The ANC made South Africa the handmaid of the enemies of the United States

United States analyst Joshua Meservey warned that the ANC’s foreign policy choices are pushing South Africa towards sanctions from America.

Joshua Meservey is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute, where he focuses on power competition in Africa, African geopolitics, and counterterrorism.

He was previously a research fellow for Africa at the Heritage Foundation, which means he is well-positioned to comment on African matters.

He told Biznews founder Alec Hogg that the ANC and its allegiances have made it the handmaid of the United States’ adversaries, like Russia and China.

South Africa’s goals are misaligned with those of the United States, especially those coming out of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO).

“South Africa is committed to doing whatever it can to frustrate the United States,” he told Hogg in a Biznews podcast.

He said over the past few years, the United States has started to realise that the ANC and government are antagonistic towards the US foreign policy goals.

“People started to realise that the ANC, the government, and DIRCO, are categorically opposed to the United States,” he said.

He added that sanctions on corrupt officials, which do not require a congressional bill, are on the table.

“I know that there is still a movement with Washington, DC, to move on these proposals and make them happen,” he said.

He said that sanctions on specific officials would likely be the tool the United States would use to ensure consequences for the bad actions of individuals.

Meservey also expects South Africa to lose its African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) benefits.

This is because South Africa does not fall within the parameters of countries which are supposed to benefit from this Act.

South Africa’s economic interests were dealt a severe blow

A good example of what Meservey referred to as antagonising the United States is the joint naval exercise with Iran, Russia and China in Simon’s Town.

The Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus), a member of the government of national unity (GNU), said it dealt a severe blow to South Africa’s economic interests.

“This step was not neutral diplomacy, but a deliberate geopolitical signal that further alienated the country from the United States,” it said.

“The ANC did not act in South Africa’s best interest, but in the interest of its ideological struggle comrades.”

Washington decided to review trade relations with South Africa when Iran was welcomed as a participant in the naval exercise.

“For the US, this was a clear geopolitical signal that Pretoria is deepening its ties with America’s adversaries,” the Freedom Front Plus said.

“It immediately put South Africa at risk of higher tariffs, sanctions and forfeiting preferential trade.”

The party said the ANC chose Tehran over Washington, Moscow over markets, and Beijing over stability.

The Freedom Front Plus will call President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Minister of International Relations, Ronald Lamola, to account.

It is also demanding that trade relations with the United States and other key partners are not only restored, but also improved.

United State’s slams South Africa’s Iran ties

In the late hours of 15 January 2026, the US Embassy in South Africa issued a brief statement warning that the move undermines regional security and contradicts claims of non-alignment

It said that it viewed Iran’s participation in the exercises “with concern and alarm,” citing media reports that allege that the Minister of Defence and the SANDF had defied a government directive regarding Tehran’s involvement.

“Iran is a destabilising actor and a state sponsor of terror, and its inclusion in joint exercises – in any capacity – undermines maritime security and regional stability,” the embassy said.

The statement went further, calling it “particularly unconscionable” that South Africa would host Iranian security forces while Iranian authorities were “shooting, jailing, and torturing” citizens engaged in peaceful political activity.

“South Africa can’t lecture the world on ‘justice’ while cosying up to Iran,” the embassy added.

It argued that allowing Iranian military forces to operate in South African waters does not amount to non-alignment.

“It’s choosing to stand with a regime that brutally represses its people and engages in terrorism,” concluded the statement.