Set to the background of increased diplomatic tensions between their two countries, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa will be making a much-anticipated visit to the White House today to meet Donald Trump.
Ramaphosa is reportedly eyeing the meeting as an opportunity to reset relations, both economically and diplomatically.
On the economic front, a central focus of the South African leader’s visit will be getting the ball rolling on a potential bilateral trade agreement with the United States. This is particularly important given the high level of tariffs threatened by the Trump administration over the past few months.
An economic agreement between the two countries is also important because the multilateral trade deal the United States has with sub-Saharan Africa, known as the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA), is unlikely to be renewed by Congress when it expires in September.
Ramaphosa is also expected to rebut President Trump’s claim that white South Africans are suffering a genocide, and are therefore in need of refugee status in the United States.
The American president has been critical of South Africa’s new Expropriations Law, signed into force in January. The law allows for the South African government to take possession of private land without compensation to private land owners in certain cases where the land is not being used. The idea is that the land will then be transferred to black ownership, helping to make up for decades of inequitable land ownership stemming from the 1913 Natives Land Act, which limited the land ownership of (mostly black) native South Africans to only 7%. Currently, white South Africans own 70% of the country’s commercial farmland, despite being 7% of the population.
Though no evidence supports the claim, Trump has said that black South Africans are committing genocide against white Afrikaners, killing them to occupy their land.
In lieu of this, Trump signed an executive order on February 7 requiring an end to all U.S. foreign aid and assistance to the country while also promoting “the resettlement [to the United States] of Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation.” The executive order also called out South Africa for “accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide in the International Court of Justice, and reinvigorating its relations with Iran to develop commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements.”
Under Ramaphosa, South Africa has been an outspoken opponent of Israel’s 18-month war in Gaza. South Africa filed a case before the International Court of Justice — the United Nations body responsible for settling disputes between states under international law — accusing Israel of genocide in its current war against the Palestinians.
Meanwhile, under both the Biden and Trump administrations, the United States has been arguably the world’s leading supporter of Israel during the conflict. The United States has provided both military arms and diplomatic support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza, and has opposed numerous resolutions presented before the UN Security Council and General Assembly calling out Israel’s actions in Gaza and demanding increased access for humanitarians. Biden’s National Security Council Coordinator, John Kirby, called South Africa’s ICJ case “meritless” after it was initially filed in January 2024.
In response to South Africa’s support for Israel, members of the U.S. Congress introduced legislation questioning the bilateral relationship, and requiring a review of the United States’ close diplomatic relations with South Africa. The bipartisan measure was initially introduced in March of last year, and was reintroduced last month.
The spiraling diplomatic relations continued into March, when the Trump administration expelled the South African ambassador to the United States after video surfaced of the ambassador making harshly critical remarks of Trump administration policies. President Trump has also announced that the United States will boycott the G20 summit this year, which will be hosted in South Africa, and has banned all U.S. government agencies and departments from participating in the event.
And just last week, the Trump administration followed through on its executive order, granting refugee status to 59 Afrikaners ostensibly fleeing persecution and violence at the hands of black South Africans at home. The Afrikaners were greeted upon their arrival at Washington Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia by multiple Trump administration officials.
Ramaphosa therefore has several diplomatic spats to try to overcome if he is to successfully thaw relations.
Smartly, Ramaphosa is looking to use Elon Musk’s ties with Trump to South Africa’s advantage in negotiations. Musk, an Afrikaner himself, serves as one of Trump’s top advisers and leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The South African president is reportedly hoping to include in trade discussions the possibility of providing Musk’s Starlink satellite technology company with the opportunity to access the South African market while bypassing a national law that requires a portion of all companies operating in South Africa to be owned by disenfranchised groups.
South Africa’s Black Economic Empowerment policy requires that 30% of the equity of subsidiaries based in South Africa be owned by historically disadvantaged groups, mostly black South Africans. Musk has in the past refused to comply with this rule, and has complained about being unable to do business in South Africa because he isn’t black.
By providing Musk a bypass to otherwise standard regulations — or to find a different way by which to allow Starlink to access South Africa’s market — Ramaphosa can work to shore up relations with one of the most senior Trump advisers who harbors a negative view, hardened through personal experiences and connections, with South Africa’s government.
Given how closely Trump relies on an inner circle to help him craft policy, supporting Musk’s effort to do business in South Africa could help thaw tensions between the two governments, and help Ramaphosa’s government gain credibility within Trump’s inner circle.
Part of the challenge facing Ramaphosa is the power imbalance in the relationship between the two countries — the truth is that South Africa needs the United States more than the United States needs South Africa.
The U.S. is South Africa’s second-largest trade partner and the two have maintained a close, though fluctuating, diplomatic partnership since apartheid ended in 1994. Although South Africa has a diverse array of international partners to which it has turned for economic and political engagement — such as China, which is the country’s largest trading partner — shoring up both diplomatic and, even more importantly, economic relations with the United States remains an important goal of Ramaphosa’s foreign policy, and thus of his visit to Washington.
For the United States, rekindling a close relationship with South Africa matters because of the country’s diplomatic, military, and economic importance relative to much of the rest of Africa. Forming a close partnership with a regional power allows the United States greater avenues by which to form close transregional relationships and maintain regional influence.
