Donald Trump and Elon Musk have attempted to upset the political equilibrium in South Africa as the country tries to maintain a fair balance between peace, stability, and unity between the Black and White citizens on one hand and redressing the imbalances of the past, on the other.

The Trump administration has used unfounded allegations of targeting White farmers by the South African government to launch an attack on Pretoria.

In doing this, he raised false hopes for some lobby groups that it is possible to achieve political outcomes they desire despite the balance of forces in South Africa as determined by electoral outcomes.

The lobby groups, that have always manufactured fears of White people in South Africa to gain political leverage, see a ripe moment of rapture for themselves.

They assume they can counter the power of the democratically elected government with the political leverage arising from the pressure from Washington.

However, their move backfired, with people across the racial divides – some often critical of the South African government – suddenly switching on the defence mode against what they see as the undermining of national sovereignty by Trump and Musk.

Social media “streets” and mainstream media platforms have been abuzz with activity with pundits, ordinary citizens and politicians hitting back at a strongly manipulative social media campaign by Trump, who appears to be doing the bidding of Elon Musk and Benjamin Netanyahu.

Musk is furious about the insistence of the South African government that his Starlink’s company must comply with the provisions of the Black Economic Empowerment laws before its entry into the country’s market is approved.

On his part, Netanyahu is angry about South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

South Africans have been able to sift through the manipulation to recognise that Washington’s gambit has nothing to do with the plight of any purportedly marginalised White farmers, who are living comfortable lives in plush homes and holiday houses by the beach.

They won’t be emigrating to the US in droves, leaving such wealth in the country.

Although they make up just 8% of South Africa's population of over 63 million, White people are the most advantaged of the socio-economic groups in the country.

Besides, South Africa is one of very few examples in the world in which the descendants of early European settlers, whose governments were responsible for ethnic cleansing, genocide, and other gross human rights violations, continued to be recognised as equal citizens after political power shifted to the formerly oppressed Black majority.

As such, they are at home in South Africa, a country that many have called home from the mid-1600’s as the colonial period started in the country.

Elsewhere in the continent, European settler populations declined rapidly after independence, as political power shifted to the African majority led by the leaders of liberation movements against colonialism.

South Africa’s transition in the early 1990’s was dubbed a miracle.

A democratic election with a truly universal franchise was held in 1994, a new constitution regarded as the best in the world adopted in 1996, and the country has had peaceful, free, and fair elections since then.

A key feature of the South African constitution, as reflected in its preamble, bill of rights, and various sections is the recognition of equal citizenship, property rights, and the need for government to do all its power to redress the imbalances of the past simultaneously.

The constitution commits the country to both treating citizens equally and resource redistribution simultaneously.

Throughout the democratic period, the courts of the country have become central pillars of its democracy, lauded for settling political cases brought before them against the government in a truly impartial manner.

The government has lost many cases brought against it before the courts from the lower courts to the Supreme Court of Appeals and the Constitutional Courts. Ordinary citizens, opposition parties, organised interest groups, and businesses have been able to litigate against the actions of the state and win where their legal arguments were superior to those of the state.

The courts have been safeguards against the abuse of both executive and parliamentary power, even to the extent of attracting the ire of senior governing party politicians, who felt opposition parties governed the country through the courts.

In a truly democratic fashion, the majority party made laws and regulations it felt helped it achieve their political and economic development imperatives while the opposition had recourse to use the courts where the exercise of such power bordered on unconstitutionality.

Such was the political equilibrium in South Africa.

As such, it is a good thing that President Cyril Ramaphosa has stated that the attempts by Washington to force Pretoria to capitulate on the Expropriation Act and the genocide case against Israel will not succeed as South Africa ‘’will not be bullied”.

The author, Dr Ongama Mtimka, is an independent political analyst in South Africa.

Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints and editorial policies of TRT Afrika.