Grace Ashiru
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa stated on Thursday that he aimed to “do a deal” with U.S. President Donald Trump to resolve a dispute concerning his country’s land policy and the genocide case against Israel at the World Court.
This follows Trump’s decision to cut U.S. financial assistance to South Africa through an executive order this month, citing concerns over the country’s land reform approach and its case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Washington’s ally, Israel.
Speaking at a conference organized by U.S. bank Goldman Sachs in Johannesburg, Ramaphosa expressed his desire for the situation to “settle” after the executive order but emphasized that the long-term goal was to visit Washington and rebuild 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 said. “I’m very positively inclined to promoting a good relationship with President Trump.”
Ramaphosa did not specify what the deal might involve, but suggested it could cover trade, diplomatic, and political matters.
Although South Africa is not heavily reliant on U.S. aid, there are concerns that its preferential trade status under the U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) could be jeopardized with Trump in office. The country seeks to maintain a non-aligned stance in geopolitical conflicts, avoiding close ties with any one power, including the U.S., China, or Russia.
