Foreign Pool Report #1. Background on South African President Cyril Ramaphosa´s visit to the White House

Good morning,

I am your foreign pooler for the visit of the President of the Republic of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, to the White House. Please reach out if you have any questions.

The purpose of this visit is to reset the bilateral relations between the two countries.

Schedule:

President Ramaphosa arrived in Washington, D.C., late Monday. Today, Ramaphosa’s arrival at the White House is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. The working visit will include a bilateral lunch and a bilateral meeting. Lunch in the Cabinet Room is scheduled for 11:45 a.m., followed by the bilat in the Oval Office at 12:45 p.m.

South African delegation:

• Ronald Lamola – Minister of International Relations and Cooperation
• Khumbudzo Ntshavheni – Minister in The Presidency
• Parks Tau – Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition
• John Steenhuisen – Minister of Agriculture
• Mcebisi Jonas – Special Envoy to the United States

Notable accompanying figures from the business and sports sectors:

• Ernie Els – Professional golfer
• Retief Goosen – Professional golfer
• Johann Rupert – South African billionaire and luxury goods magnate

Topics for the bilateral meeting:

Ramaphosa’s priority is to reset and revitalize the strained bilateral relations. “This visit provides a platform to reset the strategic relationship between the two countries”, read a statement issued by South Africa’s presidency.

Ramaphosa emphasized that trade would be the focus of his visit, and South African officials have prepared a trade proposal to present to Trump. Upon arriving in Washington, D.C., Ramaphosa said that “the trade relations are the most important. That is what has brought us here. We want to come out of the United States with a really good trade deal”. He also plans to discuss business opportunities for Elon Musk's companies and to clarify South Africa’s policy positions on a range of pressing geopolitical matters, including the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.

This visit comes a week after the United States welcomed a group of white South Africans as refugees. President Trump is expected to point to alleged discrimination against Afrikaners, a white ethnic minority, and ask President Ramaphosa to roll back the country’s racial equity laws.

Previous Meetings:

Cyril Ramaphosa visited the White House for an official working visit in September 2022, when he met with former President Joe Biden.

This will be his first meeting with Donald Trump since the latter began his second term. But both presidents have met in person on at least one occasion. They had a brief encounter in September 2018, during the 73rd United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Bilateral Relationship:

Relations between South Africa and the United States have soured since Trump returned to the White House in January. Trump has criticized South Africa’s government on multiple fronts:

• Its controversial land reform policy: in January, Ramaphosa signed into law a measure that allows the government to expropriate privately held land without providing compensation when deemed in the public interest. His government says it aims to address the consequences of apartheid. Trump has argued that it unfairly targets white landowners.
• Its genocide case against U.S. ally Israel before the International Court of Justice: in December 2023, South Africa filed proceedings at the ICJ, alleging that Israel’s military operations in Gaza constitute acts of genocide.

On February 7, Trump issued an executive order cutting all U.S. funding to South Africa, citing what he described as its anti-white domestic policies and anti-American foreign policy. In March he expelled the South African ambassador. Last week, he granted refugee status to a group of white South Africans he said were facing racial discrimination, a claim that the South African government denies. Furthermore, the United States has said they would skip the G20 Summit in South Africa (the meeting is scheduled to take place in Johannesburg in November).

Now the South African President will try to use this visit to persuade President Trump to make deals with his country. The stakes are high for South Africa: the United States is its second-biggest trading partner and the aid cut has already resulted in a drop in testing for HIV patients.

Background on Afrikaner refugees:

On May 12, the United States welcomed a group of South Africans, including families and small children, as refugees. They landed at Dulles airport. They are Afrikaner farmers whom Trump claims are being persecuted in their homeland because of their race. Trump said that “it's a genocide that's taking place, white farmers are being brutally killed and their land is being confiscated in South Africa. They happen to be white. But whether they're white or black makes no difference to me” and he announced a program to offer them relocation to the U.S. The Trump administration has fast-tracked their applications while pausing other refugee programs .

President Trump is likely to raise the alleged discrimination against Afrikaners. According to a White House official, he is expected to ask that the government of South Africa classify farm attacks as a priority crime. Trump may also press for the South African government to condemn the “kill the Boer” chant, an anti-apartheid chant which the governing party has distanced itself from.

South Africa denies the allegations and says there is no evidence of persecution of white people in the country. Ramaphosa said that Trump had received false information about white South Africans being discriminated against, and that “the American government has got the wrong end of the stick here”. During this visit, he will get his chance to try to rebut this narrative directly. Ramaphosa plans to call on Trump to support an independent investigation into the genocide claims, according to his spokesman Vincent Magwenya. South African crime statistics show no evidence of white people being disproportionately targeted.

The Afrikaners are a white minority in South Africa, they descended from mainly Dutch colonists and also sometimes called Boers. They led the apartheid regime, which segregated the Black majority. Since the end of apartheid in 1994, the government has made efforts to undo the imbalance and redistribute land to Black South Africans. White people, who make up about 7% of South Africa's population, are still richer than the Black majority by every economic measure. They own about three-quarters of individually owned farms and agricultural holdings, according to a 2017 South African government land audit.

Background on Trade:

The United States is South Africa’s second-biggest trading partner after China. Trump's sweeping trade tariffs announced in April (and subsequently paused for 90 days) included a levy of 31 percent on South African imports. And the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which provides duty-free access to the US market for South African agricultural products, is up for renewal in September.

During this visit, Ramaphosa plans to offer Trump a broad trade deal. He is expected to try to convince Trump that the United States has a lot to gain from maintaining close ties with South Africa, the largest economy in Africa. In 2023, South Africa exported $13.9 billion worth of goods to the United States and imported $7.1 billion worth of American goods, resulting in a U.S. trade deficit of about $6.8 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Foreign Trade Division.

For his part, President Trump is expected to demand that U.S. companies are exempted from "racial requirements", according to a White House official. South Africa has laws to compel businesses to hire and promote Black South Africans, including a requirement for large companies in some sectors, such as mining and telecommunications, to have a 30% equity stake held by disadvantaged groups. Elon Musk has criticized that requirement. He has blamed it for preventing him from bringing his satellite company, Starlink, to his native country.

Background on Elon Musk:

Elon Musk was born in South Africa and has been among the loudest critics of the country he left as a teenager. President Ramaphosa will also try to reset his relationship with him. He plans to discuss business opportunities for Tesla and Starlink, companies owned by Musk. Ramaphosa’s spokesperson said discussions could include licensing for Starlink and favorable tariffs for Tesla's imports into South Africa in return for building electric vehicle charging stations.

Background on Gaza:

South Africa brought genocide charges against Israel at The Hague in 2023, related to Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza.

During this visit, President Ramaphosa plans to lean into areas such as the need to ensure that humanitarian aid gets into Gaza. According to his spokesman, he may also counter Trump’s Afrikaner genocide accusations by pointing to America’s support of Israel, and argue it is “laughable that you can use the word genocide on South Africa, while on the other hand you’re looking the other way where the actual genocide is being committed.”

President Trump has been critical of what he perceives as South Africa’s cozy relationship with Iran and Hamas.

Background on Cyril Ramaphosa:

Cyril Ramaphosa is 72 years old. He serves as the President of South Africa since 2018. He is the leader of the African National Congress (ANC), the party that has ruled the country since the end of apartheid.

Ramaphosa headed the ANC's negotiating team during 1990s talks that led to apartheid's peaceful end. He also has a background as a wealthy businessman: he left politics in the late 1990s and became a successful entrepreneur, founding the investment holding company Shanduka Group before returning to politics and becoming president in 2018.

Cristina Olea

Washington Bureau Chief

Radiotelevisión Española

Public Television of Spain

2000 M St. NW, Ste. 325

Washington, DC 20036

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