Ramaphosa strikes upbeat tone before Trump meeting

President Cyril Ramaphosa struck an upbeat tone before a meeting with US counterpart Donald Trump, which the South African leader hopes will repair frayed ties between the countries.

Ramaphosa is in the US capital to “reset and revitalise” connections with South Africa’s biggest trading partner after China, his office said.

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“We invest in the United States and they invest in us, and we want to strengthen those relations, and we want to consolidate good relations between our two countries, so I’m very positive,” Ramaphosa told reporters as he arrived at the South African Embassy in Washington on Tuesday (20 May).

Friction

Tensions between Washington and Pretoria have deteriorated amid a racially charged dispute.

In the latest development, Trump offered refugee status to South African minority groups he claims face “unjust discrimination” under black-ownership and employment-equity laws – policies designed to address the economic exclusion of black citizens during apartheid, which ended in 1994.

The relationship also took a hit in 2024 after South Africa filed a case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel, a top American ally, of committing a genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and because of ties that Pretoria and Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC) have with Russia and Iran.

Ahead of Ramaphosa and Trump’s meeting on Wednesday (21 May), South Africa’s government plans to offer Pretoria-born billionaire Elon Musk – a Trump ally – a workaround of local black-ownership laws for his Starlink internet service to operate in the country, aiming to ease tensions.

Asked if South Africa is at risk of making too many concessions to reach a trade deal for its automotive, critical-mineral and agricultural industries, Ramaphosa said that isn’t the case.

“We preserve our sovereignty and we will always do what is best for South Africans,” he said.

“We are going to have an opportunity to discuss geopolitical issues, not only Israel, but also Ukraine, and all these matters will be on the table for proper discussion, and we are very rational when it comes to discussing global and geopolitical matters.”

Steenhuisen

Among the politicians accompanying Ramaphosa on the visit is John Steenhuisen, leader of the Democratic Alliance and agriculture minister in the coalition government formed last year after May elections failed to produce an outright winner.

“This is not a jolly hockey-sticks tour of us saying there’s nothing to see in South Africa and everything is fine,” Steenhuisen told Newzroom Afrika in Washington.

“We know we’ve got a crime problem. We know we’ve got a land issue. We know we’ve got an economy that’s not growing,” said Steenhuisen.

“But I’m here to be solution-oriented and not just stand on the sidelines throwing stones.”

Trump has criticised a law that gives the government the power to take land for a public purpose. The act is similar to US eminent-domain laws – though the legislation in South Africa allows for expropriation without compensation in certain cases such as land that’s been abandoned and state-owned property not in use.

For now, the government hasn’t seized any land, though millions of people have taken occupation of private and state property – official data shows that about 12% of households are situated in informal settlements.

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