Agoa or Leila Khaled Drive? SA’s tough choice in Trump’s shadow

Donald Trump’s imminent return to the White House has changed dynamics across the world, especially in the Middle East and Ukraine.

South Africa is not immune to his influence. Bearing in mind Trump’s 2018 reference to African nations as “shithole” countries, we should not expect a benign response to negative signals he receives from South Africa.

The proposed renaming of Sandton Drive could bring US relations with South Africa sharply into focus.

Trump was mentioned in the original 2018 Johannesburg City Council motion to rename Sandton Drive.

The proposer was Al Jama-ah councillor Thapelo Amad, who briefly “served” as mayor before being dumped by the ANC-led GLU (government of local uselessness).

In his motivation, Amad cited Trump’s comments “regarding expropriation of land which is a domestic affair of the country”.

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He also accused Trump of “instigating the genocide against humanity in Palestine and even threatening to deploy a permanent ambassador to hold South Africans hostage on how they should handle their domestic affairs.”

Amad’s reasoning included: “… the fact that US Embassy Consulate resides in the same street…”

It’s not an embassy. It’s a consulate-general. Such offices don’t “reside”.

There is no mistaking the hostility towards Trump personally. He might take the verbal attack personally if Sandton Drive is renamed after Palestinian plane hijacker Leila Khaled.

There’s nothing official about this, but I have heard from several sources that Johannesburg’s ANC leadership is under pressure to drop the proposed renaming.

There were similar whispers last week when the Patriotic Alliance withdrew its motion for Joburg City Council to rescind its 2018 approval for renaming Sandton Drive.

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In the background is the threat of the US removing South Africa from the list of African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) beneficiaries. Trump has already warned of this in response to suggestions that Brics countries are trying to move away from the US dollar.

Agoa allows eligible sub-Saharan African countries duty-free and quota-free access to US markets. Given the size of US markets, South African businesses can benefit from being allowed to export without incurring tariffs.

This helps create jobs in South Africa’s export sectors such as textiles, automotive and agriculture.

Economic growth is boosted when exports increase and foreign investment is attracted.

In the long term, Agoa would encourage South Africans to diversify the range of exports, reducing reliance on primary commodities such as minerals (gold, platinum, diamonds), metals (iron ore, copper), agricultural products (wool) and energy resources (coal, crude oil).

Historically, SA has not added much value to exports. Under Agoa, South Africa can reduce dependence on primary commodities and develop a more diverse, robust economy.

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This could include processing and manufacturing raw materials into higher-value products (jewellery, machinery) and so on.

Did your eyes glaze over? This may sound like gobbledegook to ideologues intent on railing against the US. Simply: scrapping Agoa would make millions of South Africans poorer. The Trump-supporting Beitbart.com news outlet says the incoming “administration will hold unusual leverage to push change in South Africa”.

Breitbart mentions Sandton Drive.

Faced with the choice: Agoa opportunities or Leila Khaled Drive, our leaders must choose wisely.