WeeklySA_AdminARBITRARY: Yesterday’s order came in response to a lawsuit by non-profit organisations AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and Journalism Development Network…
By Mariam Shenawy
A United States federal judge has temporarily stopped President Donald Trump’s administration from halting foreign aid contracts — the first such order since the White House launched sweeping cuts to international assistance projects.
On January 20, the day he took office, Trump announced a 90-day freeze on international aid contracts. His executive order stated that the contracts would be reviewed with the intention of cutting those that are not “fully aligned with the foreign policy of the President of the United States.”
The move halted programmes worldwide that provide development and humanitarian assistance to vulnerable populations. Among the most critical are clinics that offer HIV prevention, as well as tuberculosis and cholera treatments. Experts warn this could result in thousands of deaths.
Judge Amir Ali, who was appointed by Joe Biden in November, prohibited the Trump administration from “suspending, pausing, or otherwise preventing” foreign assistance funds, according to Thursday’s ruling.
The Trump administration froze foreign aid funding, ordered thousands of internationally based staff to return to the United States and began slashing the US Agency for International Development (USAID) headcount of 10 000 employees to around only 300.
The legal order issued late yesterday to restore funding came in response to a lawsuit filed by the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and the Journalism Development Network, which is parent organisation Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). OCCRP is one of the largest investigative journalism organizations in the world, headquartered in Amsterdam and with staff across six continents. Its a mission-driven non-profit newsroom that partners with other media outlets to publish stories that lead to real-world action.
“It is not hyperbole to say that this order saves lives,” said Lauren Bateman, a lawyer with Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization that brought the case on behalf of the non-profits.
“It’s been nearly a month since the administration illegally froze foreign assistance funding, unleashing chaos and misery around the world and costing thousands of American jobs,” she said in a statement.
District Judge Amir Ali found that the Trump administration had ordered the immediate suspension of funding for thousands of programs without reviewing each program. Ali determined that the administration’s actions were “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.”
The White House had not “offered any explanation for why a blanket suspension of all congressionally appropriated foreign aid, which set off a shock wave,” Ali wrote in his order. The ruling also bars the US Department of State, Secretary of State and Acting Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Marco Rubio, along with other officials, from implementing any contract cancellations or stop-work orders issued after Trump took office.
Yesterday, more than 130 international aid organisations signed a letter to Congress, urging members to prevent Trump from dismantling USAID. They noted that USAID accounts for less than one percent of the federal budget and highlighted that the agency purchases more than $2 billion in food from American farmers each year.
The aid organisations said the president’s actions have “unnecessarily” halted programs, left employees jobless, and spread “harmful disinformation” about the agency’s work.
“Taken together, these actions not only undermine life-saving development and humanitarian assistance, but they also directly harm U.S. national security and its standing in the world,” the letter stated. – OCCRP
US CONGRESSMEN DEMAND SA REMOVAL FROM AGOA
RETRIBUTION: Accusing the country of undermining US interests and conducting vendetta against Israel, the politicians reportedly want America to break diplomatic ties with South Africa…
By Own Correspondent
In an ominous development for South African exports, four US congressmen have asked President Donald Trump to revoke South Africa’s access to the United States market through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), according to a CNBC Africa report.
In a letter dated February 11, Republican congressmen Andrew Ogles, Tom Tiffany, Joe Wilson and Don Bacon this week demanded a break in diplomatic relations, accusing it of undermining American interests globally. They also accused South Africa of harbouring “a vendetta against Israel, was allegedly committing human rights violations and was friendly with China’s Community Party”.
The proposed move poses a serious threat to several sectors within the country as AGOA gives South Africa duty-free access to the US market for about 20% of its exports. This has helped make South Africa the US’s largest trading partner in Africa.
Leading exports from South Africa to the US are citrus fruit, nuts, wine, grapes, edible ice, ethyl alcohol, cane sugar, fruit juices as well as preserved fruit and vegetables, each with more than $10m (R183 million) in US exports during 2022. For now, it is a tense wait to see how this matter will play itself out.
“…we urge you to revoke South Africa’s preference benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act,’’ the letter signed by the four congressmen says. “We would also suggest that you consider suspending diplomatic ties unless that government is prepared to engage constructively with our own.”
Trump, backed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, falsely accused the South African government of mistreating Afrikaners and white farmers as it tries to reform land ownership in a country where they own more than three quarters of the land although they make up less than 10 percent of the population.
sNo farm has been forcibly taken in South Africa since democracy began in 1994.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, who heads a 10-member government of national unity, has said he will send ministers to address the US concerns but has insisted that South Africa “will not be bullied.” The U.S. has been unhappy that South Africa took Israel to the International Court of Justice, accusing it of genocide over a military offensive in Gaza where tens of thousands have been killed. Israel has denied the charge, saying it defended itself after Hamas attacked it on October 7 2023.
“South Africa is simply not deserving of duty free access to the American market,” the letter says, citing South African moves to force the relocation of Taiwan’s liaison office from the capital Pretoria. “Pretoria’s continued insistence on undermining America’s security and foreign policy interests are similarly disqualifying under the eligibility requirements.”
In 2023, four African countries (Uganda, Gabon, Niger and the Central African Republic) were expelled from participating in AGOA because of “gross violations” of human rights or not making progress towards democratic rule, the Biden administration said at the time. However, South Africa maintained its AGOA status amid fears of frosty relations between the country and the US in recent years.
South Africa is a member of the BRICS nations, which groups China, Russia, India and Brazil and has as one its goals, the replacement of the US dollar in commercial transactions. – Additional reporting by Weekly SA Mirror
