US Congressman calls for South Africa's AGOA expulsion amid racial controversy

US Congressman Andy Ogles has called for South Africa to be expelled from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), alleging that the country "hates native whites" and "loves terrorists".

Ogles' remarks follow recent comments by US President Donald Trump, who described South Africa as "a bad place to be right now" and accused the country of seizing land from white farmers.

Trump also announced the termination of US aid to South Africa, citing unsubstantiated claims that the South African government is persecuting white people. His statement comes amid tensions surrounding South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Right-wing organisations such as AfriForum and the Solidarity Movement, along with South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, have also amplified claims that white South Africans face discrimination and violence — a narrative that has found support from Trump.

In a recent post on his social media app, Truth Social platform, Trump accused South Africa of confiscating land and vowed to halt all federal funding.

“South Africa is being terrible to long-time farmers in the country. They are confiscating their land and farms — and much worse than that. A bad place to be right now, and we are stopping all federal funding," Trump said.

The US President further promised to expedite pathways to US citizenship for South African farmers seeking to emigrate for safety reasons.

Ogles is a Republican and long-time supporter of Trump, who has been previously called out for falsely claiming to hold an international relations degree, later conceding that he was "mistaken" after a local news outlet questioned his credentials.

“When I pulled my transcript to verify, I realised I was mistaken. My degree is in Liberal Studies. I apologise for my misstatement,” Ogles said at the time.

Echoing Trump's stance, Ogles called for South Africa to be kicked out of AGOA.

"South Africa hates native whites, loves terrorists, and consists of communists. It's time to revoke South Africa's duty-free treatments and their AGOA trade preferences, Ogles said.

AGOA was enacted in 2000 and grants eligible African countries duty-free access to the US market for certain goods.

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