South Africa hopes that US President Donald Trump will visit the country later this year for the G20 Summit, which it will be hosting, Presidential Spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said.
South Africa officially assumed the presidency of the G20 in December, becoming the first African country to lead the group of powerful nations.
‘‘We are still hoping that President Trump will visit South Africa ahead of the G20 Summit, when we get that final round of heads of state,’’ Magwenya told reporters in Cape Town on Wednesday.
Magwenya said it remains President Cyril Ramaphosa’s intention to welcome Trump on a state visit, and they hope that there will be time for the two leaders to play a game of golf.
Land confiscation claims
They hope the visit will accord the two leaders the opportunity to engage on a range of issues, including bilateral and those of mutual interest.
“We have been trying to urge the president (Ramaphosa) to steal a bit more time and to get his swing back in order and back in the groove so that when he takes President Trump out for a round of golf, he’s able to put up a decent game,” Magwenya said.
He did not give a timeline on when Ramaphosa will speak to Trump following recent threats by the US leader to suspend aid to Africa’s most industrialised economy following the country’s new land expropriation policy.
On Sunday, Trump threatened to cut foreign aid to South Africa, claiming on his Truth Social platform "South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY...A massive Human Rights VIOLATION, at a minimum, is happening for all to see.”
'Mutually beneficial'
Ramaphosa denied the allegations, saying South Africa did "not confiscate" any land.
“The recently adopted Expropriation Act is not a confiscation instrument, but a constitutionally mandated legal process that ensures public access to land in an equitable and just manner as guided by the constitution,” Ramaphosa said in a statement Monday, referring to a law passed last month.
Magwenya said the two countries enjoy good relations. ‘‘The US is our second largest trading partner. We have a longstanding strategic political, trade as well as cultural relationship,’’ he said.
He said South Africa respects its relationship with the US, noting that “it’s a relationship that has been mutually beneficial and it will continue being mutually beneficial.”
Misinformation concern
Magwenya said that considering all those elements, it is important that they work on maintaining relations and also on growing and expanding them.
‘‘We will get over the current bumps. We will clarify the issues that need to be clarified and we will respond expeditiously to misinformation of our laws,’’ he said.
This week, Ramaphosa spoke with US billionaire Elon Musk, who grew up in South Africa, expressing concern over misinformation about the government's land reforms as expressed by Trump.
Ramaphosa “reiterated his country’s constitutionally embedded values of respect for the rule of law, justice, fairness, and equality,” the presidency said in a short message on X following his Monday discussion with Musk, who owns X as well as other companies.
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