In 1998, flanked by U.S. President Bill Clinton and with Table Mountain looming in the background, South African President Nelson Mandela (after warmly welcoming the American president) used the opportunity of his first joint press conference with a U.S. president on South African soil to defend the country's right to maintain positive relations with Libya, Cuba, and Iran. Thirty minutes later, while taking a question from the media on the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the "large number of conditionality clauses" it included, President Mandela acknowledged that his administration had "serious reservations" about the proposed legislation and that it was "not acceptable."
Authors
- Acknowledgements and disclosures
- Special thanks to Prrashhrad Magesvaran, a student at the University of California, Los Angeles, for his research support on this commentary.
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- United States of America
