President Cyril Ramaphosa will use his visit to Washington this week to promote investment opportunities for Elon Musk’s companies, as part of a broader push to improve relations with Donald Trump.
- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa aims to improve relations with the United States during his visit to Washington.
- Ramaphosa plans to discuss investment opportunities, including favorable conditions for Elon Musk’s enterprises, with U.S. President Donald Trump.
- Relations between South Africa and the U.S. have been strained due to disagreements on land reform and international legal matters.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will use his visit to Washington this week to promote investment opportunities for Elon Musk’s companies, as part of a broader push to improve relations with U.S. President Donald Trump, according to his spokesperson.
Relations between the two countries have been strained during Trump’s second term, largely due to his criticism of South Africa’s land reform efforts and its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is scheduled to meet with Trump on Wednesday in Washington, where he is expected to present a trade proposal aimed at resetting the bilateral relationship, according to government officials.
One potential offer under discussion would grant Tesla, led by Elon Musk, a close Trump ally, favourable tariffs on imports into South Africa in exchange for building electric vehicle charging stations across the country.
Musk-Ramaphosa rift
Musk, the South African-born tech billionaire, has previously clashed with President Ramaphosa, accusing the country of having “openly racist ownership laws” in response to one of the president’s tweets.
Musk also claimed that Starlink, his satellite internet provider, is barred from operating in South Africa because he is “not Black,” an allegation South African officials have strongly denied.
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In reality, Starlink’s absence from the South African market stems from the country’s Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) regulations, which require communication service providers to be at least 30% owned by historically disadvantaged groups to receive an operating license.
While Starlink operates in 17 African countries, including neighboring nations like Namibia, Mozambique, and Botswana, South Africa, the continent’s largest economy, remains excluded.
The dispute reached a head on August 14, 2023, when the South African government officially banned the import of Starlink kits, effectively cutting off public access to the service.
