policy. Under the ANC, Pretoria has long fostered relationships with terrorist organizations and regimes that oppose the U.S., ranging from the Palestine Liberation Organization to Fidel Castro’s Cuba.
Mr. Dubowitz is CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Ms. Dezenski is senior director and head of the foundation’s Center on Economic and Financial Power.