Both leaders portrayed the plan as a win.

Dr Gawande, who was appointed to a senior role in USAID under the Biden administration, said other programmes remained up in the air - including work combatting an Mpox outbreak in West Africa, bird flu monitoring across dozens of countries and initiatives targeting fentanyl trafficking."It was immediate and my immediate reaction was, this is catastrophic," he said of the effects of the freeze.

Asked about those specific programmes,, a State Department spokesperson said: "We are judiciously reviewing all the waivers submitted. The Secretary of State has the ultimate responsibility…to protect America's investments."Blumont, the US contractor that coordinates aid work at Al-Hol and Al-Roj, said it received a waiver from the State Department late Monday allowing it to continue "critical activities" at the camps for two more weeks. However, it has no certainty beyond that time.Asked by the BBC about the situation at the Syria camps and other projects, the State Department said "critical national security waivers have been granted," but didn't specify whether any related to Syria.

The new State Department guidance also said: "This waiver does not apply to activities that involve abortions, family planning conferences, administrative costs… gender or DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) ideology programs, transgender surgeries, or other non-life saving assistance."Back in Washington, USAID headquarters have been roiled by the aid freeze.

Staff had been warned not to try and circumvent the directives and given strict orders not to communicate about the freeze outside the agency. An internal memo sternly warned that any breach would "result in disciplinary action".

Unnamed staff have since been accused of trying to "circumvent" the president's executive order and dozens of senior officials have been placed on administrative leave.The contract in question stipulated that Enviro-Mobi should receive upfront payments and that money should only be handed to the company after a portion of its work was completed, police spokesperson Thandi Mbambo said.

However, the Hawks' investigation found that Gauteng's Department of Agriculture paid Enviro-Mobi 25 million rand for 200 vehicles, even though the goods were "still in the possession of the service provider".It is not the first time Mabe, who served as the ANC's spokesperson from 2018 to 2023, has been accused of corruption.

Along with two others, he was arrested in 2013 over allegations he had defrauded the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa). The trio were later cleared of all charges.And in 2017 Mabe was fined after a parliamentary committee found that he had benefited from a contract with the state-owned rail company.