ANC to organise national protest against the US

African National Congress (ANC) Secretary General Fikile Mbalula says that the party will organise a mass, national demonstration to send a message to the United States President Donald Trump’s administration that it will not tolerate being bullied. 

Briefing the media on the ANC’s National Executive Council (NEC) Lekgotla held over the weekend of 24 and 25 January, Mbalula said that South Africa is its own sovereign country and is engaged in a cold war with the US.

The SG claimed that the protest is due to South Africa’s sovereignty being “under attack.” 

“On the 30th anniversary of the South African constitution, the ANC will intensify mass organising and mobilisation to defend South Africa as a sovereign constitutional democracy,” he said. 

“Our constitution is a product of struggle and popular will, and no foreign state or external interest has the right to undermine or infringe on the sovereignty of the South African people.”

He said that, in sending this message to the world, the ANC, together with its allies from civil society, labour, and business, will lead a mass national march on Saturday, 21 March 2026.

Thousands will converge from Beyers Naude Park, adjacent to Luthuli House, to Constitutional Hill in Braamfontein, Johannesburg.

The demonstration will be coordinated nationallythrough the ANC in Gauteng, which will serve as the movement’s nucleus. 

The ANC will then organise further marches throughout the year across the country to enforce an unmistakable and unified national message.

“It will reaffirm: South Africa will not and must never tolerate to be bullied,” he said. 

The movement will assert that South Africa’s sovereignty belongs to its people and will be defended through organised and conscious action, the SG said. 

“We are marching in defence of our sovereignty which is under threat, we are marching against imperialist aggression, which seeks to dictate what happens to other states,” he said. 

“We are marching against unilateralism and the undermining of multilateral forums in the form of the United Nations and so on, and creating peace boards and all of that, led by the Donald trump administration and the United States,” he said.

“The United States is imposing itself on countries as a world policeman or whatever it is,” he said. He cited the US recent capture of Venezuelan President Nicolàs Maduro and threats by US President Trump of taking over Greenland.

“It’s not only us, but we ourselves have been targeted. They are saying we are conducting a genocide on white people,” he said.

We are in a cold war with the US – Fikile Mbulula

In May 2025, during a tense White House meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa, Trump confronted him with footage purportedly showing attacks on white farmers.

In March, President Donald Trump’s administration expelled South Africa’s ambassador to Washington, Ebrahim Rasool, who was described by Secretary of State Marco Rubio as a “race-baiting politician” who hates Trump.

Trump has since established a refugee program “for people who are of Afrikaner ethnicity or a member of a racial minority in South Africa who are victims of government-sponsored race-based discrimination.”

Along with other developments, Trump has cited this to justify measures such as imposing tariffs on South Africa and cutting aid.

“We have explained ourselves, but America has intensified its isolation of our country,” said Mbalula. “There is what is called a cold war between us and the US. Our country is under attack.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa has frequently responded to Trump’s claims, calling them “blatant misinformation about our country.”

South African officials have also denied the allegations, saying that violent crime levels, while unacceptably high, impact all races. 

Africa Check debunked several claims Trump made about a genocide during a May 2025 meeting with Ramaphosa. 

Although violent rural crime is a critical issue plaguing the country, “there is no evidence that white farmers in South Africa are more likely to be murdered than other groups,” wrote Africa Check researcher Keegan Leech.

The relationship between South Africa and the United States has been rocky, with the US currently proposing three laws to impose penalties against South Africa and high-ranking officials. 

Tensions can be traced back to key issues, including, but not limited to, South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2024 and the deepening of BRICS partnerships along with other US adversaries.

Trump did not attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit held in South Africa in 2025, and furthermore has refused to invite South Africa to G20 events hosted by the US in 2026.

In the latest developments, the US issued a sharp rebuke of South Africa after it was confirmed that the South African Defence Force (SANDF) conducted naval exercises with Iran. 

A statement from the US Embassy called the action “particularly unconscionable” as Iranian authorities were “shooting, jailing and torturing” citizens engaged in peaceful protests at the time. 

Furthermore, Trump has recently announced his plans to build a “board for peace”, inviting dozens of world leaders to join his council, for the price of $1 billion. 

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of an Education Lekgotla on 21 January, Ramaphosa said that he “hasn’t even checked his emails”, knowing South Africa will be excluded from the board.