One of Donald Trump's first decisions was suspending all foreign aid. This has thrown programmes around the world into chaos. South Africa receives funding for its HIV/AIDS programme via PEPFAR, which for now will continue.
However, when the suspension was announced, there was panic, disbelief and outrage. Some media commentators incorrectly linked it to AfriForum lobbying Trump about the ANC's policies against minorities. But what is apparent is the South African government, politicians, including far-left like EFF who're enemies of "imperialist" United States, media and commentators came to be entitled to the funding.
Anyone who has worked for an NGO, as I have, knows funding is never guaranteed and could be cut at any time, for any reason. Often notice is very short although seldom as sudden as the case with USAID's.
Speaking from the economics of it, I believe many foreign-funded health and education programmes in SA, if not the majority, should for the most part be funded internally because SA does have the resources. (An aside, 90% of my NGO's funding was foreign non-govermental agencies and WC Government, about 15% of that. The remaining 10% was SA-sourced individual and small, one-off other donors. Nothing from SA corporates except on marketed feel-good, in-kind Mandela Day. Bah!)
I'm not going to get into the detail of health budgets vis-a-vis total national budget, but waste, inefficiency and corruption in SA government is seeing a massive bleeding of all resources in all departments. It's common cause public health, with the exception of Western Cape, are poorly run and services hampered, in many cases severely, by bad management, waste and corruption.
The budget cuts two years ago to health and education exacerbated services. But let's not forget the reason: unfunded public sector salary increases, the ANC's election ploy, to workers who already are well paid and earn above the private sector.
From time to time every organisation - public and private - must reevaluate its operations. Trump's, with Musk running DOGE, motives are personal and retributive but there's nothing fundamentally wrong with it. (Commentary about PEPFAR present that only it's affected but other US departments and workers are may lose their jobs too.) Except the health and education budget cuts and Treasury budget addresses for thrift, which to the ANC is merely a guideline, I can't remember the ANC government seriously and systematically conducting an assessment of government departments. Or if they did, the findings were ignored.
The suspension of PEPFAR (later continued) was devastating for clients and workers. But instead of politicians and commentators saying Trump is wrong and inhumane - he is in all areas of leadership - and threatening retaliation as Gwede Mantashe did (withholding minerals the US needs), this might be the push SA needs to get its house in order concerning its over-reliance on foreign support for self-made problems. SA does have resources if properly used (eg do away with extravagant R1bn-whatever a year blue light protection).
As Judith February wrote in Daily Maverick, from Ramaphosa no more "clunky, uninspiring rhetoric of the past" and Ross Harvey, "SONA must signal a fundamental shift in governance and management". There's little to no hope of either, though.
While the challenges are there, SA - not the good people who do essential work at NGOs - has wasted much opportunity, time and resources. Health and education budgets may not be adequate for everyone who needs it, but they are huge. And still the outcomes are worse than poorer countries.
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