On Wednesday, May 21st, during a meeting at the White House with US President Trump, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his desire to reset relations with the United States. He emphasized the trade dependency between the two countries and mentioned that South Africa can provide the key minerals needed by the United States.
Ramaphosa thanked President Trump for authorizing trade discussions between the US team and South Africa during their meeting at the White House. “Our main purpose here is to reshape the relationship between the United States and South Africa,” said Ramaphosa. “We have been long-term partners in many aspects. We collaborate in various fields including space issues, energy, and trade. Therefore, we need to reset this relationship, especially considering some of the announcements you have made regarding trade and investment. Thus, we want to promote more trade between our two countries, and both our nations and peoples have already begun to connect, authorized by you and me. We hope to further this contact during the meeting. We also want to discuss issues related to how we can promote further investments between our two countries.”
He also mentioned that South Africa hopes to discuss how both countries can support each other. While the United States is a much larger economic entity compared to South Africa, Ramaphosa stressed that the two countries rely on each other in many aspects.
Ramaphosa gave an example, stating, “We possess key mineral resources that you seek to drive your economic growth and industrialization. Therefore, we can provide these resources, including rare minerals. I believe that the combination of opportunities, along with us buying products from you and selling goods to you, forms a very good and strong relationship that we need to strengthen.”
Ramaphosa’s visit to the US comes at a tense time in the relationship between the two countries. The Trump administration has accused the South African government of persecuting the white minority population and has accelerated the process of granting refugee status to 59 white South Africans. Despite South Africa strongly refuting the persecution allegations, they are also concerned about potentially losing commercial ties with their second-largest trading partner, the United States.
During the meeting on Wednesday, President Trump once again brought up this issue. “Many people are very concerned about the situation in South Africa. That is the purpose of this meeting,” Trump said to President Ramaphosa. “We will see how things play out. But many people feel they are being persecuted, and as a result, they are flocking to the United States. If we feel that this persecution or genocide is taking place, we will receive people from many places. Mr. President, I must tell you, we have received many people, a large number.”
“In general, they are white farmers fleeing South Africa. You know, it’s really sad to see something like this happening. But I hope we can get an explanation for this, as I know you don’t want this,” Trump said. “You know, this is a unique meeting. Normally, we have meetings to discuss trade, we talk about trade and other things, but this (the issue of white South Africans) will definitely be a topic.”
Ramaphosa, in response, stated that if there were indeed a genocide against white farmers in South Africa, there would be no white members in the delegation accompanying him during his visit to the US.
Among the members accompanying the South African President’s visit to the White House is John Henry Steenhuisen, South Africa’s Minister of Agriculture, who is white. South African white golfer Retief Goosen, also part of the delegation, detailed the challenges faced by his family on a South African family farm during a meeting in the Oval Office on Wednesday and informed President Trump that South African farmers are facing “some issues.”
While Goosen did not support Trump’s assertion of white South Africans facing “genocide,” he acknowledged that farmers are experiencing a “continual struggle” and pointed out that their farms are being burned and equipment stolen, with the intention of driving them off their land.