JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will travel to the United States on a working visit next week and will meet U.S. President Donald Trump on May 21, Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement late on Wednesday.
“President Ramaphosa will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington DC to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of interest,” South Africa’s presidency said.
“The president’s visit to the US provides a platform to reset the strategic relationship between the two countries,” the statement added.
Relations between South Africa and the U.S. have soured significantly since Trump returned to the White House in January.
Trump has cut all U.S. financial assistance to South Africa, citing disapproval of its land reform policy and of its genocide case at the International Court of Justice against Washington’s ally Israel.
This week the Trump administration welcomed 49 white South Africans it has granted refugee status, having deemed them victims of racial discrimination.
South Africa maintains there is no evidence of persecution of white people in the country and Ramaphosa has said the U.S. government “has got the wrong end of the stick”.
The United States is South Africa’s second-largest bilateral trading partner after China.
(Reporting by Sfundo Parakozov; Writing by Alexander Winning, editing by Deepa Babington)
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