International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor says there are efforts in the United States Congress to push for a review of bilateral relations with South Africa.
Pandor was reacting to the passage, through a House committee, of the US-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act that accuses South Africa of building ties with countries that undermine America’s national security interests.
She says the move is an overreaction based on the wrong interpretation of the country’s foreign policy.
Pandor says, “We would be foolhardy to seek to be malign towards one of the most powerful countries in the world. I believe that the proposed legislation is an overreaction based on a wrong interpretation of our foreign policy.’
“There is no way in which support for freedom of others can be seen as antithetical to the political philosophy of the United States of America. So I’ve made this clear as I meet a range of interlocutors, including journalists,” she adds.
