Latest Developments
- Iran and Russia in the Running: A South African government minister has said that Pretoria is willing to turn to Iran and Russia as partners in the development of its civilian nuclear program. The statement marks another sign of the country’s growing alignment with authoritarian, anti-Western states. “We can’t have a contract that says Iran or Russia must not bid, we can’t have that condition,” Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe told Reuters on February 17. “If they are the best in terms of the offer on the table, we’ll take any [country].” The only nuclear power plant on the African continent, Koeberg, is located in South Africa, with the government planning to add 2,500 megawatts of new capacity to tackle electricity outages and reduce emissions.
- Trump Cuts Aid to South Africa: Mantashe’s statement followed an executive order issued by U.S. President Donald Trump on February 7 cutting off “aid and assistance” to South Africa, citing the country’s “aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies, including accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide in the International Court of Justice, and reinvigorating its relations with Iran to develop commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements.” Reports in recent weeks had suggested that the United States and South Africa were on the cusp of finalizing talks renewing a civilian nuclear pact that came into force in 1997 before lapsing at the end of 2022. South Africa had initially planned to issue a tender for its nuclear expansion last year, but legal challenges led by the then-opposition Democratic Alliance — now part of the African National Congress-led coalition government — delayed the process.
- South Africa Abandoned Nuclear Weapons During Dying Days of Apartheid: Under the former apartheid regime, South Africa had a nuclear weapons program that was abandoned by the late President F.W. de Klerk in 1993, with all of its weapons subsequently dismantled. South Africa has meanwhile denied that it is cooperating with Iran on its civilian program. “I can categorically say that Necsa has got no relations or work with Iran,” Loyiso Tyabashe, the CEO of the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa), said on February 17.
FDD Expert Response
“The Trump administration should remind Pretoria that it is a violation of U.S. law to carry out civil nuclear work with Iran, and that Washington is cracking down on business with Russia’s Rosatom Corporation. South Africa has a stark choice to make in this era of great power competition. If it continues its adversarial slide, it will face the consequences of violating U.S. sanctions.” — Andrea Stricker, Research Fellow and Deputy Director of FDD’s Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program
“South Africa undertook an exhaustive denuclearization effort that saw the country abandon its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. The process for shuttering its nuclear weapons development is considered a model for inspections, interviews, and dismantlement that would lead to the verified end of a nuclear weapons program. Now South Africa appears to be reneging on those international agreements and embracing the rogue regime strategies of Iran and Russia, which have obfuscated, lied, and concealed their nuclear endeavors from the world for decades.” — Tyler Stapleton, Director of Congressional Relations at FDD Action
“South Africa’s corrupt ruling party is determined to plunge the country further into the abyss of alliances with autocrats. The African National Congress has drawn the country closer to Russia, China, and Iran and doubled down on serving as Hamas’s lawyer on an international stage.” — David May, Research Manager and Senior Research Analyst
FDD Background and Analysis
“South Africa Sets Itself on a Collision Course With Trump,” by Max Meizlish
“Anti-Israel South African NGOs Commemorate the Holocaust by Hijacking its Memory,” by David May
“Biden Quietly Approved South Africa’s pro-Hamas Envoy. Trump Should Fire Him,” by Richard Goldberg and Max Meizlish
“Russia Touts Illicit Nuclear Work in Iran,” by Andrea Stricker
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