March 28, 2025.

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Lumkile Nkomfe.

Making headlines:

Targeted by Trump, South Africa seeks to reset trade relations

AfriForum takes fight against ‘Kill the Boer’ chant international

And, Fruits of decades of AIDS vaccine research harmed by Trump’s withdrawal of US funding

Targeted by Trump, South Africa seeks to reset trade relations

South Africa is working to reset US relations that have been under assault by Donald Trump since his return to the White House.

Pretoria is preparing a bilateral trade agreement as a backstop in case it loses access to a preferential accord, according to the deputy trade minister. And it’s shoring up its diplomatic presence in Washington following the expulsion of the country’s ambassador this month.

As part of the multi-pronged strategy, a South African business delegation also visited New York this week for talks with some of the 600 US companies who operate in Africa’s most-industrialised economy on how to prepare for the potential loss of duty-free access.

Ties between the two nations have been battered by a cascade of actions by the US president. Trump’s objections include South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice and claims of land seizure at the expense of White farmers. South Africa hasn’t confiscated any land since the end of apartheid in 1994.

AfriForum takes fight against ‘Kill the Boer’ chant international

With no local satisfaction for AfriForum in its fight against the “Kill the Boer” chant, the lobby group is taking its fight overseas, in the hope that it can find international platforms through which it can continue its legal action.

The organisation lost its appeal in the Constitutional Court to have the chant declared hate speech.

AfriForum has come under fire for allegedly stoking the tensions between the US and South Africa and for causing social division, which the organisation denies.

AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said taking the issue international will also draw attention from international authorities and opinion leaders to what AfriForum believes is an encouragement to murder Afrikaners and farmers.

Th organisation said it will expand its 177 neighbourhood and farm watches.

Fruits of decades of AIDS vaccine research harmed by Trump’s withdrawal of US funding

After decades of failed attempts, scientists were optimistic that a new generation of HIV vaccine candidates would finally succeed — changing the course of a pandemic that’s claimed more than 42-million lives since 1981. But that hope is now dimming as the US moves to pull vital funding.

A leaked document detailing the fate of more than 6 200 USAID programmes lists two leading HIV vaccine efforts among 5 341 projects earmarked for termination. The 281-page file, reviewed by Bloomberg News and first reported by The New York Times, outlines the Trump administration’s plan to cut almost $28-billion in support for a wide range of global health initiatives — including Gavi, the vaccine alliance that immunises hundreds of millions of children against deadly diseases such as measles and malaria.

The largest HIV vaccine programme on the chopping block is a long-running effort led by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, which had been promised more than $319-million in US support dating back to 2016. While nearly $238-million had already been disbursed, IAVI said it had expected an additional $22-million through mid-2026. A stop-work order last month forced the organisation to wind down operations and lay off staff.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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