By Johnathan Paoli
US President Donald Trump will attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg later this year, according to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Writing in his weekly newsletter on Monday, the president said Trump confirmed that he would attend the the November meeting, which would see South Africa passing the G20 presidency to the US.
In the newsletter, which focused on Ramaphosa’s high-level meetings in Washington last week, including direct talks with Trump on Wednesday, the president described the visit as a significant step forward in strengthening economic and diplomatic ties between South Africa and one of its key global partners.
“Our countries and economies are bound together in many ways. We went to Washington to establish a basis for greater economic cooperation and to address some of the challenges that have recently arisen in relations between our two countries,” the president said.
The visit was aimed at deepening economic cooperation, correcting harmful misinformation and reaffirming the country’s position as a vital investment and trade partner, he reiterated.
Among the challenges was “increasing strain” in diplomatic relations, fueled by what Ramaphosa called “misinformation peddled by fringe groups”, including false narratives of a genocide against white farmers.
He said that engaging directly with the US administration was crucial to providing a “true account” of South Africa’s progress and current challenges.
The visit included a delegation of South African leaders from the government, business, labour and sport. They were united in promoting national interests.
The president emphasised that the US remained South Africa’s second-largest trading partner, with significant two-way trade in motor vehicles, agricultural goods and increasingly critical minerals.
Ramaphosa pointed to sectors like mining, energy, agriculture and nuclear technology as areas with strong potential for growth in bilateral trade.
The investment relationship was also robust, with over 600 US companies operating in South Africa, collectively employing around 148,000 South Africans.
Highlighting the tech sector, Ramaphosa noted Microsoft’s R5.4 billion investment to expand its cloud and AI infrastructure in the country over the next two years.
He said that South Africa continued to be a tourist destination to many US citizens, citing nearly 400,000 American visitors in the past year.
In terms of policy progress, one key outcome of the discussions with Trump was the establishment of a dedicated economic cooperation channel to address tariffs and broader trade issues.
Trump also confirmed he would attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg later this year, where South Africa would pass the G20 presidency to the US.
Ramaphosa used the opportunity to highlight South Africa’s ongoing structural reforms to boost investor confidence, noting that the US State Department’s 2024 Investment Climate Report ranked South Africa as an attractive destination for foreign investment, thanks to its regulated markets, legal institutions and mature financial systems.
An invitation was extended to the US to send a joint government and business delegation to South Africa to explore new opportunities for partnership.
Quoting Nelson Mandela’s 1990 address to the US Congress, Ramaphosa reaffirmed that the US-South Africa relationship should be based not on dependency, but mutual benefit.
“This spirit of cooperation remains firmly in place more than 30 years later,” he said.
The president concluded by calling on all sectors of South African society to work together in tackling domestic challenges such as crime, thereby creating a more conducive environment for economic growth and job creation.
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