South African economic and political analyst Daniel Silke tells Newsmax TV that South Africa’s “fascination” with Donald Trump and the U.S. election has also fueled concern over what foreign policy and trade ramifications the incoming American administration will impose.
“South Africans have been entertained by what's going on in the United States. They have watched it very closely and it is really dinner table conversation, or has been, for the better part of the last year of 18 months. There's a fascination,” Silke told “Newsmax Prime.”
“I think they're a little concerned, though, clearly, from afar to see what kind of foreign policy will President-elect Trump implement and especially on issues of trade because ultimately for South Africans, or for any country around the world, it's, what's in it for us?” Silke explained to J.D. Hayworth.
See Steve Malzberg and J.D. Hayworth on Newsmax TV: Tune in beginning at 12 PM EDT to see "America Talks Live" — on FiOS 615, YouTube Livestream, Newsmax TV App from any smartphone, NewsmaxTV.com, Roku, Amazon Fire — More Systems Here
“It doesn't really matter necessarily who the personality is, who's elected, but what's in it for us and how can we do better business or will our business be affected negatively with a new president? I think that's the issue of concern,” said Silke, who is also an author, lecturer and renowned futurist.
During the election campaign, Trump described South Africa on Twitter as “a crime ridden mess that is just waiting to explode — not a good situation for the people!”
Fears grew in the South African business circle that Trump’s victory could threaten the future of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), among others. AGOA, a legislation approved by the U.S. Congress in 2000, gives preferential treatment to 39 African countries by waiving import levies on more than 7,000 wide-ranging products.
South African President Jacob Zuma congratulated Trump on his victory and said he “looks forward to working closely with the new administration in the United States in promoting peace, security and prosperity around the world, especially on the African continent.”
Zuma himself faces a host of problems and uncertainties. South Africa's anti-graft watchdog called for a judge to investigate allegations of influence peddling in Zuma's government, as thousands of protesters have called for the president to step down. The 355-page report, titled "State of Capture," is the biggest crisis of his scandal-plagued presidency, Reuters reported.
“South Africa has had a weak economy for some time. Our GDP growth this year will be 0.5 percent, which is simply not good enough for an emerging economy like ours. The economy is weak but we have a high degree of political factionalism coming from our governing or ruling political party, the African National Congress,” he said.
“These factions and competing elites are vying for power now in South Africa,” he said.
“There's a double whammy when you've got political uncertainty and you've got economic uncertainty. Sometimes politics drives economics and sometimes economic uncertainty or decline drives politics. And in South Africa today, interestingly enough, it's this continued economic decline that we have had, which is putting pressure on our political leadership to change. And that in part is contributing to the political firmament within the country,” he said.
While there’s no easy fix to the current political fix, Silke did see one avenue of economic improvement.
“South Africa must be less reliant upon commodities and what she extracts from the ground and she must have very, very good policies to encourage foreign direct investment,” he explained. “We've got to diversity our economy. Diversification is critical for South Africa to not fall into the trap of the Nigerias and the Angolas and I think once we get that right, it'll put us in a better footing for the future.”
(Newsmax wire services contributed to this report).
Daniel Silke is recognized as one of South Africa’s leading political economy analysts. He is currently director of the Political Futures Consultancy based in Cape Town. He is the author of “Tracking the Future: Top Trends that will Shape South Africa and the World.” He regularly appears on CNBC Africa, ENCA, SABC, ANN7, and Bloomberg. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
© 2026 Newsmax Finance. All rights reserved.