By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to hold talks with his US counterpart Donald Trump in Washington on Wednesday, May 21 and hopes to ease a simmering tensions between the two nations.
Ramaphosa will embark on a working visit to the US from May 19-22, will meet Trump at the White House “to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of interest,” Presidency said in a statement Wednesday evening.
“His visit to the US provides a platform to reset the strategic relationship between the two countries,” it said.
The diplomatic relations between Pretoria and Washington are currently strained, with Trump making baseless accusations of genocide against white Afrikaners in South Africa.
On Monday, 49 white Afrikaners from South Africa arrived in America on an expedited refugee programme orchestrated by Trump.
Trump has criticized South Africa’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war, which has seen the country take Israel to the International Court of Justice and accuse it of committing a genocide in Gaza.
Trump has also signed an executive order stopping all financial aid to South Africa and has also slapped South Africa with 37% trade tariffs on its exports to the U.S., which he subsequently paused for 90 days.
The cuts were an additional blow to the country after it also lost U.S. funding for its key health programmes including the fight against HIV.
In March, the U.S. expelled Ebrahim Rasool, the South African ambassador to the U.S., over his criticism of Trump, who has hinted that he may not attend the G20 summit of world leaders scheduled to take place in Johannesburg in November.