Ramaphosa said he had spoken to Trump and the two leaders had also agreed to discuss the peace process in Ukraine and the end to the Russia-Ukraine war
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he will “meet soon” with US President Donald Trump to discuss relations between the two countries.
Ramaphosa said he had spoken to Trump and the two leaders had also agreed to discuss the peace process in Ukraine and the end to the Russia-Ukraine war.
“We both agreed that the war should be brought to an end as soon as possible to stop further unnecessary deaths. We both agreed to meet soon to address various matters regarding US-South Africa relations,” Ramaphosa said in a post on social media platform X.
“We also spoke about the need to foster good relations between our two countries,” he added. Ramaphosa did not indicate when the meeting with Trump was likely to take place.
Relations between South Africa and the US have deteriorated since Trump took office earlier this year.
Trump has criticized South Africa’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war, which has seen the country take Israel to the International Court of Justice and accuse it of committing a genocide in Gaza.
Trump has also signed an executive order stopping all financial aid to South Africa and has also slapped South Africa with 37 percent trade tariffs on its exports to the US, which he subsequently paused for 90 days.
The cuts were an additional blow to the country after it also lost US funding for its key health programs including the fight against HIV.
Trump has also falsely accused South Africa of illegally seizing farms owned by white Afrikaner farmers after it enacted the Expropriation Act which empowers the government to expropriate land for public use.
He has offered to facilitate the resettlement of white Afrikaner farmers who wish to leave South Africa and move to the US. Last month, the US expelled Ebrahim Rasool, the South African ambassador to the US, over his criticism of Trump, who has hinted that he may not attend the G20 summit of world leaders scheduled to take place in Johannesburg in November.
Ramaphosa revealed his conversation with Trump as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was on an official visit to South Africa. Zelensky held a planned meeting with Ramaphosa at the government’s Union Buildings in Pretoria.
Meanwhile, South Africa is looking at expanding its trade with India and China as it faces the prospect of a 30 per cent tariff imposed on it by US President Donald Trump, Deputy President Paul Mashatile said on Monday.
The geopolitics at the moment really requires that we should be engaging other nations as well. We know that we are one of the US’s biggest trading partners, but there is nothing that says that we should not intensify our trade relations with India, China and other countries, Mashatile told a gathering of business and community leaders.
He was speaking at the inaugural breakfast event hosted by the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, named after the late Indian-origin freedom activist who served one less year than the 27 of Nelson Mandela as a political prisoner of the minority white apartheid government.
Mashatile also commented on South Africa’s G20 presidency this year as an opportunity to benefit the entire continent. Solidarity for us is very important. We should use the G20 to make sure that after our presidency, we can look back and say we were able to give not only to South Africa but to the continent.
“I’m hoping that with the G20, we will be able to work with other countries to ensure that we also strengthen solidarity and focus on economic development, not only of South Africa but the continent,” he said.
Mashatile said there was also opportunity to make sure that the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement is implemented. The deputy president said South Africa would not impose any retaliatory tariffs after Trump announced 30 per cent tariffs on South Africa and earlier stopped all aid to the country, but would continue to engage with the US government.
This was despite strained relations between the two countries over the issue of South Africa charging Israel with genocide at the International Criminal Court over its war on Gaza and the US declaring South Africa’s Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool persona non grata after he made remarks about Trump in a public debate.
President Ramaphosa said let’s not rush, let’s engage; let’s use our diplomatic channels to engage with the US administration, Mashatile said, conceding that that trade wars would not benefit anyone, as consumers would be the ultimate victims.
Reacting to a question on whether South Africa did not need a Department of Government Efficiency, such as the one headed by billionaire Elon Musk under Donald Trump’s presidency, Mashatile said there was a similar effort in place in the local presidency to address government wastage.
