Ramaphosa: SA won’t engage in social media spats with Trump
President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa will facilitate diplomatic talks with US president-elect Donald Trump, rather than engage in social media clashes over bilateral matters.
This comes after Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on BRICS countries if they were to create a rival currency to the US dollar.
Speaking in Thabazimbi on Sunday, Ramaphosa said the G20 presidency will see South Africa work closely with the US.
Since 2011, the BRICS group of countries has consisted of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
"We require a commitment... that they will neither create a new BRICS Currency, nor back any other Currency to replace the mighty US Dollar or, they will face 100 per cent Tariffs," Trump wrote on his Truth Social website.
The statement comes after a BRICS summit held last month in Kazan, Russia, where the countries discussed boosting non-dollar transactions and strengthening local currencies.
The BRICS group has expanded significantly since its inception in 2009 and now includes countries such as Iran, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Altogether, the BRICS coalition accounts for a significant minority of the world's economic output.
