The announcement comes after US President Donald Trump froze all aid to South Africa due to the country’s new land expropriation law and its allegations of genocide against Israel.
- The United States has announced a waiver allowing certain health programs to continue in South Africa.
- The waiver will ensure the continuation of HIV care and treatment services, including disease testing, counselling, and procurement of essential medicines.
- The waiver exempts efforts to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
The United States has announced a waiver allowing certain health programs to continue in South Africa under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), with a focus on “life-saving” treatments.
According to a statement from the US Embassy in South Africa on Monday, the waiver will ensure the continuation of HIV care and treatment services, including disease testing, counselling, prevention, treatment of HIV-related opportunistic infections, and procurement of essential medicines.
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The exemption also covers efforts to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, the embassy said, adding that the guidance has been shared with PEPFAR partners, Bloomberg reported.
The announcement comes after US President Donald Trump said on February 8 that he had frozen all aid to South Africa due to the country’s new land expropriation law and its allegations of genocide against Israel.
“The United States cannot support the government of South Africa’s commission of rights violations in its country or its undermining United States foreign policy, which poses national security threats to our Nation, our allies, our African partners, and our interests,” the US president said in the order.
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South Africa’s land expropriation law
The new land expropriation law, signed last month by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, aims to make it easier for the state to expropriate land in the public interest with only equitable compensation.
According to Ramaphosa, “South Africa is a constitutional democracy that is deeply rooted in the rule of law, justice, and equality. The South African government has not confiscated any land.”
“The recently adopted Expropriation Act is not a confiscation instrument, but a constitutionally mandated legal process that ensures public access to land in an equitable and just manner as guided by the constitution,” he stated.
