The US department of commerce has imposed export restrictions on three SA aviation companies, accusing them of engaging in activities that threaten US national security.
Under the trade restrictions, Ascenso Aviation, Blue Sky Aviation and Wingman Concept are restricted from exporting and importing goods deemed contrary to US national security interests.
In the notice from the US released last week, it claims these entities have been determined by the US government to be acting “contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the US”.
The notice also “links to the Test Flying Academy of SA (TFASA) and the training of Chinese military forces using Western and Nato sources”. The US had previously imposed restrictions on these companies in 2023.
“For these entities, BIS [Bureau of Industry and Security] imposes a licence requirement for all items subject to the export administration regulation and will review licence applications under a presumption of denial,” the final rule reads.
The department has also imposed trade restrictions on 70 other entities from China, Pakistan, Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which are deemed by Washington to be security threats.
The trade restrictions on SA companies are effective immediately and come at a time when SA faces a barrage of actions from the Trump administration, including halting aid in health and climate financing.
The US has also cut off all military aid and co-operation with SA in line with the executive order signed by US President Donald Trump in February halting aid to SA. It includes a directive that any SA military personnel in the US for any education and training “be sent home as soon as possible”, according to reports by Sunday Times.
Trump’s actions against SA are line with the antagonistic stance the administration has taken towards the country. President Cyril Ramaphosa previously cited lobby groups Solidarity and AfriForum as having played a part in spreading misinformation about SA to US authorities, partly leading to Trump’s actions against this country.
Relations between SA and US featured high at this weekend’s ANC national executive committee meetings. On the sidelines of the meetings, ANC first deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane acknowledged the possibility of formal sanctions against ANC members in light of Trump’s actions against SA and as AfriForum and Solidarity move to rally the US to punish the ANC for the country’s land reform policies.
“The ANC condemns in the strongest terms the ongoing campaign of misinformation by local right-wing elements, who seek to distort reality, incite racial tensions, and falsely claim a so-called ‘white genocide’ in SA,” the ANC said.
‘Dangerous’
“This dangerous and racially charged rhetoric not only undermines our democracy but seeks to reverse the hard-won gains of a free, united, and nonracial society. We reject their divisive politics and call on them instead to join hands with the rest of the country to build a better SA — one where the economic exclusion of the black majority is decisively addressed, and all who live in it work together to shape a shared, inclusive, united nonracial and non-sexist prosperous future.”
In the face of the actions and threats from the Trump administration, the DA, the second-largest member of the coalition government, has called for the overhaul of SA’s foreign policy to include inputs from all members of the coalition government.
“We have stated it from the beginning of our term, that foreign policy is informed by the constitution, it is informed by the national interest document, it is informed by the Foreign Service Act, and is also informed by the National Development Plan,” international relations & co-operation minister Ronald Lamola said on Sunday.
“And that is what we are implementing. We are not implementing something outside of the laws of this country, which is not mandated, and which is not policy.”
Business Day has contacted companies named in the report but had not received responses by the time of publication.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.