Foreign policy spat breaks out as FF Plus and ANC clash over US relations

Corné Mulder supports US demands for trade restoration with South Africa.

• The FF Plus criticised South Africa’s handling of US relations, arguing tensions worsened after summoning US Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell over his remarks and court rulings on Kill the Boer.
• FF Plus leader Corné Mulder has come out in support of US demands for trade restoration, criticising ANC foreign policy as the root of the diplomatic clash.
• The ANC’s Fikile Mbalula defended South Africa’s human rights-driven foreign policy, rejecting FF Plus’s selective constitutional interpretation.

The Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus), part of the government of national unity (GNU), says South Africa may have overplayed its hand by summoning US ambassador Leo Brent Bozell over his remarks about the song Kill the Boer.

The criticism has triggered a dispute with the ANC, with the parties trading barbs on X over the handling of US relations and the direction of South Africa’s foreign policy.

This week, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) summoned Bozell over what it described as “undiplomatic remarks”, with Minister Ronald Lamola warning that the envoy should avoid polarising South Africa.

Earlier, News24 reported that Bozell had called for a “sea change” in South Africa’s Iran policy while expressing hope for a reset in relations with Washington.

FF Plus leader and MP Corné Mulder said on Thursday that the ambassador’s recent remarks on US-South African relations had generally been viewed as positive.

However, Mulder’s comments drew a swift response from ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, who said such disputes should be handled through the GNU’s internal clearing house, rather than fought out in public.

The exchange on X has highlighted simmering tensions within the GNU over foreign policy and how South Africa should manage diplomatic pressure from the US.

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Mulder said the FF Plus viewed the “so-called dissatisfaction” from Lamola and Dirco as a distraction from what he described as the real issue: Washington’s demands for resetting trade relations with South Africa.

He said the FF Plus had recently conveyed five conditions from the US to the South African government following visits to the White House, and questioned why reiterating those points should trigger a diplomatic dispute.

According to Mulder, the party supports the demands, which he described as fair and understandable.

He stressed that no responsible government should continue with policies that harm its people.

He listed the issues raised by Washington as the Expropriation Act, black economic empowerment (BEE), hate speech linked to the song Kill the Boer, farm murders, and a broader review of South Africa’s foreign policy.

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula.

Sharon Seretlo/Gallo Images

Mulder argued that the current diplomatic tensions stem from the ANC’s handling of foreign policy, claiming the party’s ideological approach – rather than the US demands themselves – is driving the conflict.

He added that South Africa’s foreign policy should be treated as a national priority, with broader parliamentary oversight and consultation to ensure decisions reflect the country’s interests.

Mbalula responded to Mulder on X, saying:

He said South Africa’s international relations were guided by the Constitution and its commitment to human rights, rather than the agenda of any single political party.

He said the call for dialogue in Ukraine and Russia is human rights-driven, the call for a free Palestine is human rights-driven, and the call to not militarily attack sovereign nations’ schools and hospitals is human rights-driven.

“The Constitution thus demands that our international relations value human rights beyond everything. The FF Plus cannot choose which parts of the Constitution they value and which ones they don’t.

“It binds all of us. The ANC will never shy away from pursuing an equal, human rights-respecting and multipolar world order as demanded by both the ANC Constitution and South Africa’s Constitution,” Mbalula wrote.