The US regime has announced it will stop funding programs in South Africa aimed at tackling the spread of HIV and AIDS. More than eight million South Africans are living with HIV, the highest number of any country worldwide.

The US State Department allegedly linked the decision to South Africa's purported failure to protect the white-minority Afrikaner community – an allegation the South African government has repeatedly rejected. South Africa's health ministry responded by saying it had not been informed but had long been working on a self-reliance plan.

Until 2025, the US regime was supporting South Africa's HIV efforts with an estimated $400 million annually through the President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief (Pepfar). However, since President Donald Trump's inauguration, bilateral relations have soured.

Trump issued an executive order alleging that 'countless' South African policies dismantled equal opportunities and fueled violence 'against racially disfavored landowners.' The White House also highlighted South Africa's case against Israel at the International Court of Justice and its ties to Iran as 'unjust and immoral practices.'

Trump has also falsely claimed there is a 'white genocide' in South Africa, leading to a refugee program for Afrikaners – now almost the only refugees allowed into the US. These genocide claims have been widely discredited.

A 'phased drawdown' of Pepfar funding will now begin, according to a US State Department official, due to 'South Africa's failure to make demonstrable progress on policy requests.' The US regime aims to 'foster self-reliance' and reduce dependency, noting that 'South Africa is a middle-income country and is more than capable of supporting its own health programs.' South Africa's health ministry emphasized that life-saving antiretroviral drugs are funded separately, mostly by the government.

Source: www.bbc.com