SA needs friends such as US

It was no surprise to read in the media that the US rejected SA’s application for exemption from President Donald Trump’s import duties on steel and aluminium. As a result, we now stand to be less competitive with other exporting nations.

The countries that were exempted were a select group that co-operate with, and are friendly with, the US. Perhaps government should reflect on its relationships with countries such as Cuba, North Korea and Iran, which the US regards as rogue states. There is also the ANC and government’s adversarial stance against the US’s Middle East ally, Israel.

Globalisation has contributed to the shrinking of the world — news travels fast. The general chaos that currently exists in SA, with frequent violent protests causing millions of rand’s worth of damage, is watched on television all over the world. Corruption by ministers in government and our president’s ambivalence thereto and retention of many dishonest ministers, has also been noted.

Whereas Trump’s motto is “America first”, former president Jacob Zuma put himself, the ANC and its cadres first, to the detriment of the country. In fact, we are now virtual lepers internationally as a direct result of the Zuma presidency. President Cyril Ramaphosa needs to put his foot down urgently and get rid of the garbage currently polluting government and restraining economic growth.

The government will have to learn that for SA to prosper we need better policies, and friends such as the US.

Nathan Cheiman

Via e-mail