Ramaphosa adamant White House visit a 'turning point'

In his weekly newsletter on Monday, Ramaphosa reflected on last week’s working visit to Washington, where he met with US President Donald Trump to reset ties and address issues affecting the two countries.

The talks followed a highly charged televised encounter, where President Trump confronted Ramaphosa with a video falsely claiming a genocide against white South Africans, a moment that underscored the urgency of restoring trust between the two nations.

The meeting, aimed at revitalising strained relations between the two countries and securing a mutually beneficial trade deal, quickly shifted focus as Trump turned the Oval Office into a platform to question South Africa’s internal politics.

With media present and Ramaphosa often unable to respond, Trump had aides project the video onto a large screen, saying it showed black South Africans advocating for genocide.

Ramaphosa said, despite this, the visit to the  United States was a turning point in diplomatic and trade relations between the two nations.

"South Africa has always regarded the United States as a strong investment and trading partner. Our countries and our economies are bound together in many ways.

" We went to Washington to establish a basis for greater economic cooperation and to address some of the challenges that have recently arisen in relations between our two countries.

"Our visit came at a time when US-SA relations have come under increasing strain, largely as a result of misinformation peddled by fringe groups in our two countries, including a false narrative about a so-called genocide and an orchestrated campaign of violence against white farmers.

“In this context, it was critical for us to engage directly with the US administration to correct misinformation and provide a true account of the progress we have made as a democracy and the many and complex challenges we still face," wrote Ramaphosa.

He described the visit as an opportunity to directly engage US officials, provide context on South Africa’s democratic progress, and discuss the real challenges the country continues to face.

While addressing these concerns was crucial, Ramaphosa said the central focus was economic cooperation.

The US remains South Africa’s second-largest trading partner, with strong ties in sectors like agriculture, automotive manufacturing, and increasingly, critical minerals.

"The US is a key export market for South African goods, products and services, including motor vehicles, agricultural products and, increasingly, critical minerals. At the same time, we buy many goods and services from the US,” the president wrote.

"There is potential to increase and diversify trade between our two countries in areas such as gas, mining and critical minerals, agriculture and nuclear products.

"The US is a major source of investment in South Africa. There are over 600 US companies, many with a long-established presence here, who continue to expand their investments.

"By way of example, earlier this year tech giant Microsoft announced plans to invest an additional R5.4 billion in expanding its cloud and AI infrastructure in South Africa over the next two years. Last week, there was a strong showing of US companies at an important energy conference in Cape Town.

"According to data from the US Department of Commerce, these South Africa-based US companies employ around 148,000 South Africans. South Africa continues to be a tourist destination to many US citizens. Last year close to 400,000 American tourists visited South Africa," says Ramaphosa.

He added, "South Africa and the US have for many years had a longstanding development partnership in critical areas such as health, education and environmental conservation and protection.

“One of the key outcomes of the substantive discussions we had with President Trump was agreement on an economic cooperation channel between the US administration and South Africa to engage further on tariffs and a broad range of trade matters.”

Ramaphosa said the visit re-established open channels of communication, including a new economic cooperation track between the US administration and South Africa to address tariffs and other trade matters.

He reaffirmed that despite recent challenges, both nations are bound by mutual interests – and that there is everything to gain by working more closely together.

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