US-SA ties robust, says ambassador

RELATIONS between South Africa and the US remained very strong despite occasional disagreements on contentious matters such as Agoa — the African Growth and Opportunity Act trade pact — and global politics.

This is the view of US ambassador to South Africa Patrick Gaspard, who told the Sunday Times that the countries shared a common vision on most matters including trade, climate change, regional peace and security in Africa.

“In foreign affairs there may be instances where we may disagree in approach,” he said.

“There’ll be moments of disagreement at times . . . [but] there is a very close working relationship irrespective of some heated rhetoric that can sometimes emerge in policy documents that come from political parties,” he said.

In the run-up to its recent national general council, the ANC circulated a discussion document that effectively accused the US and other Western countries of having “imperialist” intentions towards South Africa and other developing countries.

Gaspard’s comments come as South African and US officials are trying to finalise a deal that would see South Africa continue to benefit under Agoa — giving South African agricultural exporters duty-free access to the US market.

US President Barack Obama recently gave South Africa 60 days to open its markets to US beef, pork and poultry imports or risk losing its Agoa benefits.

Locally, Obama’s decision was interpreted as an attempt to bully Pretoria.

Gaspard denied this. He said the two countries were now much closer to finalising a deal. “We’re very confident of the progress we have made in the past few weeks . . . I think we will have the issue resolved by the end of this month . . . by the end of the year we will have the products moving [between the two countries],” he said.

South African concerns about US poultry and pork were unfounded, he said, as US vets had provided enough evidence to show that the products were free of any diseases.

“If [US products] are not good and healthy for the US consumer then we will not allow that chicken, pork or beef to leave our borders to go to foreign markets for consumption by other individuals,” he said.

Obama called President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday and they spoke about a range of issues, including Agoa.

“With regards to Agoa, [the two presidents] acknowledged that South Africa and the US are close to concluding discussions regarding the meat imports into South Africa,” said a statement from the Presidency.

Gaspard — who has been in South Africa for two years — said it was “exciting to be in

I think we will have [Agoa] resolved by month-end

this country at such a time when one sees a mobilisation move from a hashtag campaign [#FeesMustFall] to seeking redress directly from the president of the republic, in something like a 10-day span”.

“That’s happening because young people aren’t isolated [from the world as was the case under apartheid].

“That can only increase transparency and good governance here in South Africa,” said Gaspard.

He said he was “fascinated” by Julius Malema, the leader of the EFF, while he disagreed with his policies.

He also had kind words about Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and African Union Commission chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma — but would not be drawn on which of the two would make a better president. DIPLOMATIC: US ambassador to South Africa Patrick Gaspard says his country and South Africa have a close working relationship