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ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula has criticised the Democratic Alliance (DA) for campaigning against South Africa\u2019s transformation policies abroad, saying this has contributed to punitive US tariffs and threats of sanctions against ANC leaders.<\/span><\/p>\n South Africa faces a potential 30% tariff on exports to the US. <\/p>\n He warned the ANC would not abandon its transformation agenda, including Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE), despite pressure from Washington and its political allies.<\/span><\/p>\n Addressing the media in the post-NEC briefing on Wednesday, Mbalula said the ANC is not prepared to abandon its economic transformation policies to appease the United States.<\/p>\n \u201cYou must understand that the tariffs imposed by the United States of America are going to negatively affect our economy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mbalula accused the DA of lobbying during US visits to have policies like BBBEE scrapped, which he said aligns with longstanding imperialist attitudes.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t, for national interest, say undo BEE to appease the United States of America because, among others, this is what the US wants of us, that we must do away with certain policies which, for us in terms of transformation, are not going to assist us,\u201d Mbalula said.<\/span><\/p>\n He recalled how, during apartheid, the US under President Ronald Reagan labelled the ANC a terrorist organisation.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNow we are in a democratic dispensation, and then the US says on the basis of videos the whole of our nation must be punished, despite the fact that facts say something different,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEven if it means we\u2019re going to suffer through sanctions as leaders of the ANC, let it be.<\/span><\/p>\n ”We\u2019ll never beg imperialists to subvert our democracy, to subvert our sovereignty,\u201d Mbalula said. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe will never forsake our country, which we fought for its liberation. Not this ANC, not this leadership.”<\/span><\/p>\n Mbalula further criticised what he called a \u201cright-wing fringe\u201d in South Africa that travels abroad to undermine the country\u2019s democratic policies, drawing parallels with the US-Cuba tensions under Fidel Castro.<\/span><\/p>\n He also rejected US attempts to decide the country’s rules and laws.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou are asking us to abandon what we stand for. You are asking the ANC to stop struggling and then close shop and become something else.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201dWe are not DA, the DA will address that because they do not want affirmative action, they don\u2019t want redress, they don\u2019t believe in transformation,\u201d Mbalula said.<\/span><\/p>\n He further criticised the Trump administration\u2019s decision to grant special status to some white South Africans, framing it as part of a broader narrative to portray South Africa as a racist state. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDonald Trump called for whites here, gave them special status in America. 49 car guards arrived in America. They didn\u2019t leave this country, South Africa. They are still here,\u201d Mbalula said, claiming the narrative pushed by the US was misleading and misinformed.<\/span><\/p>\n Mbalula defended BBBEE and transformation policies as essential for equity and redress in an economy he said remains \u201cmale-white dominated\u201d. He said the ANC would not submit to the agenda of \u201ca party of anti-transformation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n ”If they want to bring sanctions on us, let them bring them. This country, South Africa, and all its citizens, know that it\u2019s a democratic country, it\u2019s a liberated country and we are still transforming this country in order to achieve equity<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf we are punished for advancing and defending South Africa, that should be the case,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n hope.ntanzi@iol.co.za <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Politics<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula has criticised the Democratic Alliance (DA) for campaigning against South Africa\u2019s transformation policies abroad, saying this has contributed to punitive US tariffs and threats of sanctions against ANC leaders. South Africa faces a potential 30% tariff on exports to the US. He warned the ANC would not abandon its transformation agenda, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":248692,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[2475,13901,12617,1558,8665,12099,145],"class_list":["post-248691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-politics","tag-anc","tag-bbbee","tag-defiant","tag-mbalula","tag-pressure","tag-sanctions","tag-wont"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/div>\nGet your news on the go, click here to join the News WhatsApp channel.<\/strong><\/h2>\n