Trump’s attacks on South Africa are a punishment for independence | Achille Mbembe and Ruth Wilson Gilmore
guardian.co.uk (nprofile…z4y7)
The US president’s cuts to health funding could lead to half a million deaths. They’re part of a strategy to condemn and isolate the countryOn 7 February, less than three weeks after taking office, Donald Trump issued an executive order: “Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa.” The order directed US agencies to halt aid to South Africa, condemned South Africa’s case against Israel at the international court of justice (ICJ) as an “aggressive position”, and declared that white Afrikaners be prioritized for resettlement in the US based on the duplicitous claim that they are “victims of unjust racial discrimination”.The humanitarian consequences of this executive order are devastatingly clear. On 26 February, notices were sent out terminating support for HIV organizations funded by the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar), initiated in 2003 by then-president George W Bush. The termination of funding to Pepfar is catastrophic for South Africa. Studies predict this could result in more than half a million unnecessary deaths and up to half a million new infections. Continue reading...
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/07/trumps-attacks-on-south-africa-are-a-punishment-for-independence
The US president’s cuts to health funding could lead to half a million deaths. They’re part of a strategy to condemn and isolate the countryOn 7 February, less than three weeks after taking office, Donald Trump issued an executive order: “Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa.” The order directed US agencies to halt aid to South Africa, condemned South Africa’s case against Israel at the international court of justice (ICJ) as an “aggressive position”, and declared that white Afrikaners be prioritized for resettlement in the US based on the duplicitous claim that they are “victims of unjust racial discrimination”.The humanitarian consequences of this executive order are devastatingly clear. On 26 February, notices were sent out terminating support for HIV organizations funded by the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar), initiated in 2003 by then-president George W Bush. The termination of funding to Pepfar is catastrophic for South Africa. Studies predict this could result in more than half a million unnecessary deaths and up to half a million new infections. Continue reading...
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/07/trumps-attacks-on-south-africa-are-a-punishment-for-independence