Corné Mulder, leader of the Freedom Front Plus (FF+), says that the African National Congress (ANC) has disregarded concerns by the United States (US) over South Africa’s domestic and foreign policy, and has refused to make the adjustments necessary for rebuilding the relationship.

“The hourglass is running out for South Africa, which has ignored the five American conditions for normalising relations between the two countries with contempt for a year,” he said in a statement.

The FF+ was part of a delegation of Afrikaners that visited Washington DC in June 2025. The message they brought back was that a reset of relations would be contingent on five things:

• •Farm attacks needed to be classified as a priority crime, and more resources allocated to combating them
• •The chanting and singing of “Kill the Boer” should be openly and unequivocally condemned
• •Expropriation without compensation should be disavowed and expropriation should only take place with fair market compensation
• •American businesses should be exempted from black economic empowerment requirements, as they are viewed as a trade barrier; and
• •South Africa should practise real non-alignment in its international relations.

None of these has been positively responded to, Mulder said, and the ANC has retained control over foreign policy as its exclusive domain. It has “proceeded as if the US’s request did not exist”.

This has now “boomeranged”. The US Ambassador, Leo Brent Bozell III, has issued another warning on social media. “The government of South Africa is rolling out the red carpet for Iran’s deputy minister of foreign affairs while its deputy president (Paul Mashatile) is in Beijing to strengthen ties between these countries. Pretoria says it is non-aligned, but we (the US) call it straight out: a choice. The people of South Africa deserve an honest conversation about who their government chooses to stand with.”

The US has also announced a withdrawal of funding to combat AIDS through its President’s Emergency Plan For Aids Relief (known as PEPFAR and first implemented by George W Bush). This is “a direct result of South Africa’s refusal to take steps regarding these identified problem areas”.

According to Mulder, the ANC has adopted a “couldn’t-care-less” attitude. This, Mulder said, is “in the likely hope that it might disappear over time or that it was just empty threats on the US’s part”.

The US Congress has made it clear that the PEPFAR actions formed part of a wider review of the relationship between the two countries. According to Mulder, from the US perspective the cancelling of PEPFAR funding was “a strategic signal” on the state of relations between the US and South Africa.

Mulder said that urgency on this matter was in order, and the US’s demands needed to be addressed.

“As far as the cancellation of the PEPFAR funding is concerned, the ANC will have to accept responsibility for the suffering and loss of life that may result from the lack of vital medical assistance,” Mulder concluded.

This newspaper has repeatedly discussed the importance of the relationship between the US and South Africa, and the opportunities to reset it. South Africa’s foreign affairs have, however, been arguably the most ideological element of state policy, and an area in which the ANC has refused to allow any other party influence. Despite rhetoric about non-alignment, hardline anti-US sentiment has been a strong influence in South African foreign policy.