Blitz Bureau
JOHANNESBURG: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed a desire to negotiate with US President Donald Trump in order to address ongoing tensions regarding his nation’s land policy and the genocide case against Israel at the World Court, reported africanews.com.
This, said the news portal report, comes after Trump issued an executive order early February that cut US financial aid to South Africa, criticising the country’s approach to land reform and its stance in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) case involving a close US ally.
During a conference hosted by Goldman Sachs in Johannesburg, Ramaphosa mentioned his intention to allow time for the situation to stabilise following the executive order. He emphasised that his ultimate aim is to travel to Washington to improve bilateral relations. “We don’t want to go and explain ourselves. We want to go and do a meaningful deal with the United States on a whole range of issues,” he stated, expressing a strong inclination towards fostering a positive relationship with President Trump.
While South Africa does not heavily rely on the US aid, there are concerns that its preferential trade status under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) could be jeopardised with Trump in office.
The nation aims to maintain a neutral stance in global geopolitical conflicts, avoiding close alignment with any major powers, including the United States, China, and Russia, said the africanews.com report. However, it said, Trump has pointed to the ICJ case as indicative of South Africa’s positions that diverge from those of Washington and its allies.
Cyril Ramaphosa President, South Africa
A contentious issue
Land ownership has long been a contentious issue in South Africa with most private farmland owned by white people, 30 years after the end of the racist system of apartheid, BBC had said in an earlier report.
It said there have been continuous calls for the Government to address land reform and deal with the past injustices of racial segregation. US President Donald Trump, BBC reported, had said that he will cut all future funding to South Africa over allegations that it was confiscating land and “treating certain classes of people very badly.”
South Africa’s President had then responded to Trump with a post on X: “South Africa is a constitutional democracy that is deeply rooted in the rule of law, justice and equality. The South African Government has not confiscated any land.”
Elon Musk, who was born and grew up in South Africa and is now a Trump adviser, had also joined in the debate, saying the new law discriminated against the white people. “Why do you have openly racist ownership laws?” Musk said to Ramaphosa in a post on X.
