South Africa seeks "continued frank engagements" with the US on geopolitical matters "based on mutual respect," Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said on Thursday.
Lamola made the remarks as he concluded his first trip to the US, according to his spokesperson Chrispin Phiri, who said the trip was "successful" and "productive."
He arrived in Washington last Thursday amid reports that Israeli diplomats were lobbying US lawmakers to pressure South Africa into dropping its genocide case against Tel Aviv at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
South Africa took Israel to the ICJ for Tel Aviv's indiscriminate bombardment of Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip which has resulted in the deaths of more than 41,200 victims since last October.
'Dynamic and evolving relationship'
Lamola engaged key stakeholders in Washington, including the House of Representatives subcommittee on Africa, the Congressional Black Caucus, the US Chamber of Commerce and bipartisan think tanks, Phiri said.
The foreign minister emphasised the "importance of the dynamic and evolving relationship between South Africa and the United States" and identified areas for cooperation.
"Moving forward, efforts to sustain important engagements regularly in a structured system will be explored at a high political level," Lamola said.
Addressing the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's 53rd Annual Legislative Conference in Washington last week, Lamola said: "Let us engage on differences but we may agree to dis agree."
"We will not tell the US what to do and we expect the US not to tell us what to do," he said.
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