Mapaballo Borotho and Kaya News

President Cyril Ramaphosa has defended his recent visit to the White House, stating that the meeting opened the door to broader conversations between South Africa and the United States.
This comes in response to criticism from opposition parties who claimed that the President had been “ambushed” during his engagement at the White House.
Last month, Ramaphosa, along with Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen and other delegates, met with U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss bilateral, regional, and global issues of mutual interest.
The meeting followed previous remarks by Trump expressing concern over alleged “white genocide” in South Africa, referring to attacks on farmers.
Speaking in Pretoria on Tuesday, Ramaphosa dismissed the notion that he had been summoned by the U.S. President, clarifying that the visit was initiated by South Africa.
“President Donald Trump did not summon us,” said Ramaphosa. “I told him two weeks earlier that I wanted to come and see him, and he gave us a date. This was us taking the initiative – we wanted to go and see him.”
Ramaphosa emphasised that the primary objective of the visit was to reset and strengthen relations with one of South Africa’s key international partners.
“We had to go to reset the relationship with one of our key trading partners, to protect the jobs of our people. We went there to begin serious engagements with the United States,” he said.
Ramaphosa affirmed that South Africa will continue to visit other countries where bilateral relations need to be strengthened.
[WATCH]: President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed confidence, that his visit to the US, met its aim of restoring relations between the two countries.
— Kaya News (@KayaNews) June 10, 2025
He made the comments in Pretoria earlier today, on the sidelines of a visit to the beneficiaries of youth employment programmes.… pic.twitter.com/A5tiamMDg7
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