South Africa

Economics

Politics

John Steenhuisen, the leader of the center-right Democratic Alliance (DA) -- the second largest party in South Africa's ruling coalition behind the left-leaning African National Congress (ANC) -- insisted that his party would not support the budgets for the Department of Higher Education and the Department of Human Settlements, despite warnings from the senior legal adviser to South Africa's parliament that the 2025 budget could not be approved unless every single departmental budget was approved, Daily Maverick reported July 10.

South Africa: ANC-DA Tensions Pose New Risks to Budget and Government Stability

United States

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the United States' planned imposition of 30% tariffs on South Africa is "subject to modification" as his government advances trade negotiations with the Trump administration, Bloomberg reported on July 8. 

South Africa: Ramaphosa Pushes for Fresh Negotiations With U.S. After Trump Imposes 30% Tariffs

Japan

Laos

Malaysia

Myanmar

South Korea

Kazakhstan

On July 7, U.S. President Donald Trump published on Truth Social seven letters addressed to the leaders of South Korea, South Africa, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Kazakhstan and Laos informing them that the United States would begin implementing 25%-40% tariffs on their goods on Aug. 1, adding that the rate would double if the countries increased tariffs on U.S. goods in retaliation.

U.S.: Trump Announces 25% to 40% Tariffs From Aug. 1 on Seven Trading Partners

Ethiopia

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Brazil

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Iran

United Arab Emirates

China

Indonesia

Thailand

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Belarus

Russia

India

BRICS+ leaders gathered in Brazil for the bloc's 17th summit and issued a joint statement defending multilateralism, calling for U.N. reform and supporting Russia's and Iran's positions in ongoing conflicts, g1 reported on July 6.

BRICS+: Bloc Increasingly Leans Away From West, but Avoids Picking Fights With U.S.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa sacked Andrew Whitfield, a member of the center-right Democratic Alliance, or DA, from his ministerial position without providing an explanation, Reuters reported on June 26.

South Africa: Ramaphosa Sacks DA Deputy Minister, but DA To Maintain Support for Budget 

South Africa's National Assembly adopted the government's proposed fiscal framework with the support of the left-leaning African National Congress, or ANC, and the center-right Democratic Alliance, or DA, Bloomberg reported on June 11.

South Africa: National Assembly Approves Fiscal Framework

Energy

The South African government formally offered to buy 75 million to 100 million cubic meters of liquified natural gas a year from the United States under a 10-year contract in exchange for duty-free access to the U.S. market for automotive parts and duty-free annual quotas of 40,000 vehicles, 385,000 tons of steel and 132,000 tons of aluminum sold in the United States, Reuters reported on May 26.

South Africa: Pretoria Eyes U.S. LNG Imports for Duty-Free Trade Perks

U.S. President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa held a contentious meeting on May 21 in Washington that quickly soured after Trump raised debunked claims of a "white genocide" in South Africa, prompting a rebuttal from Ramaphosa, BBC reported the same day.

U.S., South Africa: Tense Trump-Ramaphosa Meeting Bodes Ill for Trade, Economic Relations

Assessments

Philippines

 The European Union and China will hold a high-level leaders' summit July 24 in Beijing, marking the 50th anniversary of Chinese-EU diplomatic relations.

Military & Security

U.S.-China Relations

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: An EU-China Summit, South Africa's Budget Vote

Kenya

Israel

Palestinian Territories

Poland

Global Trade

Israel-Hamas Conflict

The Weekly Rundown: A U.S. Tariff Ruling, Israel's Opposition Seeks To Dissolve the Knesset

Taiwan

United Kingdom

Portugal

Romania

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on May 21 during an official trip to the United States.

The Weekly Rundown: South Africa's U.S. Reset, Three European Elections

Snapshots

Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen holds a press conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Jan. 28, 2025.

Rising tensions between the ruling ANC and its key coalition partner over the 2025 budget are raising the risk of a coalition breakdown, which would threaten policy paralysis and a marked depreciation of the rand.

What the Democratic Alliance's Exit From Government Would Mean for South Africa

Germany

France

Ukraine

A list of countries facing reciprocal tariffs on display April 2 at the White House.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

U.S.-Iran Relations

The Weekly Rundown: The Escalating Global Trade War, South Africa's Coalition Government on the Brink

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa arrives at a briefing at his African National Congress (ANC) party's headquarters in Johannesburg on May 13, 2024.

Social Issues

South Africa will struggle to meet Trump's demands for major foreign and domestic policy changes, which will risk exposing the country to disruptive U.S. economic retaliation, including entity-based sanctions.

Trump Turns Up the Heat on South Africa

The Reichstag on Jan. 22 in Berlin. The center-right alliance between the Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, is widely expected to emerge as the largest bloc in the Bundestag after the Feb. 23 general election and lead the next coalition government.

The Weekly Rundown: German Elections, Macron and Starmer Meet Trump

Environment, Science & Technology

The Geopolitics of Water

Science & Technology

While government reforms will help catalyze much-needed investments in water infrastructure, these are unlikely to rapidly resolve the country's water supply challenges, which threaten to undermine South Africa's economic growth amid more frequent droughts. 

The Geopolitics of Water: The Cascading Effects of South African Underinvestment in Water Infrastructure

Egypt

Moldova

Vehicles pass by a banner thanking outgoing Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and congratulating President-elect Prabowo Subianto and Vice President-elect Gibran Rakabuming Raka ahead of their Oct. 20 inauguration in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Oct. 17, 2024.

The Weekly Rundown: An Impeachment Case in Kenya, an Inauguration in Indonesia

Angola

Botswana

Comoros

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Lesotho

Madagascar

Malawi

Mauritius

Mozambique

Namibia

Seychelles

Eswatini

Tanzania

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Lebanon

Qatar

Yael Braun-Pivet, a French lawmaker for the ruling Renaissance party, delivers a speech after being reelected as National Assembly president following the third round of voting on July 18, 2024.

The Weekly Rundown: France Resumes Political Horse-Trading, Blinken Returns to Middle East

Photograph of the Union Buildings in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa, at night. 

The government will likely face intra-coalition challenges and strong pushback from trade unions, but early signs of compromise from both the DA and ANC suggest it could successfully pass several structural reforms in the coming years.

The Challenges Facing South Africa's New Coalition Government 

Venezuela

Saudi Arabia

Europe

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a press conference at the 75th NATO Summit in Washington, D.C., on July 11, 2024. 

Biden's exit from the U.S. presidential race will free him to pursue more aggressive action against Russia over Ukraine and increase pressure on Israel to end its war with Hamas. 

What To Expect from Biden's Foreign Policy Farewell Tour

At the tip of the African continent lies South Africa. The country borders Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique and also surrounds Lesotho and much of Swaziland. South Africa's current borders were consolidated by the British in 1910 as the Union of South Africa, following the Boer Wars between the United Kingdom and Dutch settlers.    The Drakensberg and Karoo mountains rim the coastlines, separating a dry interior from a coastal region, which captures the majority of the country's rainfall.    Two key factors distinguish South Africa from much of the rest of the continent. The country has a malaria-free climate, which attracted European settlers. It also has abundant mineral resources — including gold, diamonds, coal and platinum — in the north-central interior.    This mining area is the geographic core of South Africa — encompassing the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria and adjoining parts of Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West and Free State provinces. This core is connected by road and rail to a series of ports — from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, to Durban and Richards Bay — that carry goods and resources to and from Gauteng.    The wealth generated there underwrites financial, agricultural, industrial and manufacturing activity in other parts of South Africa.    South Africa's geographic challenge is to protect the extraction of natural resources in its interior while striving to maintain sufficient employment. It must then find ways to disperse enough wealth to appease its populations in the Gauteng and peripheral zones of the country.

SITUATION REPORTS

South Africa: ANC-DA Tensions Pose New Risks to Budget and Government Stability

South Africa: Ramaphosa Pushes for Fresh Negotiations With U.S. After Trump Imposes 30% Tariffs

U.S.: Trump Announces 25% to 40% Tariffs From Aug. 1 on Seven Trading Partners

BRICS+: Bloc Increasingly Leans Away From West, but Avoids Picking Fights With U.S.

South Africa: Ramaphosa Sacks DA Deputy Minister, but DA To Maintain Support for Budget

South Africa: National Assembly Approves Fiscal Framework

South Africa: Pretoria Eyes U.S. LNG Imports for Duty-Free Trade Perks

U.S., South Africa: Tense Trump-Ramaphosa Meeting Bodes Ill for Trade, Economic Relations

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