South Africa’s Ruling Party Under Scrutiny at Home and in US

Pretoria maintains affirmative action and other flagship race-based policies as US tariffs take effect and sanctions loom.

U.S. President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office at the White House on May 21, 2025. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

JOHANNESBURG—South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC), in power since apartheid ended in 1994, is being assaulted on two fronts, with salvos fired from inside the government, as well as from the United States.

At home, sentiment is growing that unless the ANC scraps laws the party’s secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, calls “untouchable,” South Africa will not escape the worst effects of a high tariff imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.