FW de Klerk Foundation urges Trump to halt PEPFAR cuts to South Africa

The FW de Klerk Foundation has written to US President Donald Trump urging him to stop the phased withdrawal of PEPFAR funding to South Africa, warning that cutting the assistance would harm millions who rely on HIV services.

Letter delivered to White House and US diplomatic channels

According to IOL, the foundation sent the letter on Sunday addressed directly to Trump, with copies sent to the US State Department and US ambassador to South Africa Leo Brent Bozell III.

Christo van der Rheede, the foundation’s executive director, confirmed the veracity of the letter to IOL.

Foundation warns of health and political consequences

The foundation said that cutting PEPFAR infrastructure would not target a political party but would instead “disrupt life-saving healthcare linkages for millions of innocent people caught in a geopolitical crossfire,” the letter said, as reported by IOL.

“It is an empirical error to view this crisis through a selective, purely racial lens or to characterise it as a state-sanctioned ‘white genocide’.”

“Weaponising vital public health infrastructure to enforce ideological compliance provides a dangerous propaganda victory to those who wish to fracture our nation along racial lines.”

Scope of PEPFAR support and government response

PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, has provided an estimated $400m a year into South Africa’s HIV programmes for more than two decades, the IOL report says. The US State Department confirmed it had initiated a phased withdrawal of PEPFAR funding to South Africa, according to the same report.

The report notes that South Africa has about eight million people living with HIV, the most of any country in the world.

Health department says transition has been planned

Department of Health spokesman Foster Mohale told IOL there was “no need for the public to panic” because a transition plan had long been developed and implementation was ongoing. Mohale said the department had not received formal correspondence from the US government about the PEPFAR withdrawal but had been working on a self-reliance plan since the initial freeze on foreign assistance in early 2025, IOL reports.

Mohale also said that while PEPFAR was a significant contributor to South Africa’s HIV programme, it did not fund the bulk of life-saving antiretrovirals: the department procures 90% of ARVs from the government fiscus, supported by 10% from the Global Fund. He said public health facilities remained open to all patients, including those who had previously relied on PEPFAR-funded clinics.

Diplomatic backdrop and international forums

IOL reports the PEPFAR withdrawal was expected to feature on the agenda of the UN’s high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS in New York, where Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi was due to take part in the debates.

The report outlines recent diplomatic tensions between South Africa and the United States since Trump returned to the White House, including an executive order on 7 February 2025 that accused South Africa of persecuting its white Afrikaner minority, cuts to most foreign aid, the opening of a refugee programme for white South Africans, and the expulsion of South Africa’s ambassador to the US a month later. The report also notes South Africa took Israel to the International Court of Justice over the war in Gaza, further straining ties with Washington.

Foundation’s appeal

In its letter, the FW de Klerk Foundation urged the US to separate health funding from diplomatic disputes and to pursue what it described as “constructive, bilateral pressure” rather than punitive measures, IOL reports. The report says it is not clear whether the White House has received or responded to the letter.