By Daanyaal Matthews
President Cyril Ramaphosa has concluded his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump this week. The meeting aimed to strengthen ties between the United States and South Africa following several diplomatic challenges — most notably, President Trump’s accusation that a white genocide was being committed in South Africa.
These accusations were firmly denied by President Ramaphosa during the meeting, in which he reiterated that the South African government does not employ such practices. He also pointed to Minister John Steenhuisen and was supported by South African businessman Johann Rupert.
Speaking on VOC Newsbeat, political analyst Roland Henwood described the meeting between the two presidents as a positive step toward improving diplomatic relations.
“It may actually be something with a positive outcome; there should be a realization that we are on the same team and that we should come back and start addressing these issues,” stated Henwood.
Henwood also praised the South African delegation for presenting a unified front in defending the Republic against the notion of white genocide.
“One takeaway from this is that there was a concerted effort by the South African delegation that we are not going to drop South Africa although they have differences — it was a South African team with a South African approach that routinely pulled back the discussion to what mattered,” added Henwood.
Listen to the full interview here:
Photo: @PresidencyZA
