South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Chatsworth, South Africa, May 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Rogan Ward
South Africa would consider partnering with Russia or Iran for expanding its civilian nuclear power capacity, a move that could further strain relations with the US and delay the renewal of a strategic energy agreement.
“We can’t have a contract that says Iran or Russia must not bid, we can’t have that condition,” said Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe, a leading government advocate for expanding the country’s nuclear capacity.
“If they are the best offer on the table, we’ll take any [country],” he told Reuters.
South Africa is looking to add 2,500 megawatts of new nuclear capacity, building on its existing Koeberg plant, the only nuclear power plant in Africa, to address electricity outages that have hampered the economy.
The comments from a senior South African government minister came after US President Donald Trump earlier this month signed an executive order to “halt foreign aid or assistance” to South Africa partly in response to the country’s anti-Israel stance, including its case at the United Nations’ top court accusing the Jewish state of committing genocide in Gaza.
Trump’s order was also a response to South Africa’s new land expropriation law, which the US argues discriminates against Afrikaners, a minority South African ethnic group of European descent.
In response, South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola vowed his country will continue pursuing its case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
During an interview with the Financial Times published last week, he also denied Trump’s remarks about South Africa’s new land reform, stating that the White House’s statements were “misinformation.”
In his executive order, Trump also accused South Africa of working with Iran “to develop commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements.”
US intelligence agencies have for years described Iran as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism, and Washington fears that Iran’s own nuclear program is ultimately designed to build nuclear weapons — a charge denied by Tehran.
“While we do have a good relationship with Iran, we don’t have any nuclear programs with them, nor any trade to speak of,” Lamola said in response to Trump’s executive order.
Since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which is armed and funded by Iran, invaded southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the South African government has been one of the world’s fiercest critics of Israel’s ensuing military campaign in Gaza.
In late 2023, for example, South Africa temporarily withdrew its diplomats from Israel and shut down its embassy in Tel Aviv, saying the government was “extremely concerned at the continued killing of children and innocent civilians” in Gaza.
Then in December of that year, South Africa hosted two Hamas officials who attended a government-sponsored conference in solidarity with the Palestinians. One of the officials had been sanctioned by the US government for his role with the terrorist organization.
Months later, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa led the crowd at an election rally in a chant of “From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free” — a popular slogan among anti-Israel activists that has been widely interpreted as a genocidal call for the destruction of the Jewish state, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
South Africa’s latest comments on being open to cooperating with Iran on nuclear matters may further anger the US — and risk an energy deal currently in the works.
South Africa and the United States have been negotiating a new civilian nuclear pact, called a Section 123 agreement, which is necessary for the export of US-made nuclear fuel or equipment.
Implemented in 1997, the previous agreement expired in December 2022. It is still unclear whether Trump’s executive order will affect the new pact in any way or further delay negotiations.
“The allegations made in the executive order can significantly complicate getting the agreement renewed,” Isabel Bosman, a nuclear energy researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs, told Reuters.
According to Zizamele Mbambo, a senior energy department official, the new agreement is almost ready, but it hasn’t been signed yet because legal processes are still ongoing.
“As far as we know, both sides remain firmly committed to concluding this new agreement,” Mbambo said.
