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US Congress mulls resolution to oppose SA’s naval exercise with Russia and China

US Congress mulls resolution to oppose SA’s naval exercise with Russia and China
Peter Fabricius
By Peter Fabricius
24 Feb 2023
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The resolution would also require the Biden administration to review US relations with South Africa.

The US House of Representatives is considering a resolution to oppose South Africa’s current military exercise with Russia and China and to call on the Biden administration to thoroughly review America’s relationship with South Africa.

Resolution 145, drafted by moderate Republicans, is the most concrete sign to date of America’s growing disenchantment with Pretoria’s warming relations with Moscow and Beijing.



The South African navy is currently conducting a joint maritime drill called Exercise Mosi II off the KwaZulu-Natal coast which has caused great concern to Western governments.

Veteran Republic Senator Lindsay Graham, who is currently in South Africa, nevertheless told journalists that Resolution HR145 would not pass. And Congressional sources confirmed to Daily Maverick that it would probably not even pass out of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, let alone the full House. And they were even more certain it would not pass in the Senate.

They said this was largely because the resolution had been sponsored by junior representatives who had little influence in the House of Representatives and had worded the resolution rather naively.

‘On Russia’s side’


However, they said the resolution nonetheless reflected a significant trend in the thinking in the US Congress “that Pretoria is no longer non-aligned, that they have chosen Russia’s side”.

The sources said that even though HR 145 was unlikely to pass, a new bill was expected to come before Congress soon which would seek to designate Russia as a State Sponsor of Terrorism. That bill would be very likely to pass and it would call out specific countries which partner with Russia. That could very well include South Africa.

Ominously, resolution HR145 calls on the Biden administration to provide Congress with a detailed account of the economic benefits South Africa derives from its inclusion in America’s African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) and the United States-South Africa Trade and Investment Framework signed in 2012.

Agoa gives duty and quota-free access to most SA exports to the US and has been a significant boon to South African exporters, particularly of motor vehicles and fruit. 

The instruction to the administration to examine the benefits of Agoa suggests that Congress is considering the possibility of depriving SA of those benefits because of its growing relations with Russia and China. 

US sentiment on SA


This reflects a sentiment that is growing in the US. Daily Maverick has also heard that President Biden, who is expected to visit Africa this year, might choose to bypass South Africa because of its friendship with Russia. 

Resolution HR145 contrasts SA’s growing military relations with Russia and China with what it implies is a waning military relationship with the US.

It notes that the US and SA militaries have “historically undertaken joint military exercises and enjoyed good relations, including South Africa hosting American troops for Exercise ‘Shared Accord’ in 2022, the fourth time they have hosted this exercise since 2011.”

But it adds that South Africa declined to participate in the planned ‘‘Cutlass Express’’ military exercises with the US this year.

The resolution calls on the Government of South Africa “to cancel all future military exercises with the People’s Republic of China and Russia and rejoin United States-led exercises, such as the ‘‘Cutlass Express’.

UN abstentions


The resolution also notes South Africa’s consistent abstention from several votes in the UN General Assembly in 2022 condemning “Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.”

And it says “South Africa reneged on its initial call for the Russian Federation to immediately withdraw its forces from Ukraine and has actively sought improved relations with Moscow in the last year.”

It also notes that the ANC and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) “engage in consistent interparty cooperation in spite of South Africa’s Constitution being opposed to the CCP’s routine suppression of free expression and individual rights.”

The resolution also repeats claims that the CCP has established at least three ‘‘overseas police stations’’ in South Africa which are reportedly used “to track and harass PRC dissidents.”

The resolution cites several other examples of growing relations between South Africa and China. DM

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