South Africa’s Ramaphosa to meet Trump in US next week amid rising tensions

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will meet U.S. President Donald Trump next week. The meeting will take place at the White House. This visit aims to "reset" ties between the two countries, according to Pretoria.

The visit follows the U.S. welcoming white Afrikaners as refugees this week. This comes after Trump's claims of "genocide" against white farmers in South Africa. These allegations have been widely discredited.

Ramaphosa's office stated that he will discuss various issues with Trump. These include bilateral, regional, and global matters of interest. The trip is scheduled from Monday to Thursday, with their meeting on Wednesday.

The White House has not commented on the upcoming meeting yet. This will be Trump's first meeting with an African leader since January.

Relations between Pretoria and Washington have worsened recently. Trump has criticized Ramaphosa’s government on several issues. In February, he cut all U.S. funding to South Africa due to its land reform policy.

Trump also mentioned taking in people from the Afrikaner community. He claims they face persecution and violence based on race, but experts dispute this claim.

Afrikaners are descendants of Dutch colonizers who enforced apartheid for decades. The South African government insists there is no evidence of such persecution today.

Ramaphosa stated that the U.S. has misunderstood the situation in South Africa. He emphasized that violent crime affects all races in the country.

U.S. criticism also targets South Africa’s affirmative action laws aimed at helping Black citizens oppressed under apartheid. A new land expropriation law allows the government to take land without compensation in certain cases.

Pretoria argues this law is not meant for confiscation but for public good redistribution. However, some Afrikaner groups fear it could lead to loss of their land.

Data shows that white people make up about 7% of South Africa's population but own over 70% of its land and hold most top management positions.

Ramaphosa has expressed a strong desire to improve diplomatic relations with Trump and the U.S., which is South Africa’s second-largest trading partner after China.