JOHANNESBURG - Government says it's not shocked by Donald Trump's funding cuts.
The US President has permanently terminated USAID funding of HIV/Aids organisations.
Over 8,400 staffers will have to be laid off.
The Health Department says it will do its own analysis of what the funds were being used for.
Meanwhile, the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation said the halt in US funds could lead to more than 500,000 deaths over 10 years.
"We will see lives lost," the foundation's chief operating officer Linda-Gail Bekker said.
"In excess of half a million unnecessary deaths will occur because of the loss of the funding, and up to a half a million new infections," Bekker said, citing studies modelling the potential impact of the funding cuts.
- Additional reporting AFP