By Akani Nkuna
Solidarity has proposed phasing out South Africa’s race-based policies by 2030 as part of a settlement it says could help safeguard the country’s continued participation in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
In a statement on Tuesday, Solidarity Chief Executive Dr Dirk Hermann said the organisation had submitted the proposal to the South African and US governments amid growing uncertainty over South Africa’s continued AGOA eligibility and strained relations between Pretoria and Washington.
The proposals include the use of equity-equivalent programmes (EEPs) on a non-racial basis as an alternative to ownership requirements during the transition period.
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Solidarity said this could provide an alternative for US companies, while non-racial employee share ownership programmes should also be considered as a preferred ownership mechanism.
“South Africa’s race-based policies have been discussed extensively with both governments. Our view is that race-based laws no longer have a place in South Africa. However, based on what we have learned through these discussions, we believe that our settlement proposals are something both governments could accept,” Hermann said.
The United States has been conducting its annual AGOA eligibility review, under which beneficiary countries are assessed against criteria including market access, rule of law, human rights and barriers to US trade and investment. An announcement is expected on or before 1 November.
The Trump administration has criticised Pretoria over its relations with Iran and South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Trump’s February 2025 executive order on South Africa explicitly criticised the government for bringing the case against Israel and accused Pretoria of taking positions that undermined US interests and its allies.
South Africa’s ties with Iran also came under renewed scrutiny this year after Iran participated in the Exercise MOSI III Will of Peace naval drills in South African waters, despite President Cyril Ramaphosa subsequently saying he had instructed that Iran should not do so.
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Tensions escalated further last week when US Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III was issued with a démarche for the third time since taking up his post earlier this year, with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation citing what his “undiplomatic conduct”.
South Africa remains an AGOA beneficiary despite being classified as an upper-middle-income country, which does not in itself disqualify a country from the programme.
Solidarity has previously estimated that as many as 250,000 South African jobs are partially or fully dependent on AGOA, with sectors including agriculture and manufacturing among those exposed to any loss of preferential access to the US market.
Hermann said the organisation’s proposal also called for regulations empowering the employment and labour minister to determine racial targets at sectoral level to be placed on hold until litigation over them had been concluded.
The proposal further call for all young people born after 1994, as well as people earning below a specified income threshold, to be regarded as part of the designated group regardless of race.
Solidarity also wants an agreement it previously reached with the government under the supervision of the International Labour Organisation on race in the workplace to be published as regulations.
The agreement provides that race may not be the sole criterion for appointment or promotion, that no employee may be dismissed on the basis of race, and that skills must be considered.
“The next four weeks are critical to ensuring that South Africa remains a beneficiary country after the AGOA agreement was recently extended for a further two years,” Hermann said.
