South African President Cyril Ramaphosa recently spoke with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in a 15-minute call that covered strengthening trade and political ties. Arranged by influential South African businessmen, this conversation comes amid growing U.S.-South Africa tensions over foreign relations policies. While Trade Minister Parks Tau campaigns to maintain South Africa’s AGOA benefits, Trump’s historical stance may signal an openness to negotiation, fostering optimism for bilateral cooperation under his presidency.
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By Linda van Tilburg
Biznews has learned that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has had a telephone conversation with the newly-elected President of the United States, Donald Trump. The conversation is reported to have lasted 15 minutes and went well, according to sources in Washington.
President Ramaphosa confirmed on X (Twitter )that the meeting had taken place. He said during his telephone call, both leaders agreed on the need to strengthen trade and political ties.
Veteran diplomat Dr Kingsley Makhubela told Biznews that Trump would have received calls from leaders worldwide, who congratulated him on winning the presidency. Five-minute calls were reportedly allocated to world leaders, including President Xi of China, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Canadian Prime Minister. Makhubela speculated that more substantive issues could have been discussed in the longer time slot that Ramaphosa had been granted.
According to Biznews sources, the call with President-elect Trump were arranged by South African businessmen Johann Rupert and Whitey Basson, the former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Shoprite Holdings.
The meeting comes at a critical juncture when South Africa is seen to be walking a tightrope regarding its relations with the United States. Tensions flared when the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs passed the US-South Africa bilateral relations review bill, which calls for a review of US relations with South Africa due to its ‘history with malign actors’, including Hamas, China, Russia, and Iran, and accusing Israel of practising apartheid. South Africa is mainly under attack from Conservative Republican members of Congress, albeit with some Democratic support.
South Africa’s continued participation in AGOA, which provides duty-free access to the lucrative US market, is under scrutiny. The country’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau, was on a charm offensive in Washington to persuade lawmakers not to evict South Africa from AGOA. While Washington insiders said that Tau’s message resonated well with the Biden Administration, they noted that Congress still needed to be convinced.
Commenting on the likely course that a Trump presidency would take regarding South Africa, Dr Makhubela said that Trump’s track record during his previous term of office should be considered.
“During his four years in the White House,” Dr Makhubela said, “there was not even talk of the possibility of AGOA being terminated. He’s never made such a statement.”
He believes that South Africa is likely to see “a Donald Trump who is open to negotiation and open to persuasion.”
Earlier this week, Ramaphosa joined world leaders in in congratulating Donald Trump on his return to the US presidency and said he sees potential for collaboration between South Africa and the United States in upcoming international engagements.
“I look forward to continuing the close and mutually beneficial partnership between our two nations across all domains of our co-operation,” Ramaphosa wrote on X.
“In the global arena, we look forward to our Presidency of the G20 in 2025, where we will work closely with the US, which will succeed us in the G20 Presidency in 2026.”
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