President Cyril Ramaphosa and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, are set to hold a high-level in-person meeting in Washington later in May aimed at restoring diplomatic and trade relations between the two countries.
According to highly placed sources in the department of international relations & co-operation, the two are expected to discuss a wide range of diplomatic and trade relations, including the recent arrival of 49 white Afrikaners who claim to be fleeing racial persecution.
The talks come amid lingering friction over issues such as land reform, geopolitical alignment and trade, and signal a renewed effort to strengthen diplomatic and economic ties between the two nations.
With the US remaining one of SA’s largest trading partners and a key player in global finance, Ramaphosa’s visit carries both symbolic weight and potential policy implications.
The meeting follows similar engagements Trump has held in the Oval Office with heads of state Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, among others.
The meetings illustrate Trump’s approach to foreign relations, which is characterised by direct engagement with world leaders to deal with pressing global issues and advance US interests.
Still, Ramaphosa may expose himself to Trump’s inclination to theatrics, the latest episode of which embarrassed Zelensky and sent ripples through international diplomatic circles on February 28.
Preparations for a meeting between Ramaphosa and Trump are at an advanced stage, according to international relations & co-operation minister Ronald Lamola.
He told reporters on Monday that “the presidency will soon announce the dates of when the engagements are going to happen”.
The meeting follows two phone conversations between the two leaders, the most recent just before a working visit to SA by Zelensky in April.
Ramaphosa also held a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin in April as Pretoria continues to navigate a careful diplomatic balance amid the war in Ukraine and the tensions between SA and the US.
Business Day has reported that SA is devising a government-wide strategy to navigate the Trump administration’s tit-for-tat approach to global trade and as a pre-emptive measure against its expected expulsion from preferential access to US markets through the African Growth & Opportunity Act (Agoa).
The tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on SA, which have been paused pending finalisation of bilateral trade deals, nullify SA’s preferential access to US markets under Agoa, requiring re-engagement on their trade relations.
The two countries continue to work together in the Group of 20 (G20) troika composed of the US, SA and Brazil as preparations towards the G20 leaders’ summit in November gain steam.
The EU, China and Canada have separately expressed support for SA’s G20 presidency after Trump’s actions. Challenges for the SA presidency include US opposition to the multilateral climate measures, green industrialisation and the reform of the World Trade Organisation, which all form part of SA’s objectives.
The Trump administration has taken a hardline stance on SA, halting all aid, including health and climate funding, citing SA’s land expropriation policies. Trump has also been critical of SA’s decision to take Israel to the International Court of Justice over claims of genocide in Gaza.
The SA government has pushed back against Trump’s moves while keeping diplomatic channels open for engagement.
The 49 Afrikaners who left for the US on Sunday have also raised the ire of the SA government, which has maintained that the group do not qualify as refugees under SA law.
“We have stated in the statement we issued on Friday that, in line with the international definition, they do not qualify for the status, according to us,” Lamola said. “They can’t provide any proof of any persecution because there’s none. There’s not any form of persecution to white South Africans or to Afrikaner South Africans.”
Participating in a panel discussion at the Africa CEO forum in Ivory Coast on Monday, Ramaphosa reiterated that the group of Afrikaners do not qualify as “refugees” as they are not being persecuted in SA. “A refugee is someone who has to leave their country out of fear of religious and political persecution. They don’t fit that bill of persecution,” Ramaphosa said.
He said he told Trump on the phone “that we were well taught by Nelson Mandela and other iconic leaders on how to continue to build a united nation out of a diverse grouping in SA.
“We are the only country where the colonisers came to stay, and we have never driven them out of our country, and they are staying and are making great progress.
“Those people who have fled are not being persecuted. They are not being hounded, they are not being treated badly, and they are leaving ostensibly because they don’t want to embrace the changes that are taking place in our country in accordance with our constitution.”
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