By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to respond to five demands from US President Donald Trump aimed at addressing growing tensions between South Africa and the United States.
On 28 August, Ramaphosa met with the United States Ambassador to South Africa, Leo Brent Bozell III, at the President’s official residence, Mahlamba Ndlopfu, in Tshwane, Gauteng.
According to the Presidency, the meeting was intended to provide an opportunity to strengthen and recalibrate South Africa–United States relations.
The engagement comes as South Africa and the United States continue to navigate a wide-ranging bilateral relationship encompassing diplomatic, economic and international issues.
While there are few details on what was discussed in the meeting between the two countries, Fullview learnt that Donald Trump has five demands from South Africa. They’re as follows:
- To protect rural communities from violence, referring to the globally publicised farm attacks.
- To condemn rhetoric that incites hatred and glorifies violence, referring to the infamous “kill the boer” chant. The US wants the government to publicly condemn this.
- The appropriation policies include fair and clear compensation standards, referring to the government’s move to normalise “nil” compensation in new expropriation laws.
- The mandatory surrender of ownership or control over corporate decision-making as a cost of doing business, citing South Africa’s strict BEE policies.
- South Africa’s association with Iran and enemies of the United States, and become a non-aligned state as it purports to be.
“These are achievable, practical and beneficial to both Americans and South Africans,” Bozell said.
The ambassador said, the five “demands” generally address the business environment in South Africa and issues of safety and social cohesion.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said that the President would respond to Trump.
The latest developments come as Ramaphosa attends the BRICS Summit in India, underscoring the competing diplomatic and economic interests at the centre of Pretoria’s increasingly delicate relationship with Washington.