JOHANNESBURG – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will travel to Washington next week and “discuss issues of bilateral, regional and global interest” to meet President Trump at the White House on Wednesday, Ramaphosa's office announced.
The visit comes as US-South African relations have reached the lowest since the end of apartheid. Trump repeatedly claimed that “something terrible is happening” in South Africa and invited Africans to apply for refugee status in the United States on Monday.
A statement from Ramaphosa's office said that next week's visit “provides a platform for resetting strategic ties between the two countries.”
In February, Trump cut all aid to South Africa, a longtime US ally, with an executive order. The order cited the fact that the South African government, a steady supporter of the Palestinians, denounced Israel on genocide for its war with Hamas in Gaza and filed a lawsuit in the International Court of Justice in the Hague. They also argued that without evidence, the descent of white Dutch people known as Africans was persecuted for their race.
A refugee nonprofit said the Trump administration gave the group that arrived Monday an extraordinary welcome that refugees normally don't have. Africans, including children, were given a small American flag to act on, and Deputy Chief Chris Landau said, “It's a great honor to be here.”
Landau was similar to the African arrival on the “land of freedom” and his own family experiences fleeing Nazi Germany.
This sight leaves many South Africans incredible viewing at home, and I see Ramaphosa making his strongest remarks on the issue. He said the African group was “co-sick.” He said many people longed for the apartheid past.
He dismissed the claims by Trump and his South African-born advisor Elon Musk. The Africans have confiscated or are being treated unfairly, saying, “We are the only country where colonists have come to stay, and we have never let them out of our country.”
Ramaphosa told Trump about his phone readmission and said he tried to clarify the issue by saying that the US leader had “the wrong end of the stick.”
Next week he will have the opportunity to directly remake his argument.
However, despite experts and data that contradict Trump's claims about South Africa, the US administration continues its broadside against Pretoria. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also kicked out a new ambassador from South Africa earlier this year. He accused him of “feeding on the race of politicians” and hates Donald Trump.
Ramaphosa is a veteran negotiator who helped to meet in the 1990s that saw the transition from apartheid to democracy. However, some South Africans have taken him to social media, saying they are worried that Trump is going to humiliate him.
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