Ramaphosa's Double Game Has Handed Washington the MTN Weapon
Cyril Ramaphosa speaks as if he is leading a liberation struggle, but governs like a manager of Western interests. On the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) stage he calls for de-dollarisation, multipolarity, and resistance to Western domination. At home, he keeps the banking system tied to United States (US) compliance rules, the rand pegged to the dollar’s movements, and our major corporations fully exposed to American jurisdiction. This talk-left, keep-right approach has delivered the inevitable: Washington has found its opening and is using it to maximum effect through the MTN Group Limited (MTN) grand jury probe.
On August 18, 2025, the United States Department of Justice (DoJ), via a grand jury, launched an investigation into MTN over its past operations in Afghanistan and its 49% stake in Iranian mobile provider Irancell. The allegations — which MTN denies — include paying protection money to armed groups in Afghanistan, funnelling revenue to Iranian state-linked entities, and corruptly securing its licence in Tehran. According to the US filings, these actions allegedly contributed to attacks in which American soldiers, contractors, and Israeli civilians were killed. MTN says it has not sent funds to Irancell since 2018 and insists it complies with global sanctions.
The political vulnerability here is personal. Ramaphosa served as MTN’s Executive Chairman from 2001 to 2013, overseeing its entry into markets now at the centre of the case. Today, MTN’s Board Chair is Mcebisi Jonas, a senior African National Congress (ANC) member and Ramaphosa’s pick for Special Envoy to the US — a posting Washington refused to accept, reportedly because Jonas was already under investigation. This means the US is not just targeting a company; it is applying direct pressure on the ANC’s top leadership.
The timing is no coincidence. Relations with Washington have soured. The US has imposed 30% tariffs on South African exports, kept the “Lady R” arms-to-Russia allegation alive despite Pretoria’s denial, and bristled at South Africa’s genocide case against the State of Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In August 2025, South Africa’s Chief of the Defence Force, General Rudzani Maphwanya, travelled to Tehran to meet Iranian military leaders — including Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, who oversees Irancell. For Washington, this is an opening to paint South Africa as aligned with its adversaries and to target a flagship African corporation under the banner of “national security.”
The US DoJ’s counterterrorism powers are some of the most expansive in the world. Under its material support laws, a corporation or individual accused of providing resources — even indirectly — to a group on the US terrorism list can face decades in prison, life sentences if deaths result, and the seizure of all assets linked to the alleged offence. The laws have sweeping extraterritorial reach, allowing the US to prosecute non-Americans for acts committed entirely outside its borders if American citizens were harmed. Once the DoJ triggers this process, the stigma of “terrorism” is enough to cut companies off from banks, markets, and suppliers long before any verdict is reached — making it both a legal and economic weapon.
This is lawfare, not justice. The US routinely uses its courts to punish those who defy its foreign policy while shielding allies from the same scrutiny. Israel can bombard Gaza and strike Syria with full US backing, despite facing ICJ proceedings under the Genocide Convention. No grand jury will be convened for that. The anti-terror laws are applied only to enemies, never to friends.
“Sovereignty is not spoken into existence. It is built, defended, and lived — or it is taken from you by those who rule the world through lawfare and economic coercion.”
If MTN is sanctioned or indicted, the damage will not fall first on Ramaphosa or Jonas — it will hit workers, suppliers, and pensioners. The Public Investment Corporation (PIC), with its large MTN stake, could lose billions, directly affecting millions of retirement accounts. Tax revenues will drop. Services already under strain will weaken further. This is the cost of maintaining dependency while pretending to resist it.
If South Africa is serious about a multipolar world, it must take concrete steps: insulating key sectors from US jurisdiction, building independent payment systems, diversifying trade away from Western choke points, and developing genuine self-reliance in finance, energy, and technology. Until that happens, Ramaphosa’s talk-left, keep-right governance will keep delivering the same result — empire acts, and the people pay.
Elsewhere on the continent, there are examples of leaders breaking dependency. Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the transitional leader of Burkina Faso, has expelled foreign military bases, reclaimed control over national resources, and aligned state policy with the needs of his people rather than the dictates of former colonial powers. South Africa may not follow his exact path, but the lesson is clear — sovereignty is not spoken into existence. It is built, defended, and lived.
* Gillian Schutte is a well-known social justice and race-justice activist and public intellectual.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.