‘Expect the unexpected’ when Trump meets Ramaphosa
With President Cyril Ramaphosa set to meet his US counterpart next week, an international relations expert says we should expect the unexpected.
The talks come amid tensions between the two nations over South Africa's land reform policies.
It follows the departure of nearly 50 white Afrikaners who were granted refugee status in the United States.
During a White House press briefing this week, President Donald Trump doubled down on claims that white farmers are victims of genocide and racial discrimination.
" With Trump, I don't know what to expect. But with Cyril Ramaphosa, he is a man of enormous substance, a trained lawyer, and a trained conciliator. So, I have no fears about going into the lion's den, behind Cyril Ramaphosa,” Professor John Stremlau, an international relations expert from Wits University.
He says it's uncertain whether the meeting will be fruitful.
" The two men in a room, there's no comparison because Cyril Ramaphosa is outstanding as a leader, and Donald Trump is the worst president in my lifetime and probably in the history of the country.
"Ramaphosa will not give away South Africa's constitutional values. So, Trump probably doesn't even know what’s in the US Constitution, but Cyril Ramaphosa does and he knows it, and I just have the highest regard for him, and I have the lowest regard for Donald Trump."
Speaking at the Nampo Harvest Day in the Free State on Tuesday, Ramaphosa said those who left for the US were clearly unhappy with efforts to redress the inequities of apartheid.
" If you look at all national groups in our country, black and white, we've stayed in this country because it's our country, and we must not run away from our problems. We must stay here and solve our problems. So when you run away, you're a coward."
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