President Cyril Ramaphosa has moved to calm the waters domestically after attacks by the new United States administration on South Africa’s international relations policies and alliances.
Although stepping up efforts to avoid unnecessary aggravation in the country’s relations with the US, South Africa won’t go as far as reviewing its international relations policy, presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said at a briefing on Thursday. Magwenya said President Cyril Ramaphosa wanted to reset relations, particularly on the trade front.
This comes days after South Africa’s ambassador for the US, Ebrahim Rasool, was declared a persona non grata by the Trump administration. It also comes amid unverified claims by the South African Chamber of Commerce USA’s Neil Diamond that over 67,000 South Africans have indicated that they would like to make use of US President Donald Trump’s offer to resettle in the country as refugees.
The Georgia-based organisation, which represents South African businesses in the US, said in a Facebook post that it had handed its findings to the US embassy in Pretoria. As yet, no details have been issued on the application process.
Ramaphosa earlier referred to the strained relations between the two countries as a “hiccup” and said South Africa would continue trying to engage the US via diplomatic channels, even as the US has been using social media extensively as part of its diplomacy. There have also been calls by the right-wing think tank Hudson Institute to target sanctions on government leaders to force them to align South Africa’s policies more closely to those of the US.
Here are four steps Ramaphosa intends to take to calm relations:
1. Keep cool for Rasool
Supporters of the African National Congress (ANC) party and its allies have organised a welcome rally for Rasool at the Cape Town International Airport on Sunday.
Ramaphosa “urges people to refrain from partaking or engaging in action that may seem inflammatory and worsen the already volatile diplomatic relationship with the US,” Magwenya said
