In a tense situation, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and US President Donald Trump meet on Wednesday to discuss the government’s decision to admit around 50 white South Africans next year, even as it slows down refugees arriving from most of the rest of the world. Ramaphosa may be hoping to rekindle previously unfriendly relations with a key trading partner while also confronting Trump over what Pretoria calls fake harassment claims.
According to his official Vincent Magwenya, the president of South Africa will make it clear to Trump that the” white murder” theories are “patently false.” We must “reset the relationship,” he added. Ramaphosa may furthermore bring products, according to reports that his government will grant Elon Musk a contract to run his Starlink system there. The false claim that white producers in South Africa are being targeted for death has been spearheaded by technical billionaire Musk, who was born there, has been a vocal supporter. Trump’s alleged acceptance of his billionaire alliance’s claims appears to have been bought in. On May 12, the second class of roughly 50 white South Africans arrived in the country after Trump’s offer of shelter to the minority of Afrikaners. Trump told reporters on the day they arrived that “it’s a murder that’s taking place that you don’t need to create on.” Light farmers are being brutally killed and their property being seized in South Africa. Trump’s management has been especially critical of a property expropriation legislation signed in January that aims to address historical disparities from the white minority government’s rule during the apartheid era. Ramaphosa has refuted Washington’s claim that the rules will be used to unilaterally seize white-owned area. In post-apartheid South Africa, land ownership is a controversial topic, with the majority of land also owned by white folks despite only being home to 7.3 percent of the population. Some right-wing Afrikaner lobbyists have claimed that farmers are being killed in precise killings, but authorities deny this claim is untrue. Fresh black people in urban areas make up the majority of South Africa‘s sky-high crime rate, according to police statistics. However, Trump and his team have even sifted through a number of other policies in South Africa, which past administrations saw as a vital ally for Washington. It has criticized South Africa‘s case against Israel for bringing a genocide against it by the International Court of Justice, cut aid, and imposed 31-percent tariffs, and fired Pretoria’s ambassador after he criticized the Make America Great Again ( MAGA ) movement. When he meets Trump in the Oval Office, strapped minister Ramaphosa may be walking a tightrope. In his second term, Trump’s symbolic center has become a sort of endurance test for international leaders who are vying for favor with the unexpected Trump. Ramaphosa may in turn try to avoid Volodymyr Zelensky’s death, who was berated by Trump and US Vice President JD Vance in front of cameramen in February. One of Ramaphosa’s best topics will be business. Although Trump’s announcement of broad tariffs in April, which were later suspended for 90 days, has sparked concerns for key industries like the citrus industry and the US. The Pretoria president issued a statement stating that the purpose of the visit is to “reset and revive diplomatic relations between South Africa and the United States.”
