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Solidarity CEO, dr Dirk Hermann, has written an open letter to the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola.

This followed Lamola's public utterances about Solidarity's latest visit to the United States of America.

Read dr Hermann's letter here:

Dear Minister Lamola 
Solidarity is now in the United States. Not because we particularly want to be there, but because the South African government’s reckless domestic and foreign policies are costing hundreds of thousands of jobs. 

Almost every South African grows poorer each year, and this government is to blame. 

It is the ANC-led government that has alienated the country’s most important trading partner. It is you who are putting R160 billion worth of exports and over 500 000 jobs at risk because you cannot secure a favourable trade agreement with the US.

We do not like the ANC, but we love our country. That is why we are in the US: we stand up for our members, for everyone who works, and for South Africa. 

We are filling the vacuum your government has left. It is your diplomatic infrastructure – under your watch – that has collapsed. It is you who have no ambassador; it is your envoy who has no visa. 
It is you who chose to build alliances with Hamas, Iran, China, and Russia. It is you who have race-based laws that are obstacles for US companies. It is you who cannot maintain safety and order. 
It is you who creates uncertainty over property rights, but it is our members and ordinary working people who lose their jobs.

The question is not why Solidarity is in the US, but where the South African government’s diplomatic infrastructure is. It is our democratic duty to be there.

We are doing what you should have done. And then you dare to post on X:
“Let me state this plainly: I condemn Solidariteit’s divisive rhetoric in its totality. It is divisive, it is anti-democratic, and it has no place in our sovereign nation.”

You did not even bother to read our documentation. We drafted a trade framework to resolve the trade dispute.
Presidents Ramaphosa and Trump received it. President Ramaphosa ignored us. We sent him a second letter. We also wrote to Minister Parks Tau – no response. Incidentally, Minister, I sent you a private message on X and you ignored it, too.

You show no interest in South African solutions to South African problems. You show interest only in ANC solutions to the country’s problems – and we all pay the price.
Then you write that Solidarity is divisive, that we are anti-democratic and have no place in a sovereign nation.

You want a democracy where all citizens bow in blind obedience before the great ruler. We are not that. We are democrats who stand up for our country. That is what a democracy is.

Solidarity holds up a mirror of truth. You see yourselves in the mirror, and you hate what you see. You see a failing state, reckless domestic and foreign policy, and millions losing their jobs. Instead of introspection, you get angry at the mirror and throw stones at it.

During the previous visit of the Solidarity Movement, AfriForum, and Solidarity to the US, the ANC and government shouted “misinformation” and “treason.”
Additionally, you did not review our documentation. If you had, you would have found one of the best studies of the impact of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) agreement, which could have helped the government.
That is what we did: we stood up for AGOA, and you shouted “treason.” At least seven media houses have already issued apologies for publishing misinformation about Solidarity and AfriForum. Solidarity has filed a defamation complaint against the Minister in the Presidency, and we expect to win.

Before we even left on the latest tour, the government was already claiming that it would be “misinformation.” You do not look at what we say or write.
You have received all our information in full beforehand. It is a rich document containing all the elements for a trade agreement. It includes political conditions and trade proposals. It contains creative ideas on how the current AGOA agreement and codes can be used as a vehicle. You do not even have to rely on the media for information.

You have it all, yet you choose to ignore it. Our information can help to repair a harmful diplomatic rift – caused by you.
Instead, you say “misinformation,” “divisive,” and “anti-democratic.”
So, who is really divisive? Who is really undermining the country? Who is betraying people who work? Who is infringing on our sovereignty?

By contrast with the South African government, the Trump administration received our letter and trade framework warmly and is willing to speak to us at all levels of the US government.
That is what we are doing and will continue to do. The government can jump up and down, but we will do it because it is the right thing to do. South Africa longs for a trade agreement, and we will do what is necessary to help make it happen.

Our people are losing their jobs, and we cannot rely solely on the government to fix what it has caused – it cannot.

Yours sincerely

Dr Dirk Hermann
Chief Executive of Solidarity

Issued by Solidarity