“I am a fighter and not a quitter.”

These infamous words, spoken by former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss the day before she did in fact quit in 2022, came to mind this past week when reading the South African government’s various official responses to the punitive 30% US tariff on South African goods.

At face value, Truss tried to project confidence, leadership, action, and a certain “Keep calm and carry on” spirit. Only, nobody who saw her deliver those words were in any way convinced: not the British public, not the markets, not opposition parties, and certainly not her own political party.

The South African government’s responses this past week to the 30% US tariffs have a similar quality. In the absence of a negotiated deal, the punitive tariff will come into effect on the bulk of South Africa’s exports to the US on August 7. Realising, perhaps too late, that the country and many in the world were watching and waiting for signs of life, our government went on a blitz (of sorts) to assuage fears.

“Government will intensify its diversification strategy to create resilience of our economy,” said President Ramaphosa.

We are implementing “(m)easures to assist companies to absorb the tariff and facilitate long-term resilience and growth strategies to protect jobs and productive capacity in South Africa,” said the joint statement by the Ministries of International Relations and Cooperation, and of Trade, Industry and Competition.

The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition “(has) readied our inputs for entry into the template which is to follow from the US.”

The message is clear: We are calm, we are carrying on.

The moment, however, is decidedly not business as usual. It’s a moment that certainly does not call for templates, call centres, and merely absorbing tariffs.

Our government has unintentionally communicated the chasm between words and action. Since April this year, very little progress has been made in either our trade and political relationship with the US. The US is South Africa’s third biggest trading partner, and countless South African companies and jobs rely on the income that this trade relationship brings to our shores.

These businesses have been let down, and the attempt from our government to calm the markets at one minute past midnight is not convincing.

This brings me to the heart of why Liz Truss came to mind. Her communication style during her premiership was widely seen as a key factor in her rapid political downfall. She often came across as uncertain and overly scripted, with robotic delivery and a reliance on vague stock phrases. At critical moments, particularly following the market chaos triggered by her government’s mini-budget, she appeared avoidant and unresponsive, delaying public appearances and leaving others to explain her policies. When she did speak, her crisis communication lacked the clarity, empathy, and reassurance needed to stabilise the situation. Compounding this were frequent U-turns and mixed messages, delivered without clear explanation or accountability. In short, her communication style eroded trust and left her leadership looking confused and incoherent.

I’ll allow you a moment to read that again, but replace “Lizz Truss” with “the South African government”.

The day after declaring herself a fighter, the Conservative Party’s 1922 Committee – representing the party’s parliamentary backbenchers – told Prime Minister Truss that she did not have the support of her own party. Hours later, she resigned as leader of the party, and thus as prime minister. After a mere 45 days in power, she was the victim of her own making.

South Africa is in a similar economic and political crisis, in a time-frame not too dissimilar, and it is largely of our own making.

But our political reality is different. South African businesses and people find a way, oftentimes despite our government. South Africans “make do and mend,” to borrow another classic British phrase, where our businesses and people use resourcefulness to make the best of any given situation. But the current situation is different, and our government should not be asking us to “make do”.

We need action.

“The details … are being finalised and will be communicated shortly,” said the DIRCO and DTIC joint statement.

Unlike the UK, there are no backbenchers who will decisively punish an unconvincing, uncommunicative, and always-too-late Prime Minister or executive branch.

This duty falls onto South Africans, businesses, and industry associations. We need to keep up the pressure, insist the details are finalised sooner rather than later, and to ensure action.

We are the backbenchers, and collectively we should make our voices heard.

– Gerhard Mulder
Account Manager