South Africa's President Ramaphosa to meet Trump in US on Wednesday over rising tensions

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will meet US counterpart Donald Trump in Washington next week at a time of strained ties between the two countries, Pretoria said in a statement released late on Wednesday.
Tensions have been rising for months over a range of policy issues, culminating this week in the
United States resettling a first group of white Afrikaners that Trump claims are facing 'persecution' in South Africa.
'On Wednesday, 21 May 2025, President Ramaphosa will meet with President
Donald Trump at the White House in Washington DC to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of interest,' Ramaphosa's office said.
The visit 'provides a platform to reset the strategic relationship between the two countries', it said.
The US administration has torn into various South African policies, including its
case against Israel at the International Court of Justice and a land expropriation law meant to redress historical inequalities that Washington alleges will allow the government to seize white-owned land.
Trump essentially halted refugee arrivals after taking office but is making an exception for the Afrikaners – mainly descendants of Dutch settlers to
South Africa – despite Pretoria's insistence that they do not face persecution in their homeland.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

RTHK

an hour ago

• RTHK

Trump hints at regime change in Iran with MIGA slogan

Trump hints at regime change in Iran with MIGA slogan US President Donald Trump made the comment on social media. File photo: AFP US President Donald Trump hinted on Sunday at interest in regime change in Iran, despite several of his administration officials earlier stressing that US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites did not have that goal. "It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!" Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. (AFP)

South China Morning Post

an hour ago

• South China Morning Post

Can the US and China forge a rivalry of convenience?

Deteriorating China-US relations are often blamed on the two countries' different political and economic systems. However, building on the commonalities of the strategic objectives of Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump may offer a path to improved relations. The path forward is relatively wide and multifaceted in terms of geopolitical concerns but narrower in terms of trade and economic issues. Both leaders seek a new world order that offers different roles for their countries. For Trump, this means shedding America's obligations to provide global public goods and ostensibly focusing more on US domestic interests. Xi, meanwhile, wants to preserve a rules-based global economic system in which China has prospered but seeks a greater say in its management. Trump's obsession with exercising leverage to strike deals involves threatening allies, who are more susceptible to pressure than America's perceived enemies due to their reliance on the US for security and economic support. Washington's disruptive behaviour provides an opening for Beijing regarding global leadership, but Beijing is still developing its soft power skills and lacks the financial and military resources to make this a near-term reality.

RTHK

2 hours ago

• RTHK

World braces for Iran's response to US strikes

World braces for Iran's response to US strikes This satellite picture shows the Fordow complex in Iran, after the US struck the underground nuclear facility. Photo: Handout via Reuters The world braced on Sunday for Iran's response after the US attacked key Iranian nuclear sites, joining Israel's assault against its Middle East rival in a significant new escalation of conflict in the region. With the damage visible from space after 30,000-pound US bunker-buster bombs crashed into the mountain above Iran's Fordow nuclear site, Tehran vowed to defend itself at all costs. It fired another volley of missiles at Israel that wounded scores of people and flattened buildings in Tel Aviv. The US State Department ordered employees' family members to leave Lebanon and advised citizens elsewhere in the region to keep a low profile or restrict travel. Tehran has so far not followed through on its threats of retaliation against the United States - either by targeting US bases or trying to choke off global oil supplies - but that may not hold. Speaking in Istanbul, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country would consider all possible responses. There would be no return to diplomacy until it had retaliated, he said. "The US showed they have no respect for international law. They only understand the language of threat and force," he said. US President Donald Trump called the strikes "a spectacular military success" and boasted that Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities had been "completely and totally obliterated." A senior Iranian source told Reuters that most of the highly enriched uranium at Fordow had been moved elsewhere before the attack. (Reuters)